dictionary

White House to review government's handling of Wen Ho Lee case

Clinton calls government actions in the Wen Ho Lee case "inconsistent," though Lee has admitted to a "very serious national security violation"

From CNN Senior White House Correspondent John King

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The White House will launch a review of the government's handling of the Wen Ho Lee case, officials said Friday.

Officials said it was not yet certain what form the inquiry would take, but that President Clinton wanted information about the key decisions in the case.

Administration officials also took issue with interpretations of the president's Thursday remarks about the case as a rebuke of Attorney General Janet Reno. While Clinton has concerns about all those involved in the major decisions, including Reno and Energy Secretary Bill Richardson, the officials made clear the initial White House view is that most of the blame rests with the FBI.

VIDEO Wen Ho Lee's son and lawyer discuss plea agreement and pending civil lawsuit (Sept. 14) Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media) Read the transcript CNN's Pierre Thomas says Wen Ho Lee faces a year of further interrogation over still-missing files (Sept. 13) Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media)   AUDIO Listen to Wen Ho Lee's comments after his release 213K/30 sec. AIFF or WAV   ALSO TIME analysis: Wen Ho Lee case: More like Dreyfus than Rosenbergs   MESSAGE BOARD National security

RESOURCE Key dates in the case of computer scientist Wen Ho Lee

LEGAL RESOURCES Latest Legal News Law Library FindLaw Consumer Center Select a topic Bankruptcy Discrimination Divorce Estate Planning Landlord-Tenant Personal Injury Taxes

"Anyone who thought the president meant Reno when he questioned the Justice Department handling of this hasn't been paying very close attention," one senior official said. The White House has a long-running feud with FBI Director Louis Freeh.

Chief of Staff John Podesta is coordinating the White House review, and Clinton said Friday he expected to talk to Reno and others about the case. It was unclear whether Podesta would ask someone to lead a formal inquiry, or take a less-formal approach and make information requests of the relevant parties, several officials said.

The president said it was important to remember the former Los Alamos scientist had admitted to mishandling classified information. Speaking to reporters at the White House, Clinton said, "He has admitted to a very serious national security violation. And the most important thing now is that he keep his commitment to the government to work hard to figure out what happened to those tapes, what was on the tapes, to reconstitute all the information. That's very important."

But the president also said he has "no reason to believe" the government did not have sufficient evidence to keep Lee jailed for 278 days on a 59-count indictment. In the end, Lee pleaded guilty to one count and was released.

"I think the fact that there was -- that in such a short time frame -- there was an argument that he needed to stay in jail without bail, and then all of a sudden there was a plea agreement, which was inconsistent with the claims being made, I thought, that raises the question, not just for Chinese Americans, but for all Americans, about whether we have been as careful as we ought to be about pretrial detention." Clinton said.

President Clinton calls Lee case 'troubling'
September 14, 2000
Reno offers no apology for Wen Ho Lee case
September 14, 2000
Nuclear scientist Lee goes home after plea bargain
September 13, 2000
Plea agreement reached in Wen Ho Lee case; hearing resumes
September 13, 2000
Attorneys work on terms of plea bargain for jailed scientist
September 12, 2000
TIME.com: Wen Ho Lee case: More like Dreyfus than Rosenbergs
September 11, 2000
Wen Ho Lee hearing postponed until Wednesday
September 11, 2000
Emergency hearing called in Wen Ho Lee case
September 1, 2000
FBI begins search of Wen Ho Lee's home
August 31, 2000
Judge orders bail for Wen Ho Lee, but U.S prosecutors likely to appeal
August 29, 2000
Hearing underway on details of Wen Ho Lee's release
August 25, 2000
Judge urges mediation in Los Alamos scientist case, sources say
August 25, 2000
Terms of Wen Ho Lee's release to be discussed Tuesday
August 24, 2000
Judge needs more time to decide on release of Los Alamos scientist
August 18, 2000
Scientist charged in nuclear secrets case may have been job-hunting instead
July 7, 2000
Wen Ho Lee sues FBI, other agencies
December 20, 1999
Wen Ho Lee indicted, arrested in Los Alamos case
December 10, 1999

The Trial of Ethel and Julius Rosenberg
WenHoLee.org
U.S. Department of Justice
Los Alamos National Laboratory

Note: Pages will open in a new browser window

External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.