Here's another.... Senate Committee Weighing Richardson
Subpoena
UPI
Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2000
WASHINGTON – The Senate Judiciary Committee will
consider on Wednesday a subpoena that would compel
Energy Secretary Bill Richardson to answer charges that he
derailed an ongoing counterintelligence case by leaking the
name of its principle target, Wen Ho Lee, to the press.
The development follows an Oct. 3 hearing in which former
Energy Department intelligence chief Notra Trulock testified
that a reporter had confided to him that Richardson was the
source of the leak.
A spokeman for Richardson, however, reiterated on Tuesday
an earlier denial of the charge, calling it "outrageous."
"There are ongoing negotiations between the Committee and
the Department over how best to provide information the
Committee wants," said Richardson spokesman Stuart
Nagurka.
Last month, arguing they had no alternative that would compel
information on the whereabouts of at least seven other
top-secret disks from the Los Alamos National Laboratory
made by Lee, federal prosecutors dropped all but one of 59
counts against the former weapons scientist. Although
investigators say they have evidence that Lee downloaded
and copied hundreds of thousands of pages worth of
classified documents, they have yet to claim evidence that he
passed them to a foreign power.
The subpoena could meet resistance from Judiciary
Democrats, led by Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt. A spokesman for
Leahy said jurisdictional issues between congressional
committees could put the Energy Department beyond the
Judiciary Committee's reach.
Calls seeking comment from Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., who
is pushing the subpoena, were not returned.
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