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Technology Stocks : Loral Space & Communications -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Valueman who wrote (2475)	4/3/1998 10:42:00 PM
From: DMaA	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 10852

Consider the source of this. I'm just posting it, not defending it: Drudge Report: NEW YORK TIMES: SATELLITE BLOW UP LEADS TO GRAND JURY PROBE OF U.S. FIRMS WITH POSSIBLE TIES TO CHINA MISSILE PROGRAM The DRUDGE REPORT has learned, Saturday's NEW YORK TIMES is planning to front an exclusive report By Jeff Gerth: Did two U.S. companies illegally give China space expertise that significantly advanced Beijing's booming ballistic missile program? A federal grand jury is now investigating. The companies are Loral Space & Communications of New York and Hughes Electronics, a Los Angeles-based subsidiary of GM, reports the paper. The companies deny wrongdoing. The Justice Department probe stems from a 1996 incident where "a Chinese rocket carrying aloft a satellite built by Loral exploded shortly after liftoff." Gerth, using "Clinton administration officials," reveals that the two companies "participated in an independent review of the failure, and reported to the Chinese on what went wrong." It's those exchanges that may have revealed classified information, "giving the Chinese crucial assistance in improving the guidance systems of their rockets." The technology used to launch a commercial satellite into orbit is "similar to that which guides a long-range missile nuclear missile to its target," reports Gerth. Pause. Details turn fascinating when Gerth describes how the criminal inquiry was dealt a serious blow two months ago with President Clinton quietly approving the export to China of similar tech know-how by Loral, one of the companies under investigation. The decision was opposed by Justice Department officials, writes Gerth. He also notes that Loral's CHAIR and CEO Bernard Schwartz was the biggest "personal contributor" to the Democratic National Committee last year. In February, with the investigation of the 1996 incident under way at Justice, Clinton "gave Loral permission to launch another satellite on a Chinese rocket and provide the Chinese with the same expertise that is at issue in the criminal case." Developing... Guess I'll have to pick up the Times tomorrow. drudgereport.com