Energy Department accused of not doing enough to catch spies

February 16, 2000
Web posted at: 11:03 p.m. EST (0403 GMT)

In this story: 'An actuarial certainty ...' Espionage by allies alleged RELATED STORIES, SITES

From staff and wire reports

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Nearly a year after Los Alamos nuclear scientist Wen Ho Lee was fired following unproved allegations that he may have helped Chinese intelligence agents obtain weapons secrets, a new report finds counterintelligence efforts by the Department of Energy at its weapons labs still leave much to be desired

"I note with concern the statements out of DOE that all is now well. That's clearly nonsense," said Paul Redmond, the former head of counterintelligence at the CIA.

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The House Select Committee on Intelligence had asked Redmond to conduct an in-depth review of actions taken by the Energy Department during the past 18 months to improve counterespionage efforts.

Redmond presented a summary of his analysis to the Intelligence Committee on Wednesday.

"My yardstick, frankly ... you will know DOE is getting somewhere in counterintelligence when they start catching spies," Redmond said.

Lee was indicted on 59 counts of mishandling classified weapons information while employed as a scientist at Los Alamos National Laboratory

Asked whether there were spies to catch, Redmond said: "I have no information that there are spies at the laboratories now. I would just make the observation that it's an actuarial certainty that if there aren't some now, there will be."

The former CIA spy catcher told lawmakers that the Energy Department is not doing enough to train scientists to be wary of other countries' intelligence agencies. And he said the agency has so far failed to convince many scientists they will have to submit to regular lie-detector tests about their overseas contacts.

"When we visited Los Alamos," Redmond said, "many people were wearing this button that says, 'Just say no to the polygraph.' We had people say to us, 'You trusted me to win the Cold War -- now you don't.'"

Before the report came out, Ed Curran, the Energy Department's head of counterintelligence, said convincing top scientists, who are used to exchanging ideas with colleagues around the world, to be more careful now is not easy.

"There is a big cultural difference," Curran said. "DOE has not had this type of discipline in the last 10 years. What we're trying not to do -- is get in the way of what they are trying to do: Science, good science, technology."

Redmond said the record shows the U.S. government overall must be more vigilant against spies.

Between 1970 and 1999, he said 89 significant spy cases have been prosecuted by the United States.

Remond also said as many as 41 countries currently try to spy on the United States -- including more than a few allies and friends.

The former CIA official said the Energy Department still faces "a considerable challenge" in tackling cyber-security at the labs. "This will require significant investment in defense and countermeasures," he said.

National Security Correspondent Correspondent David Ensor, The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

U.S. nuclear secrets found in open archives
January 20, 2000
FBI told Taiwan-born physicist he failed polygraph exam that he passed
January 8, 2000
Wen Ho Lee sues FBI, other agencies
December 20, 1999

U.S. Department of Energy
Central Intelligence Agency
U.S. Department of Justice

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