DATE=9/14/2000

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=CLINTON - WEN HO LEE (L)

NUMBER=2-266520

BYLINE=DEBORAH TATE

DATELINE=WHITE HOUSE

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:





INTRO:  President Clinton says he is troubled by the 

way federal prosecutors handled the case of Los Alamos 

nuclear scientist Wen Ho Lee.  He spoke shortly after 

Attorney General Janet Reno refused to apologize for 

the case.   Correspondent Deborah Tate reports from 

the White House.





Text:  In rare criticism of his Justice Department, 

Mr. Clinton said he was troubled that federal 

prosecutors had blocked bail for Lee, and said the 

government could not justify the way it handled the 

case.



Lee, a Taiwanese-born naturalized U-S citizen, was 

arrested last December on 59 counts of mishandling 

secrets and was put in solitary confinement.  He was 

released from prison Wednesday after pleading guilty 

to one felony count of breaching security.  As part of 

the plea bargain, Lee agreed to cooperate with federal 

investigators.



In a brief appearance before reporters Thursday, Mr. 

Clinton said he initially accepted federal 

prosecutors' arguments that Lee could not be freed on 

bail because he was a danger to national security.  

But he says those claims are now difficult to 

rationalize in the wake of the plea agreement.



            /// Clinton Act ///



      The whole thing was quite troubling to me.  I 

      think it is very difficult to reconcile the two 

      positions, that one day he is a terrible risk to 

      the national security, and the next day they are 

      making a plea agreement for an offense far more 

      modest than what had been alleged.



            /// End Act ///



But earlier, Attorney General Janet Reno defended the 

way the government handled the case, and turned aside 

questions about whether Lee deserved an apology.  She 

said prosecutors had tried to find out what Lee did 

with the nuclear secrets, which he admitted to 

transferring from a highly secure computer at the Los 

Alamos nuclear weapons laboratory to insecure personal 

files.  Lee has maintained he has destroyed the files.



White House spokesman Joe Lockhart says Mr. Clinton 

will be looking for more detailed explanations about 

the case from the Justice Department, but says the 

president still has full confidence in Ms. Reno.   

(signed)



NEB/DAT/JP









14-Sep-2000 15:31 PM LOC (14-Sep-2000 1931 UTC)

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Source: Voice of America

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