-Caveat Lector- http://www.aim.org/publications/media_monitor/2002/12/12.html
Receive FREE updates by email: Los Alamos Fires Real Cops By Reed Irvine and Cliff Kincaid December 12, 2002 Two Los Alamos investigators, hired to stop a wave of thievery at the nation�s premier nuclear weapons lab, were recently fired for doing their jobs too well. Glenn S. Walp and Steven L. Doran, highly experienced criminal investigators, learned the hard reality of life inside the U.S. Energy Department and its nuclear weapons laboratories. As a U.S. Senator once observed, (Quote) "When problems are uncovered, the labs hide them, classify them, and get rid of the people who discovered them." The firings came as part of Los Alamos� effort to limit public exposure of on-going internal abuses of federal credit cards and the loss of millions of dollars of computers, equipment, and high-tech instruments. Several lab employees have been placed on "investigative leave," including two under a full FBI field investigation for making more than fifty thousand dollars of what the lab now terms "unallowable purchases." Internal lab documents indicate, however, that was only the tip of the iceberg. Since 1999, more than three million dollars of lab property has been reported lost, missing, or stolen. Lab spokesmen dismissed these allegations as "overblown." They said that the media have failed to account for "depreciation" and the value of the missing items was really more like sixty thousand dollars. But the FBI and Energy Department had both opened investigations. In one case, FBI agents were in Phoenix, Arizona, questioning a car dealer about a Ford Mustang allegedly purchased by a lab employee with a government credit card. The internal documents also charged that the lab had obstructed investigations into the thefts and refused to cooperate with local police or the FBI. Lab officials vehemently denied these allegations. But Walp told CBS News� Sharyl Attkisson that the more theft they uncovered, the harder the lab tried to bury the problem. Walp also confirmed that the lab told them "emphatically" that they were not to talk to the FBI. They were fired after being interviewed by the FBI and the Energy Department inspectors. But further evidence of widespread corruption at Los Alamos came when the Albuquerque Journal learned that two expensive knives, allegedly brought with lab money, were missing from an evidence box in Los Alamos� security office. Reportedly, two employees accused of using lab funds to purchase personal items were also giving "gifts" to lab officials responsible for investigating waste, fraud, and abuse. Now evidence of possible bribery has disappeared. This is the fourth major scandal at Los Alamos in the last three years. This one includes the loss or theft of hundreds of computers, many from lab units doing highly classified national security work. Yet the national media, with the notable exception of CBS News, has largely ignored the scandal. Locally, the Albuquerque Journal has kept the story alive, but the Washington Post, supposedly a government watchdog, has yet to publish a single report on the story. No wonder the Congress pays so little attention to such scandals. Reed Irvine can be reached at [EMAIL PROTECTED] | Like What You Read? | Back To Media Monitors Section | AIM Main Page | <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance�not soap-boxing�please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'�with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds�is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html <A HREF="http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html";>Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]</A> http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ <A HREF="http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/";>ctrl</A> ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
