-Caveat Lector- WJPBR Email News List [EMAIL PROTECTED] Peace at any cost is a prelude to war! Friday December 10 7:05 PM ET U.S. Physicist Lee Charged With 59 Counts By Tabassum Zakaria WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A former U.S. government physicist at the center of a China spying scandal was indicted on Friday on 59 criminal charges relating to mishandling of top secret nuclear weapons data. Wen Ho Lee, 59, was charged with violating the Atomic Energy Act and the Federal Espionage Act, with the most serious counts carrying a maximum penalty of life in prison. The physicist, who was fired from Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico in March, became publicly linked to a scandal over allegations that China stole U.S. nuclear secrets. Lee was not charged with espionage and U.S. officials had previously said Lee was unlikely to be charged with spying because of lack of evidence that he handed information to Beijing. China has steadfastly denied stealing secrets. ``Although Lee has not been charged with communicating classified information to a foreign power, the mishandling of classified information alleged in the indictment has, in the government's view, resulted in serious damage to important national interests,'' U.S. Attorney John Kelly said. ``The indictment does not allege that Lee passed classified information to any particular foreign government, including the People's Republic of China,'' he said in a statement. The indictment included 29 counts charging unlawful tampering, altering, concealing or removing of restricted data, 10 counts of unlawful receipt or acquisition of restricted data, 10 counts of unlawful gathering of national defense information, and 10 counts of unlawful retention of national defense information. Simulated Nuclear Weapons Tests Restricted data were defined as files containing information such as physical and radioactive properties of materials used to construct nuclear weapons, descriptions of the exact dimensions of nuclear weapons used in connection with the design and simulated testing of nuclear weapons, and data concerning nuclear bomb test problems. The FBI arrested the graying, bespectacled Lee at his home near Los Alamos earlier on Friday and he was taken to Albuquerque where he appeared before a federal judge who read the charges. ``We are severely disappointed that the Justice Department has taken the precipitous act of seeking an indictment against Dr. Lee,'' a statement from his lawyer said. ``We look forward to proving Dr. Lee's innocence and his being exonerated of all charges that are being brought against him.'' Lee's lawyers said the physicist had offered to take a lie-detector test to prove he did not criminally mishandle classified material. The statement said they were ``deeply troubled'' by the prosecution seeking Lee be held without bail. Lee was fired for security violations amid suspicion of espionage. He had the high-level ``Q'' clearance at the nuclear weapons research lab and worked in the ``X Division'' which is responsible for the research, design, and development of nuclear weapons and contains some of the most secret U.S. nuclear data. The indictment alleges that in 1993 and 1994 Lee knowingly assembled 19 files containing secret and classified data on nuclear weapon research design, construction and testing from a classified Los Alamos computer system. Lee is accused of moving that information to an unclassified computer and then downloading 17 of the 19 files onto nine portable computer tapes. The indictment charges that Lee in 1997 downloaded onto a 10th portable computer tape current nuclear weapons design codes and other information. Prosecutors say seven of the tapes are unaccounted for. Downloading Classified Information The physicist in the past acknowledged downloading classified information into his unclassified computer. A congressional report released earlier this year said China had obtained classified U.S. information on seven nuclear warheads and the neutron bomb over two decades, including the W-88 miniaturized warhead. The so-called Cox report and the suspicion that China obtained U.S. nuclear secrets stoked anti-China sentiment and contributed to strained relations between the United States and the communist country. The United States was put on the defensive in May when U.S. warplanes taking part in the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia bombed the Chinese embassy in Belgrade in an incident Washington said was an accident but which put even more pressure on ties between the two countries. Lee, a Taiwan-born U.S. citizen, and some critics of the investigation had said he was unfairly singled out because of his ethnicity. The FBI later broadened its investigation of the allegations of Chinese espionage after officials decided the initial probe had been too narrowly focused. **COPYRIGHT NOTICE** In accordance with Title 17 U. S. C. Section 107, any copyrighted work in this message is distributed under fair use without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for nonprofit research and educational purposes only.[Ref. http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ] DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic screeds are not allowed. Substance�not soapboxing! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory', with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright frauds is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. 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