June 18, 2000 Los Alamos scientists statements probed By Todd R. Eastham WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Scientists at a key U.S. nuclear weapons facility have made "contradictory statements" about security breaches which suggest someone is hiding something -- either espionage or negligence that could cost them their jobs, a senior official said Sunday. Edward Curran, director of the Energy Department's Office of Counterintelligence, said "several contradictory statements made by these people (with access to two highly sensitive computer hard drives) ... tend to indicate they had some knowledge" of how and why the hard drives disappeared and then reappeared Friday under suspicious circumstances. Asked by a television interviewer if he could rule out espionage at this time, Curran said "absolutely not." He added that the FBI is treating the room where the hard drives were found "as a crime scene." Still, Curran's boss, Energy Secretary Bill Richardson, who faces pressure from some lawmakers to resign, all but ruled out espionage in a separate interview with NBC's "Meet the Press." Noting that all 26 people who had access to the vault in which the hard drives were kept had been given lie detector tests, Richardson said, "I believe there has been no espionage. It doesn't appear the disks left the division." He blamed the incident on "human error, a mistake..." Curran said the FBI is putting all of its resources into determining whether the hard drives were copied, or tampered with, and "hopefully, we'll have some answers here today." The "best-case" scenario is the hard drives were misplaced out of negligence or inattention to security procedures and never left the secure area at Los Alamos where they were found, said Curran, speaking on CBS' "Face the Nation." 'TERRIFIED' OF CONSEQUENCES Under that scenario, the scientist or scientists who misplaced them may have not come forward because they are "terrified" of the consequences, he said. A breach of security could lead to lost jobs or possible criminal prosecution, even if there was no criminal intent. "There are contradictory statements being made and there are several people involved" with access to the hard drives, Curran said. "We were not even notified of this for three weeks. That in itself is a major violation of the rules." Richardson said the three-week lapse "is inexcusable. I am outraged." He vowed to "get to the bottom of this" lapse. "I have brought massive, massive security upgrades to the lab," he added, upgrading physical security with armed guards, and computer security with procedures that stop classified information from being transferred to unclassified computers, as well as introducing polygraph tests. While refusing to rule out espionage, Curran also said "there is no question in my mind this is a cultural question," where scientists at the facility resist or resent security procedures and seek to circumvent them. He cited efforts by researchers to avoid taking polygraph tests to protect lab security, and to ensure they pass the tests if they are forced to take them. "We know scientists scheduled to take the polygraph are preparing to defeat the polygraph," Curran said. Speaking on "Fox News Sunday," Deputy Energy Secretary T.J. Glauthier defended improvements in security at Energy Department labs over the past year, but conceded "we had not properly accounted for the human element" and needed to make greater efforts to "change the culture at these laboratories." A FEW BAD APPLES While no evidence of espionage had been uncovered and "the vast majority are doing their jobs well" at the department, Glauthier admitted the agency probably harbored "a few bad apples" who had compromised security out of negligence or, possibly, criminal intent. Sen. Richard Shelby, an Alabama Republican and chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, told "Face the Nation" he found the reappearance of the hard drives tucked behind a copier highly suspicious. "The FBI had done a rigorous examination of the room and didn't find anything" in two previous searches, he said. The hard drives, which contain what officials describe as highly sensitive information on nuclear weapons, were found to be missing when parts of the lab were evacuated after wildfires threatened the facility last month. Shelby called on Richardson to resign and said the security breach at Los Alamos, the second major lapse at the lab discovered in just over a year, "is just another example of the lax attitude" toward security in the Clinton administration. He cited the loss of sensitive laptop computers at the State Department and the failure to prevent the transfer of secret documents to an insecure personal computer at the home of a former director of the CIA. Shelby, also appearing on "Fox News Sunday, said security breaches under the Clinton administration are endemic and pose a continuing threat to the United States and its allies. Shelby called the failure to guard national secrets a "malignancy" at the heart of the U.S. government. Richardson and other officials tried to shift the blame to the University of California, which conducts research at Los Alamos and other labs under contract to the Energy Department. "They are very strong on science. They are a great institution. But on security ... they haven't done a very good job, " said Richardson, who said the government might have to sever its contract with the university. ================================================================= Kadosh, Kadosh, Kadosh, YHVH, TZEVAOT FROM THE DESK OF: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> *Mike Spitzer* <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> ~~~~~~~~ <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> The Best Way To Destroy Enemies Is To Change Them To Friends Shalom, A Salaam Aleikum, and to all, A Good Day. ================================================================= <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. 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