Nuclear Scientist Is Denied Bail in Secrets Case

A federal judge denied bail for Wen Ho Lee on Wednesday, citing seven missing computer tapes filled with the nation’s nuclear secrets and possible “enormous harm” to the country if the fired scientist were freed.

U.S. District Judge James Parker voiced “great concerns about the extreme restrictions” imposed on Lee in jail but said prosecutors had shown “clear and convincing” evidence that community safety could not be guaranteed with Lee’s release.

The judge said he would likely reconsider Lee’s request for release, depending on the results of another polygraph test. Lee’s former supervisor testified earlier this week that Lee took a polygraph test in February and failed two questions: on whether he had passed information to a foreign country and whether he had passed along classified codes to a foreign country. Lee later told the supervisor he “may have accidentally” passed information to a foreign country.

The judge encouraged both sides to agree to another test to try to determine what happened to the missing tapes and whether Lee shared information with a foreign country.

Lee, 60, is charged with 59 counts under the Atomic Energy and Espionage Acts. If convicted, he could be sentenced to life in prison. The charges allege transfer of classified material from secure to unsecure computers and to computer tapes, seven of which remain missing.

The indictment does not accuse Lee of passing classified information to any foreign government.

Lee, a former scientist at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, has pleaded not guilty and said he destroyed the tapes after losing his security clearance. He was fired in March and indicted earlier this month.