Rogan, Schiff at Odds Over Reno’s Action in Wen Ho Lee Case

Two former prosecutors locked in California’s tightest and most expensive Congressional race sparred Monday over whether U.S. Atty. Gen. Janet Reno should resign after the controversial prosecution of Los Alamos scientist Wen Ho Lee.

Rep. James E. Rogan (D-Glendale) called Monday for Reno’s resignation in what he said was the Justice Department’s unequal treatment of Lee. Lee was jailed for nine months, after allegedly downloading nuclear defense secrets onto an unsecured computer.

State Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Burbank) was “disturbed” by the way the Lee case was handled and believes there should be an independent investigation into whether federal prosecutors acted improperly, but said it would be premature for Reno to resign, a spokesman said.

Rogan is a former state prosecutor and was a House prosecutor in the Clinton impeachment proceedings. As a federal prosecutor, Schiff won the conviction in 1990 of former FBI Agent Richard Miller, who spied for the Soviet Union. Both are running for the House of Representatives, in the 27th Congressional District, where about 8% of the registered voters are Asian American.

The Lee investigation, which some alleged centered on Lee because he is of Chinese descent, has sparked a firestorm of criticism, from groups representing Asian Americans to President Clinton, who publicly questioned the performance of his own appointee.

Rogan said Lee was held for months in solitary confinement facing dozens of criminal charges, although Reno had not taken the same aggressive stand in pursuing allegations that former Central Intelligence Agency Director John Deutch also downloaded highly classified material on unsecured personal computers at his home.

“While Dr. Lee languished in prison, in stark contrast, former CIA Director Deutch spent his days cultivating private sector contacts,” Rogan said. “That Janet Reno’s Department of Justice would allow two men, both accused of similar conduct, to be treated in such stark contrast is shocking.”

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Parke Skelton, a spokesman for Schiff, dismissed Rogan’s call for resignation as election-year posturing and “a campaign stunt.”

“His [Schiff’s] sense is that the prosecution of Wen Ho Lee was mishandled,” Skelton said. “He was disturbed by how it was handled. But it is unlikely he is going to be participating in Rogan’s campaign stunt.”

Rogan’s action “will have an appeal to some voter groups in the district, particularly Asian Americans who don’t think [Reno] handled it very well,” said Republican political consultant Allan Hoffenblum, who is based in Southern California.

“Obviously he feels this will benefit his campaign in some way,” Skelton said. “But I think all the people who are calling for Janet Reno’s demise are already supporting Rogan. I think it hurts him, because he is seen again as focusing on partisan national issues instead of issues in the district.”

Lee allegedly downloaded large volumes of nuclear defense secrets onto an unsecured computer network and portable tapes at Los Alamos National Laboratory where he worked, but denied sharing the information with anyone or intending to use it improperly.

Clinton was critical of how the Justice Department handled the case, which ended last week in a plea bargain in which prosecutors dropped 58 charges and Lee pleaded guilty to one felony charge of illegally retaining national defense information.

“The plea agreement was good for the country, and it was in the best interest of national security,” said Chris Watney, a spokeswoman for Reno, who declined to comment specifically on Rogan’s call for resignation.

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Hoffenblum, who publishes the California Target Book, a political handicapping newsletter, has switched his rating of the Rogan-Schiff race from “toss-up” to “leaning Dem,” as in Democrat.

Hoffenblum is the latest of six political handicappers, including Dick Rosengarten of CALPEEK and Stuart Rothenburg of the Rothenburg Report, to give the edge to Schiff.

Hoffenblum set his rating based on several factors: Schiff’s 49% to 47% lead over Rogan in the open primary; voter registration in the 27th District, which is 44% Democratic and 37% Republican; and the fact that both candidates had about $1.1 million cash on hand June 30, the end of the last campaign reporting period.

“I’m a good Republican,” Hoffenblum said, “but it’s hard to say anything other than that [the race] is leaning Democratic.”

Skelton said that since the March primary, the district has seen a net increase of 6,381 Democrats and 2,441 Republicans.

“The wind is at our back and the finish line is in view,” Skelton said.

The Rogan campaign downplayed the ratings by Hoffenblum and other pundits.

“The Washington handicappers are free to sit in Washington and handicap the race, but what is important is the people we have on the ground here,” said Jeff Solsby, a spokesman for Rogan.

Reno initially declined to prosecute Deutch, but later ordered an investigation after coming under pressure from Congress.