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Imagine That

Just about one year ago, most levelheaded Americans agreed that Lee was the victim of an FBI witch hunt.

During his trial, the public learned that Lee passed a lie detector test with the highest possible score; that the FBI threatened Lee with a potential death penalty if he did not cooperate with them; that two high-level government officials stated in affidavits they believed Lee was a victim of racial scapegoating; that one of those officials, Charles Washington, felt the former head of DOE counterintelligence, Notra Trulock, had “racist views toward minority groups”; that other scientists at national laboratories had committed acts similar to Lee’s but were not prosecuted, and, in fact, were barely punished; and that at the end of the trial, Judge James Parker apologized to Lee, saying he was misled by prosecutors.

In short, the FBI and DOE lost their case. This week, though, they were back, trying once again to sway public opinion with the release of two chapters of the Bellows Report. The report, completed last year, was prepared for the DOJ by former federal prosecutor Randy Bellows. Though it criticizes both the DOE and FBI for focusing their investigation of possible espionage on just one man — Lee — it also says racial profiling played no role in the investigation.

Note that Bellows neglected to interview any of Lee’s defenders. The result is a one-sided probe, a vehicle for both the DOE and FBI to basically, justify their hunt of Lee. Imagine a hate crime investigation, in which police talk only to the perpetrator. Imagine if an inquiry into worker discrimination excluded testimony from the victims.

Moreover, imagine a news story on the Bellows report, without quotes from the numerous APIA community leaders who are shouting “foul” — as is the case in most of the major mainstream newspapers.

Most levelheaded Americans realize all sides of a story need to be told before conclusions can be made.

Said U.C. Berkeley Asian American studies Professor Ling-chi Wang: “Having failed in the judicial lynching of Wen Ho Lee, the Department of Justice has decided to dust off the outdated Bellows Report to continue its smear campaign…”