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Los Alamos Whistleblower Beaten - (horrendous)
NEWSMAX.COM ^ | JUNE 6, 2005 | CARL LIMBACHER & NewsMax Staff

Posted on 06/06/2005 6:52:41 PM PDT by CHARLITE

A Los Alamos whistleblower scheduled to testify before congress later this month is now in the hospital, according to news reports. Auditor Tommy Hook was brutally beaten by three or four anonymous assailants who allegedly ordered him to keep quiet.

On Saturday night, Hook went to a Santa Fe bar ostensibly to meet a person claiming to be a fellow Los Alamos whistleblower that called that night. When the person did not show, Hook left the bar after consuming two drinks.



Whistleblowing auditor Tommy Hook before and after the beating. (CBS News photos)

In the parking lot, he was yanked out of his car and beaten so badly by the three or four men that he had to be taken to intensive care at a local emergency room.

Reportedly, Hook did not provoke these men. The men concentrated on kicking his head, and Hook's family has opined that the men would have killed him if it hadn't been for a club employee, who ran from the club and broke up the beating.

Congressional staff members were set to arrive Tuesday in Los Alamos to investigate Hook's allegations of malfeasance at the lab.

Tommy Hook remains hospitalized with severe trauma to his face and head, including a fractured jaw and a herniated disk. The FBI has been called-in to investigate the attack, and Hook is currently under close protective custody.

Congress Warned of Ill Treatment of Hook

Last March, Danielle Brian, Executive Director Project On Government Oversight (POGO) testified before the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations regarding a review of security initiatives at DOE Nuclear Weapons Facilities.

He especially focused on Hook and another whisterblower:

"I would be remiss if I did not report to the Committee that, while not a part of former Secretary Abraham's initiatives, the treatment of whistleblowers throughout the complex remains abysmal. Retaliation remains the norm, not the exception, as can be seen in the case of Tommy Hook and Chuck Montano, who have both worked at Los Alamos for decades.

"After the Committee's three hearings on financial fraud at Los Alamos, the University of California was telling the public that all was resolved, while at the same time retaliating against these two men who knew otherwise. Hook and Montano were responsible for providing audit support for UC and uncovered ongoing irregularities and outright misconduct amounting to millions of taxpayer dollars.

"Their audit reports were withheld from DOE. Their treatment? Their work was taken away from them, they were given no work for nine months, and now they are only being handed menial assignments. Even the head of the Los Alamos Site Office tried to intervene on Tommy Hook's behalf, only to be rebuffed by an arrogant University of California."

According to a report in Exec.com, Susan Hook, the victim's wife, Bob Rothstein, his attorney, and Montano confirmed that Hook was at the club to meet with another employee who claimed to have information that would support charges of wrongdoing.

Susan Hook and Montano further alleged that the assault was absolutely connected to Tommy Hook's impending testimony:

"When they were beating him up, they were telling him ... 'If you know what is good for you, you will keep your mouth shut,'" said Susan Hook.

Rothstein recalled that a person claiming to be an auditor from Los Alamos had contacted Hook a week before and had offered to share information about financial issues at the laboratory. Rothstein said that one meeting had already fallen through, but the second was arranged on Saturday night at the strip club.

The nightclub's doorman ran into the parking lot and broke up the attack, according to a club employee who witnessed the beating. The employee said Hook was assaulted by a group of men.

Joint Investigation

Called to the scene, FBI Special Agent Bill Elwell confirmed that federal agents are investigating with Santa Fe police officers. He said they are "still trying to figure out" what happened at the nightclub. "We are looking into the allegations made by Mr. Hook," Elwell said.

Los Alamos issued a statement:

"The University of California and the laboratory are outraged that a laboratory employee was the victim of a weekend assault in Santa Fe. Director [Robert] Kuckuck was made aware of the attack this morning and expressed his hope that the individual will make a quick recovery"

"Director Kuckuck, the University of California and the laboratory believe that any form of physical violence toward an individual is unacceptable. The laboratory is in contact with the Santa Fe Police Department and is providing the laboratory's full support and cooperation with the ongoing investigation."

Susan Hooks said that her husband's wallet and car were not taken.


TOPICS: Breaking News; Constitution/Conservatism; Crime/Corruption; Front Page News; Government; News/Current Events; Philosophy; Politics/Elections; US: New Mexico; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: assault; asskicking; bilrichardson; canofwhoopass; china; clintonlegacy; clintonmafia; congress; doe; energy; hillarysfingerprints; hook; losalamos; santafe; testifying; testimony; tommyhook; tonnyhook; whistleblower; whohiredlivingstone; whyisntthisbreaking
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To: lepton

Sooner or later, if they really dig deep enough, this will trace back through that fat greasy corrupt Clintonista bastard governor of New Mexico.


41 posted on 06/06/2005 7:56:09 PM PDT by Diddle E. Squat
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To: CHARLITE
Whistle blowers shouldn't agree to meet fellow, or prospective whistle blowers, at bars in the early morning hours. Unless, of course, you have strong back up security observing the meeting. These scientist types may have high I.Q's but zero in the 'walking around' common sense department.
42 posted on 06/06/2005 7:58:52 PM PDT by BluH2o
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To: MonroeDNA

Actually this smells like old-school Clintons.


43 posted on 06/06/2005 7:58:59 PM PDT by Diddle E. Squat
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To: Diddle E. Squat

BINGO!


44 posted on 06/06/2005 8:03:12 PM PDT by Palladin (God Bless America!)
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To: Flightdeck
UC's losing the contract. UT will get it, and the lab will be better off for the change.

Thsi looks liek the work of a union goon squad. How would the transfer of control have affected them?

45 posted on 06/06/2005 8:03:37 PM PDT by Mad_Tom_Rackham (Delenda est Liberalism!)
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To: CHARLITE

This where the FBI, DoE and others are supposed to protect federal witnesses. If not, the man has every right to arm himself and hunt down the bastards. I sure as Hell would.


46 posted on 06/06/2005 8:04:42 PM PDT by shellshocked (They're undocumented Border Patrol agents, not vigilantes.)
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To: Flightdeck
UC's losing the contract. UT will get it, and the lab will be better off for the change.

This looks like the work of a union goon squad. How would the transfer of control have affected them?

47 posted on 06/06/2005 8:05:33 PM PDT by Mad_Tom_Rackham (Delenda est Liberalism!)
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To: Howlin; Miss Marple; PhiKapMom

Clinton Legacy marches on ping


48 posted on 06/06/2005 8:07:01 PM PDT by Diddle E. Squat
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To: CHARLITE
Never forget!

This is what Linda Tripp and Monica Lewinsky could have looked like.

We did good in how we protected these people.

49 posted on 06/06/2005 8:08:01 PM PDT by Hunble (U.S. Army for 20 years)
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To: Alamo-Girl

This story may have a familiar ring to it.


50 posted on 06/06/2005 8:08:08 PM PDT by Diddle E. Squat
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To: doug from upland; JohnHuang2; Southack; MeekOneGOP

Don't miss this one.


51 posted on 06/06/2005 8:10:28 PM PDT by Diddle E. Squat
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To: CHARLITE
Rothstein recalled that a person claiming to be an auditor from Los Alamos had contacted Hook a week before and had offered to share information about financial issues at the laboratory. Rothstein said that one meeting had already fallen through, but the second was arranged on Saturday night at the strip club.

Hmmm. Sunday morning for brunch would be a better choice. And take your lawyer with you.

52 posted on 06/06/2005 8:10:46 PM PDT by Lessismore
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To: Fred Hayek

UT = UC as political soulmates. Texas A and M would be much better. Solid, patiotic institution.


53 posted on 06/06/2005 8:13:42 PM PDT by Texas Songwriter
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To: CHARLITE
The guy nearly committed Arkancide!! Of course the Stone Age Press will treat him like Deep Throat.

Pray for W and Our Troops

54 posted on 06/06/2005 8:17:11 PM PDT by bray (Pray for Iraq's Freedom from Mohammad)
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To: moondoggie
I belive that they were highly classified hard drives from computers related to the Nuclear Emergency Search team(NEST). They were eventually found behind a copier after many exhaustive searches. They were probably copied or read in the mean time.

http://www.fas.org/spp/starwars/congress/1997_h/h971001g.htm

Wen Ho Lee was another scandal complete with inept investigation and prosecution. We will probably never know what secrets he gave away and he was never held accountable.

55 posted on 06/06/2005 8:17:22 PM PDT by Eagles6 (Dig deeper, more ammo.)
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To: Eagles6

I worked there in the early 90's, and remembered seeing in the newspaper
that some guy was beat up by several unknown assailants who he did not
know. Seemed like an odd crime for a town of only 18k people. I joked that
it must have been from the physicist mafia in response an experiment gone bad...perhaps I wasn't too far off.
The one strip club that shows up on a google search is called 'Cheeks',
on Cerillos road. It was called something else before that I believe. The
entrance is in the back (or so I've heard:)) and not easily visible from
the street...Not a good place to meet unknown anonymous persons.


56 posted on 06/06/2005 8:29:50 PM PDT by DancesWithBolsheviks (Celebrate E Pluribus Unum)
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To: CHARLITE

This reminds me of attorney Gary Johnson. He lived right next door to Gennifer Flowers at the Quapaw Towers. His security camera had caught Clinton entering on several occasions with his own key. That footage, had it been seen by the public, would have stopped Clinton and sent the evil couple back to Arkansas. Some thugs paid him a visit and took the tape. They smashed in his nasal cavity, puntured his bladder, punctured his spleen, and left him for dead. History would certainly have been different.


57 posted on 06/06/2005 8:34:34 PM PDT by doug from upland (MOCKING DEMOCRATS 24/7 --- www.rightwingparodies.com)
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To: CHARLITE
Bingo....Whats the possibility that this ass whuppin at the local titty bar was over booze, babes, bumpers bent brushed or banged and will nicely further a personal agenda under the whistleblower act that was already in place.....and self protection from a wife who found out where he was at when he got beat.....aka "What were ya doing at the titty bar" asks the wife.......National Security dear I can't tell ya, answers the husband. Good thing the blood hides the lipstick on his collar.

Now if it was for something at work has he made alligations against one or three persons who would have went after him ? Or was it about a process that he was excluded from for reasons he didn't like ? Gonna have to watch this case.

Just my SWAG from here on the couch .......

SWAG = Scicentific Wild Ass Guess

58 posted on 06/06/2005 8:37:07 PM PDT by Squantos (Be polite. Be professional. But, have a plan to kill everyone you meet. ©)
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Comment #59 Removed by Moderator

To: moondoggie
Hmmmm....wasn't it during the CLinton era that the lax security at Alamos resulted in missing discs or something...posing a possible national security risk? My memory is alittle foggy.

He had a open door policy. He even saw to it that all the badges, top security as well as janitor, all looked the same so it would be harder to know who was who. People just walked in and out with ease.
The democrats don't think America should a be a super power. Clinton even sold our missile technology to Communist Red China, who sold it to Korea, who sold it to Iran.

60 posted on 06/06/2005 8:47:58 PM PDT by concerned about politics (Vote Republican - Vote morally correct!)
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