Posted on 06/07/2005 3:28:53 AM PDT by ovrtaxt
Los Alamos Whistleblower Severely Beaten
NewsMax.comA Los Alamos National Laboratory whistleblower who has uncovered irregularities involving millions of dollars of taxpayer money at the government-backed facility was brutally beaten this past weekend.
Tuesday, June 7, 2005
According to several news reports, auditor Tommy Hook was violently attacked by three or four anonymous assailants, who allegedly ordered him to keep quiet.
Hook was scheduled to testify before Congress later this month, but is now in the hospital.
Story Continues Below
On Saturday night, Hook went to a Santa Fe bar, ostensibly to meet a person claiming to be a fellow Los Alamos whistleblower, who called that night.
Hook's wife, Susan, said her husband did not frequent bars.
When the person did not show up, Hook left the bar after consuming two drinks.
In the parking lot, he was yanked out of his car and beaten so badly by 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 feels that the men would have killed him if a club employee hadn't run from the club and stopped the beating.
Congressional staff members were set to arrive Tuesday in Los Alamos to investigate Hook's allegations of malfeasance at the lab.
Hook and another whistleblower sued the University of California, which manages Los Alamos, in March, alleging that after they uncovered management failures, university and lab managers tried to make their jobs miserable so they would quit.
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 of the 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.
She 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 GovExec.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 for 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 neither her husband's wallet, cell phone nor car were taken.
My underground test groundsurfing friend has been there quite some time and finds the explanation of traveling an hour to get a lap dance as part of intelligence-gathering "suspicious".
We have occasion to see Cheeks mentioned in the news almost as much as suicide bombings in Tel Aviv.
When the Chinese are working in the lab today, vacuumed up every scrap on our nuclear weapons through Hazel O'Leary and Wen Ho Lee, and today Bill Gertz reports Negroponte receives word Analysts missed Chinese buildup, I'm not phoning, emailing and faxing Curt Weldon and Jim Inhofe about camp stoves as suspicious line item expenses.
Notra Trulock was a threat--a direct threat--to the Clinton-ChiCom intelligence-for-campaign-donations deals.
Trulock had legitimate concerns about espionage--not fiscal malfeasance, treason--in general and Wen Ho Lee in particular.
The fact of Lee's having all that warhead and legacy code data was reason enough to put him away--let alone that he lied about foreign contacts and claimed to have destroyed or misplaced the data.
Yet Elizabeth Moler muzzled Trulock--after Vince Foster, Waco, Ron Brown, Jim McDougal and Elian Gonzales, it is proof of a merciful God that Trulock is alive to write the book I've got.
LANL is a never-ending source of comic relief vis-a-vis the Penn and Teller routines it periodically stages with its classified discs--famously found in twice-searched areas, e.g.
LANL needs an attitude adjustment for its perennial attitude of contemptuous disregard for security. That you physically defended it is on a par with the soldiers in Iraq.
What is now outrageous is that--per my landsurfing friend--the OEO requires LANL to employ Chinese nationals.
When they already have 3500 front companies employing their ant-like intel operation in CONUS, this breech is inexcusable.
I'm sure Bruce King could use the State Police in an unlawful fashion if anyone could.
I hope Negroponte can light a fire under the LANL operation--not start a controlled burn on a windy, low-humidity day new moon of May 2000, just keep our secrets from going out the door.
As for the reports on the Cheeks activities, they numbered ten according to Villanucci and Eeds, who represent the political spectrum.
As for the FBI--it is to laugh. Neighbors of Lee saw "two carloads of men who looked like they were lost on their way to a sporting event"--who then went to Lee's house (giving him a two-year head start) and in their hours there found only the flashlight they lost at the outset.
That Reno refused requests to tape and tap Lee and his computer while granting the hundreds of other requests qualifies her for a lifetime membership at Leavenworth.
Bingaman put Trie on his commission so Trie could be bagman and mouthpiece for Beijing, writing his infamous Dear President letter telling Clinton to get the carriers out of the Strait or lose the Chicom dough.
Alamo-Girl dug up a great deal on this and I spoke with Burton's counsels but legal and senate protocol--plus the Clintonista regime--prevented plumbing the depths.
Hook will still have ample opportunity to present his findings to appropriate congressional committees.
If we could recoup the billions embezzled in Medicare and Medicaid and HUD we could pay the deficit and pay your team what it's worth.
Further this deponent sayeth not.
Police report with FBI input:
Hook arrived Cheeks 6:30pm.
Had six (6) beers.
"A number of" lap dances.
Tipped "generously".
Left at closing time.
Attempted to back out of the parking space nearly backing over pedestrian. Said pedestrian and friends took exception to being backed over, and acted accordingly.
No connection to any "whistleblowing"; no connection to anything relating to LANL.
Just another Saturday night [Sunday morning] at Cheeks.
Thanks for the summary and update.
You were correct and all over this from the start.
Thanks for your insights!
One client at a Time...
March 9, 1999 As Pat Buchanan said in Martch, 1997, "Last year Johnny Chung, who gave $366,000 to the Democratic National Committee, showed up for a Clinton radio broadcast at the White House, with six Chinese in tow, including an adviser of Cosco. The president begged off being photographed with his guests, which raises a question: If Bill Clinton is leery of being seen with these characters, why is he giving them a Long Beach naval base?
meanwhile ..back at Los Alamos,
This problem started in the Reagan-Bush years and there is plenty of blame to share." Bill Richardson said he planned to institute sporadic polygraph testing of laboratory workers handling classified materials."
"Very Schroppy....no damn gooude!....that Richardson talk to much"
REP. DANA ROHRABACHER (R-CA): Mr. Chairman, thank you very much, and thank you very much for holding this hearing.
As we discuss terrorism in South Asia, I think it is important to renew the members of this committee's and the public's acquaintance with the request that I have made for the last three years concerning American policy toward the Taliban, because as we examine -- as we examine terrorism in South Asia, one can't help but recognize that if it weren't for the fact that the Taliban are in power, there would be a different equation going on.
After a year of requesting to see State Department documents on Afghan policy -- and I would remind the committee that I have -- I have stated that I believe that there is a covert policy by this administration, a shameful covert policy of supporting the Taliban -- the State Department, after many, many months -- actually, years -- of prodding, finally began giving me documents, Mr. Chairman. And I have, in the assessment of those documents, I have found nothing to persuade me that I was wrong in my criticism. And I might add, however, that there has been no documents provided to me, even after all of these years of requesting it, there have been no documents concerning the time period of the formation of the Taliban. And I would, again, I would hope that the State Department gets the message that I expect to see all those documents. And the documents that I have read, Mr. Chairman, indicate that the State Department, time and again, has had as its position that they have no quarrel, or that it would give them no heartburn, to have the Taliban in power. This, during the time period when the Taliban was struggling to take over Afghanistan.
And although the administration has denied supporting the Taliban, it is clear that they discouraged all of the anti-Taliban supporters from supporting the efforts in Afghanistan to defeat the Taliban. Even so much as when the Taliban was ripe for being defeated on the ground in Afghanistan, Bill Richardson and Rick Inderfurth, high-ranking members of this administration, personally visited the region in order to discourage the Taliban's opposition from attacking the Taliban when they were vulnerable, and then going to neighboring countries to cut off any type of military assistance to the [opponents of the] Taliban. This, at a time when Pakistan was heavily resupplying and rearming the Taliban.
later in hearings...
REP. ROHRABACHER: (Laughing.) This is a joke! I mean, you have to go to closed session to tell us where the weapons are coming from? Well, how about let's make a choice. There's Pakistan or Pakistan or Pakistan. (Laughs.) Where do you think the Taliban -- right as we speak -- I haven't read any classified documents. Everybody in the region knows that Pakistan is involved with a massive supply of military weapons and has been since the very beginning of the Taliban.
And let me just note that that same area, Bamian, where I tried to help those people who are opposed to the Taliban; Bamian now is the headquarters of Mr. Bin Laden. Surprise, surprise! Everyone in this committee has heard me, time and again over the years, say, unless we did something, Afghanistan was going to become a base for terrorism and drug dealing. And, Mr. Chairman, how many times did you hear me say that this administration either ignored that or -- a part of the problem, rather than part of the solution?
Again, let me just -- I am sorry Mr. Inderfurth is not here to defend himself -- but let me state for the record: At a time when the Taliban were vulnerable, the top person of this administration, Mr. Inderfurth, and Bill Richardson, personally went to Afghanistan and convinced the anti-Taliban forces not to go on the offensive and, furthermore, convinced all of the anti-Taliban forces, their supporters, to disarm them and to cease their flow of support for the anti-Taliban forces. At that same moment, Pakistan initiated a major resupply effort, which eventually saw the defeat, and caused the defeat, of almost all of the anti-Taliban forces in Afghanistan.
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"The Sith went to Afghanistan you say.....possible yes....Castro has no money"
Ghhen-heral Santa Ana Richardson: ....."They're only Chickens"!
Today Fox reports North Korea announces further production of nuclear warheads and missile delivery systems--yet another triumph of the Crisco Kid's silver tongue.
Stephen King could not conjure up a more nightmarish ticket than She Who Must Be Oyveyyed and the Goiter That Ate Kim Jong Il's BS.
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