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.
Do any of you research minded folks know anything about this? Seems those tolerant liberals at the University of California got a little restless over the weekend...
You may find this interesting.
This is outrageous! I hope this poor man recovers and I hope the people who beat him are found and jailed--forever!
Now they need to go in there and do a thorough investigation on every swinging Richard in that program.
Earlier threads have posited a Chinese connection.
Wen Ho Lee ring a bell?
.......wow,....this sounds like it came from Felt's Washington Post....staff?
Now don't be so hard on Director Kuckuck. It's what a lib SAYS, not what he does, that matters.
No, but Bill Richardson does even though he might not be Chinese.
I doubt it. This appears more to be a garden-variety financial mismanagement situation. The lady who 'accidentally' charged a Mustang on a lab credit card comes to mind. I saw a thread earlier this evening on that situation.
Mike
Los Alamos Lab Whistleblower Beaten
Jun 6, 10:50 PM (ET)
By DEBORAH BAKER
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) - A Los Alamos lab whistleblower scheduled to testify before Congress about alleged financial irregularities was badly beaten outside a bar - an attack his wife and lawyer believe was designed to silence him.
Police and the FBI said that they were investigating the circumstances of the incident which, according to his wife, left Tommy Hook hospitalized Monday with a broken jaw and other injuries.
Police Deputy Chief Eric Johnson said officers found Hook after responding to a reported assault at the Cheeks Night Club about 2 a.m. Sunday. He provided few other details.
"We are working jointly with the FBI, trying to determine what may have happened and what the assault may have stemmed from," Johnson said. FBI spokesman Bill Elwell described the agency's inquiry as preliminary.
Hook's wife, Susan, alleged the assailants told her husband during the attack: "If you know what's good for you, you'll keep your mouth shut."
Tommy Hook and another whistleblower sued the University of California in March, alleging that after they uncovered management failures, university and lab managers tried to make their jobs miserable so they would quit.
Hook, a former internal auditor who now works at another job at the lab, had been scheduled to testify before the House Energy and Commerce Committee later this month.
According to Susan Hook, her husband received a call late Saturday from someone wanting to meet with him at a bar. She said her husband told her the man never showed up, but that as he was leaving the parking lot, a group of men pulled him from his car and beat him.
"They left him in the parking lot for dead," said Tommy Hook's lawyer, Robert Rothstein.
Rothstein said the assailants didn't take Hook's wallet, other personal belongings or car. Without any other motive, it appears the beating was related to his whistleblowing, Rothstein contended.
Susan Hook said her husband did not frequent bars.
Los Alamos lab spokesman Kevin Roark called the beating a "senseless and brutal act and should not be tolerated."
The lab and UC also issued a joint statement decrying the violence. "Director (Robert) Kuckuck, the University of California and the laboratory believe that any form of physical violence toward an individual is unacceptable," the statement read.
Apparently, UC is in danger of losing the contract for oversight of Los Alamos because of financial mismanagement there, which guys like Hook are exposing. The Chicom penetration there is jeopardized by the change.
I wonder if the Arkancide gang was involved.
I think the entire Clinton cabinet is honorary Chinese. ;^)
That's certainly a possibility. I was thinking of the more direct link.
Hmmmmm.schwarzenegger has been on the unions lately...http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1325949/posts
Kuckuck is new to Los Alamos...was appointed as interim director in May. He was formerly at Lawrence Livermore Nat'l Lab.
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