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Posted on 11/16/2001 1:20:14 PM PST by Rebeckie

11/15/2001 Press Office

202-646-5172

COURT ASKED TO SANCTION BUSH JUSTICE DEPARTMENT FOR OBSTRUCTIONIST CONDUCT IN WEN HO LEE CASE

Repeated Obstructions In Defamation Case Against Accused Spy Wen Ho Lee

Contrary to Court Rulings, Bush Justice Lawyers Refuse to Make Witnesses, Documents Available

(Washington, DC) Judicial Watch, the public interest law firm that investigates and prosecutes government corruption, filed today a motion for sanctions against Bush Justice Department lawyers for obstructing discovery in a defamation case against accused spy and admitted felon Wen Ho Lee. Judicial Watch represents Notra Trulock, the former chief of the Energy Department’s intelligence operations, in his defamation claim against Lee and others for falsely accusing Trulock of racial bias in requesting that Lee’s actions be investigated.The case is before a federal court in the Eastern District of Virginia.

(A government inquiry, the results of which are known as the Bellows Report, found no racial bias. Over government objections, the Bellows Report was ordered released this past September by the court in this case.)

As but one example of the Justice Department’s obstructionist conduct, despite knowing since June that Reno would have to testify in this case, Justice Department lawyers waited until a little over a day before the Reno’s testimony was to take place before deciding that Reno would not be made available for testimony. Reno’s testimony was scheduled for last week. In the meantime, as former FBI Director Louis Freeh himself literally runs from Judicial Watch process servers, the Justice Department, contrary to any rule or law, has unilaterally said Freeh can not give testimony in this case. (If they testify truthfully, both Freeh and Reno are expected to provide helpful testimony for Trulock, by affirming that the government investigations of Lee were not racially motivated.)

“As with the Clinton Justice Department, there are many in the Bush Justice Department who believe they are above the law. We hope a federal judge will remind them otherwise,” said Judicial Watch Chairman and General Counsel.

A copy of the Judicial Watch motion for sanctions is available at http://www.judicialwatch.org/cases/trulockmtc.htm.

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