Fired Los Alamos Nuclear Scientist Wen Ho Lee Freed; U.S. Government Now Facing Round of Questions
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Fired Los Alamos nuclear scientist Wen Ho Lee is a free man today. Now, though, it is the U.S. government facing a round of questions. Our national correspondent Tony Clark live now from Whiterock, New Mexico, with the latest on this case. Tony, good morning.</s>TONY CLARK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Bill. In fact, the focus really has changed, from being initially on Wen Ho Lee and whether or not he was involved in espionage, whether he was a spy stealing nuclear weapons secrets, to now why the federal government went after him with the vigor that it did and called him such a threat. Wen Ho Lee, this morning, is apparently sleeping late. We are a couple of blocks away from his home, trying to give a little bit of privacy in this, his first full day of freedom. Just a short time ago, the newspapers were still on the street in front of his house, the driveway, and it looks like he is taking it easy today. He told us yesterday that he was going to go fishing. He loves to do garden work, and so we expect that to happen. But I have got a copy of the plea agreement in front of me, and beginning September 26th he must sit down with government investigators and begin answering their questions for a period of up to, I believe it is, six hours a day for a 10-day period over a three- week period. He is going to be asked questions about why he downloaded the nuclear weapons data, what happened to the computer tapes that he had. He has indicated, through his attorneys, that the seven that were missing were destroyed, and investigators want to know more details about that. Last night, he was greeted by a crowd of maybe 100, 150 friends and neighbors. And his block, his street was blocked off. There were cheers, there were flags, there was a festive party thrown by his neighbor, Don and Jeanne Marshall (ph). In fact, Don Marshall said, during one of the last interrogations by the FBI, agents told Wen Ho Lee that was going to happen to him was that his family was going to leave him, his friends were going to desert him, and, according to Marshall, he was told he was going to be rot in jail. And what Marshall and his friends wanted to show him was that he had friends, that they had supported him all along, and that was he was very welcome coming home. And so, Wen Ho Lee starting a new chapter of his life today. Tony Clark, CNN, White Rock, New Mexico.</s>HEMMER: All right, Tony, thank you. Tony Clark again live there, just near the home of Wen Ho Lee this morning with us.