I wish I had been stronger

Below is a partial transcript from a Democratic presidential debate on December 14, 2007:
http://www.democracynow.org/2007/12/14/i_wish_id_been_stronger_richardson
CAROLYN WASHBURN: Governor Richardson, you promote your experience as Energy Secretary among your credentials. During that time, though, there were serious questions about lax security at the country’s national labs, allegations that scientist Wen Ho Lee breached security at Los Alamos. You told Tim Russert in May, “We had some issues with the nuclear secrets issue and Wen Ho Lee, but I think, on the whole, I was a good Energy Secretary.” In this era when Americans are fearful about our national security, talk about that part of your resume.

GOV. BILL RICHARDSON: Well, and I will add that in twenty-five years in public service, there are probably many more other mistakes that I’ve made, but I want to say to you that when it was with Wen Ho Lee, this was the issue of protecting our nuclear secrets. And he did plead guilty. I do feel that he was incarcerated in solitary confinement—this was wrong. I tried to change it, but I didn’t work hard enough. The point is that we do have in all of our lives—as a congressman, as a UN ambassador, as a candidate, I’ve made a lot of gaps, and I’m glad you didn’t raise them. But, you know, I’ll stand behind my record as Energy Secretary. I brought compensation to workers that had beryllium and other contamination. I brought forth a renewable portfolio standard, the first one that says electricity has to be renewable in this country. We made air-conditioning 30% more energy-efficient. And there are some cases in the Wen Ho Lee, where I wish I had been stronger, but I don’t apologize for trying to protect our nuclear secrets, and we should have done a lot more.

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AMY GOODMAN: Some of Thursday’s Democratic presidential debate. That clip ended with New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson admitting he made some mistakes in the handling of the case of Wen Ho Lee, who was the nuclear scientist at Los Alamos of Chinese descent, falsely accused by the Clinton administration of spying for the Chinese government. As President Clinton’s Energy Secretary, Bill Richardson fired Wen Ho Lee, who was then arrested, indicted on fifty-nine counts, threatened with execution. He was held for 278 days in solitary confinement. Within a year, the government dropped fifty-eight of the fifty-nine charges. And a federal judge then ordered Wen Ho Lee’s release. In an unusual statement from the bench, he rebuked the government, apologized to Wen Ho Lee. Last year, the government agreed to pay him nearly $900,000 for violating his right to privacy by leaking information to the press.

When we interviewed Governor Richardson in September 2005 in Santa Fe, he was far less conciliatory about his handling of Wen Ho Lee’s case. I spoke with Governor Richardson at a studio in Santa Fe, New Mexico. At that time, he said, quote, he stands by everything he said and did in the case.

GOV. BILL RICHARDSON: This was a man that was convicted on several counts of tampering with classified information, so—

AMY GOODMAN: But the minorest of counts. I mean, what he was originally––

GOV. BILL RICHARDSON: Well, no, it was not minor. This is where you’re wrong. It was not minor. There were very sensitive nuclear secrets that possibly were compromised and were improperly taken from his computer. Now, the judgment of the judge, I believe, is speculative. But I stand behind the very strong actions that I took to protect our nuclear secrets.

AMY GOODMAN: So, you say the federal judge is wrong in saying that you are the probable source of the leaks?

GOV. BILL RICHARDSON: Absolutely. He’s totally wrong.

AMY GOODMAN: I mean, in the case of Wen Ho Lee, though, originally they said he could be a reason for the possible—well, like President Bush used in the argument for the Iraq war, he could be the source of a nuclear explosion, a bombing of the United States. And ultimately, when the judge freed Wen Ho Lee, he said he had been egregiously misled by government officials about what Wen Ho Lee was responsible for. And he was irate. He was enraged, the judge, I mean.

GOV. BILL RICHARDSON: Well, that’s his opinion. I believe that we acted properly in safeguarding our nuclear secrets. He was convicted on several counts. There were some mistakes in that case. It involved the entire federal government, and I stand behind everything that I did.

AMY GOODMAN: Gov. Bill Richardson. That was September 2005.

Albuquerque Tribune Interview

http://www.abqtrib.com/news/2007/feb/06/bill-richardson-tribune-interview/
Tribune: Some legislators have criticized you for raising money during a session, citing a state law that bars it. Federal law obviously trumps that. But some are saying that ethics should trump legalities in this, and that the moral thing for you to do is not accept money. How do you respond to them?

Richardson: Well, that's a partisan comment. That's unilateral disarmament. I've got to start raising money.

It's very clear that the law says that if I'm the governor of New Mexico, I don't raise state funds. I've always abided by that, but this is a federal race. This is a race that is national. This involves mainly traveling around the country and raising money - although I am raising money in New Mexico.

Tribune: One of the weaknesses out there that might dog you in a national campaign is the Wen Ho Lee case and the speculation that you were the source of the leak in the case. Are you concerned about that at all?

Richardson: Well, it's not a plus, obviously. But I believe I acted appropriately with Wen Ho Lee.

There were security problems at Los Alamos that still continue. But I believe there was - he did plead guilty to unauthorized use of classified materials. Perhaps the Justice Department and his incarceration may have been a little harsh.

Tribune: Were you the source of the leak?

Richardson: No, I wasn't the source of the leak. The media has many sources, and I've said I wasn't the source of the leak. You know, there were reports in the Asian press way before anyone ever talked to anyone at the Department of Energy. No, I wasn't the source of the leak. That's over with.

Hopefully, voters will see I was trying to protect our national secrets. I was the secretary of energy. You know, we've got these hugely important nuclear secrets that we've got to protect. There was continuous problems at Los Alamos. I tried to get them fixed. We made a little bit of progress, but obviously, there's still problems.

Richardson stands by everything he said and did

Here is a transcript from an interview on Democracy Now on September 5, 2005.
http://www.democracynow.org/2005/9/22/governor_richardson_says_he_stands_by
JUAN GONZALEZ: Governor Richardson, you were energy secretary during the period of the controversy over the Los Alamos scientist, Wen Ho Lee. As you know, he is now pursuing a lawsuit against the government, and is claiming that officials of the government leaked damaging information on him to several reporters. This is threatening to become another case of oppressed freedom, as the reporters have been ordered to reveal their sources by the courts, and—and your name has been linked at times, although you have said in sworn testimony, that you were not a source of the leak. I’d like to ask you what your sense of—if you can talk about the case at all, and also what your sense is of what’s happening to reporters in terms of the courts ordering them to reveal sources?

BILL RICHARDSON: Well, on that, Juan, because of the pending litigation, there’s hardly anything I can say. I would tell you if I did. But I stand behind everything that I said, and I did before in that case. But I strongly believe that reporters have the right TO have sources, and protect them. I believe what’s happened to Judy Miller of The Times and many other journalists have been jailed I believe is going to threaten not just first amendment issues, but the ability of the public to get information from the press on government officials.

So, I strongly believe that it’s important that we have protections for the press, protections of confidential sources. I suspect this is going to go all the way to the Supreme Court and my hope is that the Supreme Court continues to protect these first amendment freedoms.

AMY GOODMAN: But Governor Richardson, this is not only a case of freedom of the press and journalists protecting their sources, it is also a case of the destruction of the reputation of a man, Wen Ho Lee, who served almost a year in prison. Who, a federal judge has said you last month were the probable source of the leaks. What do you say to the federal judge. You say you stand behind everything that you did in this case. What do you stand by?

BILL RICHARDSON: I stand by that I wasn’t. Secondly, this was a man that was convicted on several counts of tampering with classified information, so—

AMY GOODMAN: But the minorest of counts. It was originally-–

BILL RICHARDSON: It was not minor. This is where you are wrong. It is not minor. There were very sensitive nuclear secrets that possibly were compromised, and were improperly taken from his computer. Now, the judgment of the judge, I believe, is speculative. But I stand behind the very strong actions that I took to protect our nuclear secrets.

AMY GOODMAN: So, you say that the federal judge is wrong in saying that you are the probable source of the leaks?

BILL RICHARDSON: Absolutely. He is totally wrong.

AMY GOODMAN: In the case of Wen Ho Lee, though, originally, they said he could be, a reason for the possible—well, like president Bush used in the argument for the Iraq war, he could be the source of a nuclear explosion, a bombing of the United States. And ultimately, when the judge freed Wen Ho Lee, he said he had been egregiously misled by government officials about what Wen Ho Lee was responsible for. He was irate. He was enraged, the judge, I mean.

BILL RICHARDSON: Well, that’s his opinion. I believe that we acted properly in safeguarding our nuclear secrets. He was convicted on several counts. There were some mistakes in that case. It involved the entire federal government, and I stand behind everything that I did.