Hold politicians accountable

LETTERS

In my award-winning book — “Los Alamos: Secret Colony, Hidden Truths” — I describe in painstaking detail how a major fraud investigation was derailed at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in late 2002 when two seasoned criminal investigators, former law enforcement officials Glenn Walp and Steve Doran, were summarily fired after being employed by LANL less than a year.

Two congressional hearings ensued, ending with the lab’s parent, the University of California, paying Dr. Walp and Mr. Doran well over $1 million to remedy them for the injustice. But they were never rehired and what Congress failed to learn, in the process, was the truth.

To derail an ongoing criminal investigation, which is what happened when Messrs Walp and Doran were terminated, is obstruction of justice, the same that occurred when former FBI Director James Comey was fired earlier this year while investigating Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. A related investigation being spearheaded by Comey’s predecessor — secondlongest serving FBI Director, Bob Meuller — has recently resulted in two Trump campaign officials being indicted, both accused of seeking to undermine the United States, but still allowed to post bail and go home.

In contrast, former LANL scientist Dr. Wen Ho Lee, accused but never charged with espionage, was kept languishing in jail for nine months without bail, which I explore in detail, as well, in my book.

These shortcomings in our leaders and institutions, inconsistencies in governance and application of jurisprudence, are a glaring indictment of us all … a symptom, if you will, of our failure to hold those we elect accountable. Indeed, it is proof of the old adage that while power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely.