ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, January 28, 1997 TAG: 9701280084
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-3 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: WASHINGTON
SOURCE: Associated Press
The FBI has suspended a scientist-agent whose charges led to a still-secret Justice Department report critical of the FBI crime laboratory. Three other lab workers were removed from their positions because of the report.
A Republican senator said Monday the suspension of whistleblower Frederic Whitehurst ``appears to be a reprisal.'' An FBI statement released Monday night denied the actions were taken ``in retaliation for the actions of any employee.''
The FBI statement did not identify any of the employees by name and said only that, based on the inspector general's findings, four lab employees ``who had major responsibilities in explosives investigations have been removed from their positions.'' They continue to receive pay and benefits while the bureau decides whether or not they engaged in misconduct.
The three employees, other than Whitehurst, were transferred out of the FBI lab but not suspended, according to several officials, who requested anonymity.
The FBI said it ``does not believe any of the problems cited by the inspector general will preclude anyone from receiving a fair trial'' and disputes those who say the problems ``have compromised any past, present or future prosecutions.''
Whitehurst, once an FBI crime lab supervisor, was placed on administrative leave with pay Friday afternoon and barred from entering any FBI building, even as a guest, according to a letter from acting lab Director Donald Thompson Jr. The FBI took Whitehurst's badge and gun, said his lawyer, Stephen Kohn.
The action came just days after FBI Director Louis Freeh received a report from the Justice Department's inspector general that officials said criticizes the work of some FBI lab employees and a report from a special investigative counsel who looked into an alleged press leak by Whitehurst.
Thompson's letter said only that Whitehurst was suspended ``pending our review of information in the possession of the Department of Justice'' and added that the move ``does not indicate that you have engaged in any inappropriate conduct.''
Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, chairman of a Judiciary subcommittee on administrative oversight, wrote Freeh on Monday to demand that FBI officials appear today in his office to justify the action against Whitehurst.
``Recently, a Department of Justice official knowledgeable about the IG's investigation told me privately that Dr. Whitehurst had done a service for his country in bringing forth his information,'' Grassley wrote.
``The action taken by the FBI implies that he is being punished for `committing truth.' It appears to be a reprisal for his disclosures,'' Grassley wrote.
The inspector general hired a panel of outside scientists to evaluate the work of the lab after Whitehurst alleged in late 1995 that a pro-prosecution bias and mishandling of evidence may have tainted crime lab work or testimony on several high-profile federal cases. These include the World Trade Center bombing, the mail-bomb killing of a federal judge and a civil rights lawyer, and the Oklahoma City federal building bombing.
LENGTH: Medium: 63 linesby CNB