Scientist sues for full disclosure after government releases most of his manuscript

By The Associated Press

08.20.01

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(Editor's note: On Sept. 4, U.S. District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan gave the government more time to scour Dan Stillman's manuscript to see whether it contains any classified information. He scheduled another hearing on the case for Dec. 18.)

ALBUQUERQUE — Most of a censored manuscript on China's nuclear arms program has finally been seen by a publisher after 19 months of U.S. security review, and the author is suing for full disclosure.

Retired Los Alamos scientist Dan Stillman's 500-page book, Inside China's Nuclear Weapons Program, has been shelved since January 2000 while the government wrangled over what portions ought to be classified.

Days after Stillman filed a lawsuit in June alleging that Stillman's constitutional right to publish the book was violated, the government cleared 85% of the manuscript for publication, said Stillman's attorney, Mark Zaid.

"That 85 percent has been seen by one publisher," Zaid said, declining to reveal the name.

Zaid asked the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., on Aug. 17 to order a public evidentiary hearing on whether the Defense Department, the Defense Intelligence Agency and the CIA had the right to withhold even 15% of the book.

"We would love to negotiate (the final 15%)," Zaid said, but added: "This battle should never have taken place in the first place."

Stillman, who worked at the Los Alamos National Laboratory from 1965 to 1993, made nine trips to China from 1990-99. The first three occurred while he worked at Los Alamos. The final six occurred after he retired.

"I was not operating as an intelligence officer or agent of the United States," Stillman says in court papers filed last week. "I was merely a loyal American citizen who served as a voluntary source of information (in debriefings after returning from China trips)."

Stillman, who headed the Los Alamos intelligence division for 13-1/2 years, said he carefully excluded any classified information from his manuscript, "which is why I did not include any analysis or comparison between the nuclear weapons programs of China and the United States."

Much of the material, he said, was already public. "In my opinion, nothing in my manuscript was or is classified."

Stillman said he willingly honored his old Los Alamos employment agreement to submit manuscripts for prepublication review. But that agreement stipulated that the review was not to exceed 30 days.

Former Los Alamos National Laboratory director Harold Agnew has said Stillman's manuscript should be published. He suggested the government may have been "embarrassed" by Stillman's success at getting information agents never could.

Stillman, 67, has said he merely asked Chinese scientists, and they answered virtually every question.

Zaid said the U.S. government security classification system has been shown to be "a farce."

"This case is evidence of how out-of-control the classification system is," he said in his written arguments.

According to last week's court filing, the Defense Department on Sept. 12, 2000, argued that the entire book should be banned, noting, "We have determined excisions will not correct the problems this manuscript presents."

Only after Stillman sued on June 18, 2001, and the Justice Department became involved, Zaid said, did the government authorize 85% publication. He said he received no explanation — just a call nine or 10 days later from the Justice Department informing him "a substantial portion of the manuscript is being released."

As for the blacked-out material, Zaid said, "in order to justify that decision, you have to articulate with reasonable specificity why that information is classified." And a hearing is the only way to do that, he said.

Obern Rainey, a spokeswoman for the Justice Department, declined comment because the matter is in litigation.

The autobiography of another former Los Alamos scientist, Wen Ho Lee, also has been undergoing government review.

Update

Courts can review government's decision to classify information
Federal judge rejects argument that court lacks authority to review Bush administration's decision to censor book about China's nuclear weapons program.  06.11.02

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Former Los Alamos scientist sues government for delaying book
U.S. officials say manuscript on Chinese nuclear weapons program could pose security threat, but secrecy expert says security isn’t blanket excuse to violate free speech.  06.19.01