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Los Alamos whistleblower severely beaten, warned to shut up [fs]


From: Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>
Date: Mon, 06 Jun 2005 19:52:28 -0400

See:

http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0606/060605d1.htm
The FBI and the Santa Fe Police Department are conducting a joint investigation into an attack Sunday on a Los Alamos National Laboratory who has alleged financial impropriety at the facility, according to law enforcement officials. Tommy Hook, an auditor at Los Alamos National Laboratory, was assaulted and severely beaten in the parking lot of Cheeks, a Santa Fe strip club, at about 2 a.m. Sunday. Susan Hook, the victim's wife, Bob Rothstein, his attorney, and Chuck Montano, a fellow Los Alamos whistleblower, said Monday that Hook was at the club to meet with another employee who claimed to have information that would support charges of wrongdoing.
[...remainder snipped...]

And here's congressional testimony from March 2005:

http://energycommerce.house.gov/108/Hearings/03182005hearing1457/Brian.pdf
Retaliation remains the norm, not the exception, as can be seen in the case of Tommy Hook and Chuck Montano, who have both worked at Los Alamos for decades. After the Committee’s three hearings on financial fraud at Los Alamos, the University of California was telling the public that all was resolved, while at the same time retaliating against these two men who knew otherwise. Hook and Montano were responsible for providing audit support for UC and uncovered ongoing irregularities and outright misconduct amounting to millions of taxpayer dollars.

So if Tommy Hook was in fact assaulted for whistleblowing, who arranged the hit? What organization had the most to lose?

More background:
http://pogoblog.typepad.com/pogo/2005/06/violence_agains.html

-Declan
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