Posted on 06/06/2005 6:52:41 PM PDT by CHARLITE
A Los Alamos whistleblower scheduled to testify before congress later this month is now in the hospital, according to news reports. Auditor Tommy Hook was brutally beaten by three or four anonymous assailants who allegedly ordered him to keep quiet.
On Saturday night, Hook went to a Santa Fe bar ostensibly to meet a person claiming to be a fellow Los Alamos whistleblower that called that night. When the person did not show, Hook left the bar after consuming two drinks.
In the parking lot, he was yanked out of his car and beaten so badly by the three or four men that he had to be taken to intensive care at a local emergency room.
Reportedly, Hook did not provoke these men. The men concentrated on kicking his head, and Hook's family has opined that the men would have killed him if it hadn't been for a club employee, who ran from the club and broke up the beating.
Congressional staff members were set to arrive Tuesday in Los Alamos to investigate Hook's allegations of malfeasance at the lab.
Tommy Hook remains hospitalized with severe trauma to his face and head, including a fractured jaw and a herniated disk. The FBI has been called-in to investigate the attack, and Hook is currently under close protective custody.
Congress Warned of Ill Treatment of Hook
Last March, Danielle Brian, Executive Director Project On Government Oversight (POGO) testified before the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations regarding a review of security initiatives at DOE Nuclear Weapons Facilities.
He especially focused on Hook and another whisterblower:
"I would be remiss if I did not report to the Committee that, while not a part of former Secretary Abraham's initiatives, the treatment of whistleblowers throughout the complex remains abysmal. 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.
"Their audit reports were withheld from DOE. Their treatment? Their work was taken away from them, they were given no work for nine months, and now they are only being handed menial assignments. Even the head of the Los Alamos Site Office tried to intervene on Tommy Hook's behalf, only to be rebuffed by an arrogant University of California."
According to a report in Exec.com, Susan Hook, the victim's wife, Bob Rothstein, his attorney, and Montano confirmed that Hook was at the club to meet with another employee who claimed to have information that would support charges of wrongdoing.
Susan Hook and Montano further alleged that the assault was absolutely connected to Tommy Hook's impending testimony:
"When they were beating him up, they were telling him ... 'If you know what is good for you, you will keep your mouth shut,'" said Susan Hook.
Rothstein recalled that a person claiming to be an auditor from Los Alamos had contacted Hook a week before and had offered to share information about financial issues at the laboratory. Rothstein said that one meeting had already fallen through, but the second was arranged on Saturday night at the strip club.
The nightclub's doorman ran into the parking lot and broke up the attack, according to a club employee who witnessed the beating. The employee said Hook was assaulted by a group of men.
Joint Investigation
Called to the scene, FBI Special Agent Bill Elwell confirmed that federal agents are investigating with Santa Fe police officers. He said they are "still trying to figure out" what happened at the nightclub. "We are looking into the allegations made by Mr. Hook," Elwell said.
Los Alamos issued a statement:
"The University of California and the laboratory are outraged that a laboratory employee was the victim of a weekend assault in Santa Fe. Director [Robert] Kuckuck was made aware of the attack this morning and expressed his hope that the individual will make a quick recovery"
"Director Kuckuck, the University of California and the laboratory believe that any form of physical violence toward an individual is unacceptable. The laboratory is in contact with the Santa Fe Police Department and is providing the laboratory's full support and cooperation with the ongoing investigation."
Susan Hooks said that her husband's wallet and car were not taken.
"Wen Ho Lee was another scandal complete with inept investigation and prosecution."
HHMMM...they threw the poor bastard in prison for over a year on the promise of the fed's claim of "national security" and all they can charge the guy with is failing to turn off his computer?
Fiddelsticks!
The greatest 'ineptitude' flows to those who are so willing to go along with the scandal, enemy-of-the-moment, neo yellow-peril swilling media jackasses, that they are willing to see the government lock up whoever the hell they want to.
Check out posts 27 and 57. Never mind. Nothing to see here- move along.
Poor guy. Prayers for him. That's awful.
Los Alamos needs to be shut down and locked up and every hard drive and scrap of paper examined to root out the nest of spies and then shoot them.
This is spooky...who's runnin' this show?
Here's the real reason that Clinton should have been impeached and convicted.
Well, hell, we all know New Mexicans suffer from Texas envy already, this is just going to make it worse.
(I KID, I KID. :))
I was wondering how many posts it would be until someone posted what's really at the heart of it.
The truth about what's going on will probably take more then 50 yrs to get out.
PS: Sorry I used to know how to link directly to a post but Jimbo changed things ... for the better but if any one knows how I'd appreciate a ping. ;-)
http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2003/12/22/24112.shtml
http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2003/12/22/24112.shtml
http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=32477
http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=25483
http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=29692
http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=25459
http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=25459
http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2003/4/30/172434.shtml
On second thought, just take it away from UC.
You have a Freepmail with an instruction on how to do that.
Hopefully this will really shake that place up. In today's society, images are so much more powerful than words. I pray Mr. Hook makes a quick and full recovery. But this may actually turn out to be a big blessing in disguise. It will bring a hundred times more attention to the problem than if he had just testified about the fraud and corruption at Los Alamos. Hopefully his actions and suffering will not be in vain. In my book he is a real hero, and I hope the government treats him accordingly.
"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.
"Their audit reports were withheld from DOE. Their treatment? Their work was taken away from them, they were given no work for nine months, and now they are only being handed menial assignments. Even the head of the Los Alamos Site Office tried to intervene on Tommy Hook's behalf, only to be rebuffed by an arrogant University of California."
Well, I guess that's why I didn't get the job at Los Alamos; I'd already found "irregularities and outright misconduct" at another State University...
Find those that did this and imprison them for the rest of their lives.
That poor man. They beat him half to death as a warning. He better get the heck out of there. These guys aren't playing around. There must be a lot of money involved to give someone a beating like that.
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