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.
Allegations? So the FBI isn't sure that Mr. Hook was beaten to a bloody pulp? This goes beyond banging your head on a wall a couple of times to get attention.
The man was unruly in the VIP lounge on the one weekend when his wife and child were out of town.
He's not the first or last person to go down for the count at that venue; but he's the first to claim being there as a secret agent man--that's rich.
Notra Trulock, Code Name Kindred Spirit, Encounter, 2003 [ntrulock is a FReeper] relates the Wen Ho Lee saga, and Trulock's attempts to get the FBI to investigate.
Hook's misfortune has nothing to do with the lab's perennial antipathy to security measures abetted by Hazel O'Leary et al.
A longtime lab denizen (who recalls "ground-surfing" underground tests) finds the matter "fishy", specifically Hook's claim of meeting for a document dump at this locale.
It's a story that any husband in headlights would hype.
We await the FBI producing the person Hook was meeting.
[Hint: Why didn't Hook mention the lap dance?]
And yes, your face gets puffy like that--but I reserve my concern for the legitimate whistle blower, Notra Trulock, who couldn't get all this attention--and it wasn't a camp stove; it was Wen Ho Lee holding all our warhead designs and legacy codes on "disappearing" disks.
I was glad to see that Dan Abrams featured this story on his program today. Bring this story out into the light and send those Los Alamos roaches scurrying for cover.
I was almost convinced by some other contributors to this thread, that this man simply got into a bar brawl, but after seeing Abrams' coverage, plus the interview with the wife, it looks like a very ugly (and dangerous) form of official government "hardball" for whistleblowers.
Thanks for your comment. Glad that you caught The Abrams Report on this topic.
Char :)
My bet it was the Chinese spies who don't want their free access stopped.
This is exactly the sort of information I was expecting to hear.
What's your source?
Maybe, but these people would kill anyone for a dollar.
Sickening what they did to this guy.
No kidding. What do they think happened? He fell down the stairs ... a couple hundred times?
Also, there would be less of a vigorous investigation for a beating as opposed to a missing person or a murder.
A number of witnesses called Jim Villanucci and Richard Eeds of the most popular talk show in the state on KKOB 770 AM Albuquerque on and off the air during the two hours devoted to the topic today 4:00 PM-6:00 PM Mountain.
Also, my underground test landsurfer from the lab found Hook's explanation "suspicious".
The fact that Hook is mentioned with Chuck Montano makes him a nut.
A whistleblower over camp stoves is beaten to silence him?
Or a fool in the VIP lounge made some errors of etiquette vis-a-vis a lap dance in the wee hours of Sunday morning resulting in yet one more Cheeks parking lot episode of COPS. . . .
LOL
My wierdshitameter instantly pegged too.
It's not that I am unwilling to consider the possibility that Hooks' beating was retribution, it's matter of believability.
A UCAL or Fed orchestrated conspiracy-to-send-a-message-to-whistleblowers story is harder to believe than a story about a pathetic drunk out of control during a lap dance.
Hooks' had already provided his scintilla of evidence. His appearance at a congressional hearing was all about publicity (making congressional investigators look like they were doing something). A pre-"testimony" assault on Hooks would just heighten attention. Why run the risk of having an investigation uncover a conspiracy? It's just not... proportionate.
Remember what President Reagan said --- 86% - 88% of the time-----
"___Shortly after a news story that implied he had given military secrets to China, he was arrested and accused of being a spy. Wen Ho Lee spent nine months in prison while the U.S. Department of Justice tried to prove a case against him. Eventually a plea bargain was reached and Lee was charged with one count of mishandling sensitive materials and released from prison."
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