Posted on 06/07/2005 3:28:53 AM PDT by ovrtaxt
Los Alamos Whistleblower Severely Beaten
NewsMax.comA Los Alamos National Laboratory whistleblower who has uncovered irregularities involving millions of dollars of taxpayer money at the government-backed facility was brutally beaten this past weekend.
Tuesday, June 7, 2005
According to several news reports, auditor Tommy Hook was violently attacked by three or four anonymous assailants, who allegedly ordered him to keep quiet.
Hook was scheduled to testify before Congress later this month, but is now in the hospital.
Story Continues Below
On Saturday night, Hook went to a Santa Fe bar, ostensibly to meet a person claiming to be a fellow Los Alamos whistleblower, who called that night.
Hook's wife, Susan, said her husband did not frequent bars.
When the person did not show up, Hook left the bar after consuming two drinks.
In the parking lot, he was yanked out of his car and beaten so badly by 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 feels that the men would have killed him if a club employee hadn't run from the club and stopped the beating.
Congressional staff members were set to arrive Tuesday in Los Alamos to investigate Hook's allegations of malfeasance at the lab.
Hook and another whistleblower sued the University of California, which manages Los Alamos, in March, alleging that after they uncovered management failures, university and lab managers tried to make their jobs miserable so they would quit.
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 of the 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.
She 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 GovExec.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 for 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 neither her husband's wallet, cell phone nor car were taken.
It is because I'm not close to the case that I'm not going to jump to conclusions or believe everything I read. I have absolutely no idea what kind of person Hooker is and who he associates with. I will question everything until I get some answers that sound plausible to me.
Well, I think you are delusional, so that makes it even. You obviously don't associate with mousey little number-crunching lab workers on a daily basis. This is not their style. This is the work of someone likely involved heavily with money and power. I reserve judgement until I learn more, but if this was business and not personal, then whoever did this was likely not associated directly with LANL or UC, but was hired muscle from outside the system and paid by someone with real power and the ability to make things happen and have people disappear. If you were that person, you would not put your trust in some mousey little lab workers from India or China to do get the job done, but find some professional thugs who can't be easily connected back to you.
That link seems to be where the Los Alamos workers can 'vent' or something. Haven't had the time yet to fully explore there.
Also, if Wackenhut is still in charge of security at Los Alamos, there is much evidence of klintler ties.
I think I'm misunderstanding you or visa-versa...Tommy Hook was beaten up by hired thugs. Those doing the looting most likely through research labs, wouldn’t do their own dirty work......
LANL Worker Beaten at Club; Whistle-Blower Told To Keep Mouth Shut
By Adam Rankin
Journal Northern Bureau
A Los Alamos National Laboratory whistle-blower scheduled to meet with a congressional investigator this week was severely beaten early Sunday by a group of men he says told him to keep his mouth shut.
Tommy Hook, a 23-year LANL employee, has a broken jaw, a herniated disc in his back, broken teeth, can barely talk and fades in and out of consciousness, said his wife, Susan. He was assaulted outside Cheeks, a strip club on Santa Fe's Cerrillos Road.
"When they were beating him up, they were telling him he needed to keep his mouth shut," she said. " 'If you know what is good for you, you will keep your mouth shut,' '' she said the attackers told her husband.
Hook has filed for whistle-blower protection with the Department of Energy over what he says was retaliation for information he provided on alleged financial irregularities at LANL. He also has a lawsuit alleging retaliation pending against the University of California-run lab.
[...]
Full Story
http://www.lanl-the-real-story.blogspot.com/
LANL worker attackedROGER SNODGRASS, roger@lamonitor.com, Monitor Assistant Editor
A clandestine meeting at a Santa Fe nightspot late Saturday ended in violence for a Los Alamos man Sunday morning.
Only days before he was scheduled to meet with a congressional investigator to prepare testimony for an upcoming oversight committee hearing, Tommy Hook, a project manager and senior auditor at Los Alamos National Laboratory, was viciously beaten by several assailants, his wife and lawyer said Monday.
Susan Hook, and Bob Rothstein, an attorney representing her husband Tommy Hook in a suit filed against the University of California in early March, said the incident took place after midnight Sunday morning in the parking lot of Cheeks, a topless bar in Santa Fe.
"They left me for dead," Hook told his wife afterward.
The facts of the case are under investigation by the Santa Fe Police Department and the FBI.
Susan Hook and Rothstein said the assault was intended to silence Tommy Hook's testimony.
They were joined at a news conference by Chuck Montano, another laboratory auditor, and co-plaintiff in the civil suit alleging retaliation by LANL managers and UC.
"I don't think the UC would put out a contract," he said, "but they are responsible because they allow whistleblowers to become targets."
Susan Hook said her husband was barely able to speak, audible only by getting very close and asking him to repeat what he was saying.
Rothstein said Tommy Hook had been lured from home, after going to bed Saturday, to meet with an informant who had promised information related to Hook's investigation.
The contact, made through an intermediary described as a "friend," had failed to show for a meeting.
Susan Hook was spending the night in Albuquerque visiting the couple's two sons. She said she had talked to her husband about 9:30 p.m., as he was preparing for bed.
When she saw him next in a secured hospital room at St. Vincent's hospital in Santa Fe, his face was battered with a boot mark still visible on his right jaw and temple.
Hook waited at Cheeks for over an hour, Rothstein said, but then went out to the parking lot to leave.
Based on the victim's description, Rothstein said one attacker was very large. He said there were between four and six people involved.
"They kept telling him to start keeping his mouth shot," said Susan Hook. An employee of the bar was said to have intervened.
Rothstein said the employee had taken down one license plate number, a partial number on another vehicle and a description of a third vehicle used by the attackers. Police and an emergency vehicle were summoned.
Susan Hook said her husband would not have known what kind of place Cheeks is.
"We just don't go to bars," she said. "It wouldn't have crossed his mind."
Susan Hook said the couple's 30th wedding anniversary was on Saturday and they had been saving for a year for a cruise.
Santa Fe Deputy Police Chief Eric Johnson said this morning that detectives were following the leads in the case and thought they might have more information available before the end of the day.
He said anybody with information can contact Det. George Ortiz, the investigative officer at 955-5038, or the dispatcher at 428-3710.
LANL and UC issued a joint statement Monday, expressing outrage that a laboratory employee had been assaulted.
A statement said, "Director Kuckuck, the University of California and the laboratory believe that any form of physical violence toward an individual is unacceptable."
Lab spokesman Kevin Roark said today, "Finding out who did this and why is a job for law enforcement. The lab is going to cooperate and participate at any level required, because finding out who and why is as important for us as anyone. This is a job for the cops and no one else."
FBI special agent Bill Elwell, media coordinator for the Albuquerque office, said the bureau had been contacted by Rothstein in the latter part of Sunday.
"We thought it would be prudent to assign an agent to coordinate with the Santa Fe Police Department to determine if there might be something of interest to us," Elwell said, adding that any evidence of a federal crime would be submitted to the U.S. Attorney.
You betcha, fellow time traveller!
Great!!!
Thanks. It SURE IS a comfort knowing I travel in such GOOOD company!
ALBUQUERQUE -- The Los Alamos whistle blower says he won't be intimidated after he was brutally beaten over the weekend. However, KRQE News 13's has learned investigators are now questioning Tommy Hook's story.Hook insists the beating at a Santa Fe strip club over the weekend was brought on because he is scheduled to talk to congress next week. But investigators now say there are inconsistencies in the time frame of around the incident.
Hook says he was pulled from his car and beaten by at least four men last Saturday.
He says he drove the club after receiving a call from someone saying they were a Los Alamos lab employee. Hook says the caller claimed to have more information that would useful to Hook as he prepared to testify before congress.
Hook says he was then attacked by a group of men.
"This individual was telling me I should keep my F***in mouth shut. And I immediately jumped to the lavatory when he said that that he was trying to keep me from not having me not talk in front of congress," said Hook in an interview with CBS News.
Hook was very emotional during the interview and had to stop several times.
Investigators have not said what exactly about Hook’s timeframe they find suspicious.
Hooks says he will not be intimidated by this beating and he will continue to talk about financial scandals at the lab.
Hook was originally scheduled to testify before congress next week.
The word is he got a lap dance in the VIP lounge and the parking lot thing arose from that.
The weekend his wife and child were out of town.
Cheeks is a war zone.
Notra Trulock is a whistleblower; Hook seems interested in misuse of credit cards, not all our warheads and legacy codes.
There's no need to beat up a whistleblower--look at Trulock, Code Name Kindred Spirit: Inside the Chinese Nuclear Espionage Scandal, Encounter, 2003.
Through all the O'Leary, Pena, Richardson Energy chaos, the ChiComs patiently absorbed everything we had and the congress was kept out of the loop by the usual suspects.
Trulock was never even spoken harshly to--let alone given a topless bar parking lot kickathon.
Usually it gets to lead coming back on the bouncers--
Our friend from the lab who remembers "land-surfing" at the underground tests finds Hook unconvincing.
I however am convinced--that it was a good excuse to give his wife.
If there's a scandal at the lab, it's that the OEO REQUIRES the lab to employ Chinese nationals.
In other news--Governor Bill Richardson (who "cleaned up the lab") just spent 5 mil of NM taxpayers' money on his fast jet to get him to New Hampshire and the Big Show of 2008.
Hook is as much a victim as the runaway bride.
He's one of those Chuck Montanos who the left just love--the ones putting up the billboards and printing the bumper stickers to End the Nuclear Madness.
Gee, I never found Jane Fonda and Michael Douglas anything but propaganda in China Syndrome.
Interesting. Thanks for posting.
Interesting that you would mention most of the states where I've been. Although I've looked at positions at universities in other states and their labs were unionized.
Won't the lamestream media just find a way to blame Dubya for this, since this assault took place while he's in office? Man I hate this crap.
Yes, Los Alamos is definitely related to Clinton. It's all on my other computer; I'm sorry to say, but if you go to the China Report on the FR mainpage, there is a full chapter on Los Alamos in there.
There is an entire section of the FR China Report, and 4 subsections, dealing with Los Alamos.
A lot of what Inhofe mentions is fleshed out there. I should know; I was one of the folks who spent many hours compiling it.
Seems one perp has come out of the woodwork and lawyered up.
I think it's AKAL not Wackenhut. If that's the case, the klintler ties are even closer and so are Richardson's.
only to be rebuffed by an arrogant University of California."
They should loose the contract and all the subcontractors replaced just for this one thing alone.
Thank you.
Thank you.
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