Feds consider criminal charges after ABC News smuggles depleted uranium for investigative story

Associated Press | September 11, 2003

[HAL9000]

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Federal authorities are considering criminal charges against ABC News reporters who smuggled harmless depleted uranium into the country past Homeland Security screeners for a second straight year for an investigative piece on lax border security.

ABC News said Wednesday night it believes its actions constituted legitimate investigative journalism that highlights America's anti-terror security on the eve of the second anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks.

"In our view, we do not believe we are in violation of the law because it was not our intent to defraud the U.S. government, to smuggle in contraband or to avoid duties," ABC News Vice President Jeffrey Schneider said Wednesday. "It was to test the system."

The report by investigative correspondent Brian Ross and his producers is set to air Thursday.

Law enforcement officials said the effort by the reporters to smuggle about 15 pounds of depleted uranium into Los Angeles from Jakarta, Indonesia, appeared to violate laws, including falsely declaring the contents of the package.

"We believe ABC News may have broken the law, and we are pursuing the appropriate course of action," Homeland Security Department spokesman Dennis Murphy said. "It is a question whether or not journalists should be breaking the law in the pursuit of a news story. It's not right for a reporter to rob a bank to prove the bank has lax security."

Senior law enforcement officials familiar with the investigation, who spoke only on condition of anonymity, said agents of the FBI and Immigration and Customs Enforcement were helping the U.S. attorney in Los Angeles draft a possible criminal complaint in the case but that the decision would rest with Attorney General John Ashcroft's Justice Department.

Ashcroft, a former senator, heard from one of his former Republican colleagues, who suggested it would be irresponsible for Justice to prosecute the ABC team of reporters and trample on the First Amendment.

"When the media are involved, I would urge that significant caution must be used by the federal government to ensure that legitimate reporting is not chilled," Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, wrote Ashcroft. "While embarrassed government bureaucrats may not think so, the country benefits from government mismanagement being exposed."

Robert Lichter, president of the nonprofit Center for Media and Public Affairs in Washington, said he suspects the Justice Department ultimately will try to make its point without filing criminal charges.

"I suspect they will try to make the point that journalists working undercover are not immune from the law. The department could choose not to prosecute while choosing to condemn this behavior," he said.

Lichter said, however, that an American public still uptight about security may not be so forgiving. "I think the public has a low tolerance for breaking the law for any reason right now. It is not a good idea to test the patience of the public on an issue of national security," he said.

ABC News said it placed 15 pounds of depleted uranium, a harmless substance that can be legally imported with a license into the United States, into a steel pipe with a lead lining and placed in a suitcase for shipment from Jakarta, a city with substantial ties to terrorist groups, to Los Angeles.

ABC News said the carton was never opened for inspection in Jakarta and, though targeted for screening in Los Angeles, never opened by U.S. border security screeners, either. The news organization aired a similar border security test a year ago.

ABC News said it got the uranium from the Natural Resources Defense Council and the package was designed to emit a radiation signature similar to live uranium that had a thicker shielding.

ABC News said that once its package left Los Angeles, FBI and Customs agents descended upon the offices and homes of some of the ABC employees involved in the project, demanding the package be returned. The news organization said it eventually allowed the package to be inspected by the agents.

Murphy said the aggressive response after the discovery that ABC News had made the shipment was necessary to ensure Americans' safety, especially because al-Qaida has been known to use people posing as journalists to carry out missions in the past.

As for why the package of depleted uranium was never opened and stopped at the border, Murphy said the screening system actually worked fine because depleted uranium is harmless and not intended to be stopped.

"The package was successfully targeted for screening. We screened it with our equipment and it posed no threat and we released it," he said. "It was subsequent to our screening that we received calls from an anxious citizen and we pursued our investigation."

Murphy said Homeland Security is currently installing sensors that would detect lower level radiation, such as that from depleted uranium.

[Timesink]

ARREST BRIAN ROSS AND HIS PRODUCERS NOW!!!

Schadenfreude

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[thoughtomator]

Well, now. Treason by leftist media. Who would ever have thought it possible?

[Mo1]

"When the media are involved, I would urge that significant caution must be used by the federal government to ensure that legitimate reporting is not chilled," Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, wrote Ashcroft. "While embarrassed government bureaucrats may not think so, the country benefits from government mismanagement being exposed."

Sooooooooo .. it would be ok if Al-Jazeera used this excuse also???

[Richard-SIA]

Funny, I have never heard of any newsie being theatened with arrest for any of their "stings" on gun dealers, gun shows, etc.

It is a felony to solicit a felony, but the "news" has always been exempt from that law.

They routinely commit felonies in pursuit of "stories', particularly in pursuit of their liberal goals.

A double standard here because they exposed the myth of our Gov. Org. "security"?

[MindBender26]

Yeah, you are right, but it would be political suicide to do so. They were idiots all around.

[Ramius]

This whole thing is stupid.

A few pounds of depleted Uranium, wrapped in lead and steel would give off less radiation than would a box of swiss watches with glow-in-the-dark hands. It is simply nothing worth worrying about. This is a dumb story from people that have no idea what they are talking about.

The only reason it gets any traction with know-nothing reporters is because it contains the buzzword "uranium" which they think means something, but in this context means little at all. Depleted uranium is only slightly more dangerous than Lead, and then only if you eat it.

[Squantos]

Pay no mind to that man behind the curtain......... Note the word "harmless" in the first few words in the nooooooze story. Last week this stuff was deforming Bosnians and Iraqi's into democratic voters (mutants) by the bus load . It's toxic when fired from our DOD but harmless even to newborns when transported by our ABC..................

What's next ...... ABC reporter gonna shoot the president just to prove USSS sucks ?

These do as we say , not as we do sorts need to be held accountable to the same BS laws they impose and promote on us serfs ! Hang these SOB'S who daily do the recon for beating costly and already vulnerable security in the USA because they are above the law......what a bunch of BS !!

Stay Safe !

[Swordmaker]

Depleted Uranium is depleted... the radioactive isotopes have been removed. There is actually more danger from some old crockery that was finished with glazes made with uranium.

This makes this whole thing a crock!

[weegee]

The media elite have always thought they were above the law.

Some pigs are more equal than others. Back in line, you...

[Paleo Conservative]

Depleted Uranium is depleted... the radioactive isotopes have been removed. There is actually more danger from some old crockery that was finished with glazes made with uranium.

This makes this whole thing a crock!

You beat me to it. While Depleted Uranuim has the same chemical properties and is slightly more dense than natural uranium, it is not at all usable for making bombs. It is by definition what is left after U235 has been separated. In general radioisotopes with longer half-lives are less dangerous and give off less radiation than istopes with shorter half-lives.

Summary of Uranium Isotopes
Isotope	Percent in natural uranium	No. of Protons	No. of Neutrons	Half-Life (in years)
Uranium-238	99.284	92	146	4.46 billion
Uranium-235	0.711	92	143	704 million
Uranium-234	0.0055	92	142	245,000

[Ramius]

Do you have information on the comparative radioactivity of DU compared to other forms of U?

[Terridan]

"...can be legally imported with a license into the United States, into a steel pipe with a lead lining and placed in a suitcase for shipment from Jakarta, a city with substantial ties to terrorist groups, to Los Angeles."

Key words... with a license. But what the hell, California licenses have been compromised and are fraudulent anyway!
Today, Southwest Air advised that for years drivers licenses from other states have been given out to undocumented aliens. No way to check them! Oh well, we take our lives into our own hands now. But the idiots should be fired for missing, "A PIPE PACKAGE." What a no brainer.

[Movemout]

I think they should be arrested. DU is nothing but ultra hard bullets. The radioactive signature is not significant. The fraud that is perpetrated on the public is far more damaging, not that it matters to the public. ABC journalists are no mre relevant than Al-Jazeera.

[Paleo Conservative]

Do you have information on the comparative radioactivity of DU compared to other forms of U?

Refer to the table in my previous post. DU is mostly U238. Highly enriched uranium which has increased levels of U235 is useful for making high performance nuclear reactors like those on nuclear submarines or aircraft carriers. Weapons grade uranium is can be used to create nuclear weapons and is mostly U235.

DU has low enough levels of radioactivity that it is used in the armor of the Abrams tank. It is also used to make anti armor projectiles. In addtion to being almost twice as dense as lead, DU projectiles are self sharpening. When a DU round hits a tank's armor, portions of the outside of the round flake off and create a new sharp point that penetrates further. A lead round on the other hand tends to flatten out an dissipate its energy. The reason we have so much DU available to make armor an armor piercing rounds is that it is left over from making the massive amounts or enriched uranium used for US nuclear weapons and nuclear reactor fuel.

[Drammach]

Depleted Uranium has a lower radiation level than your own back yard. ( i.e., lower than "normal" background radiation.)
Your own basement may be more radioactive than DU as well, considering the possibility of radon gassing from the soil.

[hoosierham]

The gov't is p.o.eed that ABC showed how silly the "security screeners" are; The only way to be 100% sure is physically searching EVERY box,bag, etc, and there aren't enough people even if we hired all the illegal aliens from the south.

[American in Israel]

El Al not only checks every item but swabs them with nitrate detectors flying out of Israel. It can take an hour just to get through the security line...

[Diogenesis]

Nothing will happen.
ABC gave troop positions during battle leading to US deaths.

ABC helps -- and is -- the enemy.

[BUCKSBUD]

"In our view, we do not believe we are in violation of the law because it was not our intent to defraud the U.S. government, to smuggle in contraband or to avoid duties," ABC News Vice President Jeffrey Schneider said Wednesday.

This is BS it was exactly thier intent to defraud the government. Otherwise there would be no story.