1996 12 the two agents who were originally sent by the FBI headquarters to Albuquerque to "assist" in the investigation of the Li Wenhe case were just novices. A prosecutor later described his cooperation with the first agent and said, "Working with him is like driving a dead donkey cart." Another prosecutor recalled his own experience and said, "He is simply a waste." However, this case has been handled by "dead donkey" and "waste" for several months, and senior officials in Washington know nothing about it. This investigation has been going on for 1 year, but the head of the FBI doesn't know it. In order to "prove" that Li Wenhe really committed the so-called "espionage crime" of "providing nuclear secrets to China", the relevant departments need to provide a copy of the "mail cover" sent by Li Wenhe. However, in order to obtain copies without "invasion of privacy", investigators need the approval of their superiors. It is such a simple routine procedure that the investigators waited for three months!
Of course, this bad habit of procrastination is nothing compared with the attitude of the FBI to the "spy" report of the Department of Energy. The Department of Energy is the initiator of the Li Wenhe incident. 1995, Nottola Trulock, former director of counterintelligence of the U.S. Department of Energy, singled out Li Wenhe for scrutiny as a spy according to a so-called report called "Like-minded Analysis Group (KSAG)", and provided the FBI with materials about "Li Wenhe was guilty of espionage". But it is such an important "report" that concerns the whole case. The officials and agents involved in the investigation of the case actually turned a deaf ear to this, and took it for granted that 59 charges such as "espionage" were added to Li Wenhe's head!
What's even more puzzling is that Louis Fritsch, director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, didn't know that his subordinates were investigating a China scientist named Li Wenhe until the end of 1998-at this time, the investigation of the Li Wenhe case had been launched 1 for many years. 1996 all the orders to investigate Li Wenhe's "mail cover" were operated by his subordinates! The so-called "basis" of the KSAG report by the FBI is that although China has made rapid progress in the development of nuclear weapons in recent years, "China can't complete the triple jump by its own nuclear scientists, so there must be American technology here to refuel". Li Wenhe, a nuclear scientist born in Taiwan Province Province, has been to China to discuss and communicate with nuclear scientists in China. In addition, he also has "convenient conditions to contact, download and transmit top secret information, and it is entirely possible to leak the most advanced nuclear weapons technology information of the United States to China".
In this way, this subjective report made Li Wenhe the focus of many "suspects", and the FBI accepted the conclusion of the Department of Energy "without any doubt or hesitation". At this point, the Li Wenhe case went astray from the beginning. The irresponsible attitude of the FBI in this trial not only "shames the whole country of the United States", but also reminds people of the recent mismanagement of weapons, computers and even confidential information within the FBI. On August 13, the US Department of Justice finally exonerated Li Wenhe, "criticizing" the US Federal Bureau of Investigation for dereliction of duty and creating unjust, false and wrong cases. The image of the FBI in people's minds has been greatly reduced, and it has really fallen into a passive position, and the voice of condemnation is endless.