Gov't ponders charging ABC News
'Primetime Thursday' tests theory of terrorist-secure ports
"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."
An ABC News spokesman said Wednesday evening that the story -- which airs tonight on newsmag "Primetime Thursday" -- was entirely legitimate and appropriate. "The role of journalists is to "probe and investigate the claims of people in all walks of life, including the government," he said.
In this case, investigative correpsondent Brian Ross wanted to test the Dept. of Homeland Security's thesis that American ports are largely secure from terrorism.
The Dept. of Homeland Security, along with the FBI, have a different view. Law enforcement officials said the smuggling of about 15 pounds of depleted uranium into L.A. from Jakarta, Indonesia, appeared to violate smuggling laws, including falsely declaring the contents of the sealed container.
Ultimately, the decision whether to prosecute rests with U.S. Attorney John Ashcroft, who has already received a letter on the subject from U.S. Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa).
"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," Grassley wrote. "While embarrassed government bureaucrats may not think so, the country benefits from government mismanagement being exposed."
The U.S. Attorney's office in L.A. is drafting a possible complaint, aided by the FBI and U.S. Customs authorities.
The depleted uranium was placed by ABC News producers David Scott and Rhonda Schwartz in a steel pipe with lead lining and put into a suitcase. The container, which was never opened for inspection in Jakarta, arrived in the L.A. port Aug. 23 and was flagged for inspection. The uranium, however, was not detected by normal security machines and the suitcase never opened, ABC News said.
U.S. law enforcement officials were alerted to the depleted uranium Sept. 2, after the suitcase left the port and was put on a truck. Alarmed by the appearance of an ABC News helicopter, the truck driver called his boss, who called federal authorities. The feds in turn descended upon the ABC's Los Angeles Bureau.
"Agent Susan Lane of U.S. Customs said she was there on the authority of the U.S. Department of Justice," said ABC News editor Ursula Fahey. "They wanted our people and they wanted the package."
ABC News -- which aired a similar border security test a year ago around the time of the first anniversary of 9/11 -- later voluntarily turned over the depleted uranium for inspection by homeland security lab technicians, who confirmed the material was harmless depleted uranium.
U.S. agents also sought, without warrant or subpoena, to obtain field tapes. The tapes had already been shipped to ABC News in New York and were not turned over to the government.
On Saturday morning, two U.S. Customs agents showed up unannounced at the Washington, D.C., home of nuclear physicist Tom Cochran of Natural Resources Defense Council, which supplied the depleted uranium. Cochran was quoted as an expert in the ABC story.
In the ABC News report, Cochran says that the highly enriched uranium used for nuclear weapons, would, with slightly thicker shielding, give off a signature similar to depleted uranium in the screening devices currently being used by homeland security officials at American ports.
ABC News said the package was designed to emit a radiation signature similar to live uranium that had a thicker shielding.
On Wednesday, a top official at the Dept. of Homeland Security told ABC News that truck-sized radiation detectors will soon be up and running, able to detect even small amounts of shielded depleted uranium.
