The timeline of the Cox Report controversy is a chronology of information relating to the People's Republic of China's (PRC) nuclear espionage against the United States detailed in the Congressional Cox Report. The timeline also includes documented information relating to relevant investigations and reactions by the White House, the U.S. Congress, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and United States Department of Justice.
1995 June
Sometime in June, a walk-in agent for People's Republic of China intelligence services approached the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) office in Taiwan and provided them with an official PRC document classified "Secret" that contained design information of all seven of America's nuclear warheads.Report of the Select Committee on U.S. National Security and Military/Commercial Concerns with the People's Republic of China , Chapter 2, The "Walk-In", U.S. House of Representatives, Retrieved: April 14, 2006 President Bill Clinton's Director of Central Intelligence, John Deutch, was informed the following month.Gerth, Jeff and Risen, James, "China Stole Nuclear Secrets From Los Alamos, U.S. Officials Say" , New York Times, March 6, 1999
July
Clinton's former energy secretary Hazel O'Leary, Chief of Staff Leon Panetta, and deputy director of Central Intelligence George Tenet learned of the PRC's theft of America's nuclear warhead designs sometime in July 1995, but did not inform the president at that time.Risen, James and Gerth, Jeff, "U.S. Is Said to Have Known Of China Spy Link in 1995", New York Times, June 27, 1999
October
On or about October 31, the FBI first learned of the PRC's possible theft of advanced U.S. nuclear weapons designs.Department of Energy, FBI, and Department of Justice Handling of the Espionage Investigation into the Compromise of Design Information on the W-88 Warhead Statement by Senate Governmental Affairs Committee , August 5, 1999, Retrieved: May 29, 2006
November
CIA Director Deutch informed Clinton's National Security Adviser Anthony Lake about the PRC's theft of America's nuclear weapon designs sometime in November 1995. The president was not briefed at that time. In late 1995 and early 1996, United States Department of Energy (DOE) intelligence official Notra Trulock took his findings on the PRC's theft of advanced U.S. nuclear warhead designs to the FBI. Trulock made the discovery independently from the CIA while analyzing data from the PRC's recent underground nuclear test. A team of FBI and DOE officials then traveled to three weapons labs (Livermore, Sandia and Los Alamos) and pored over travel and work records of lab scientists who had access to the relevant technology. By February, they narrowed its focus to five possible suspects.
1996
In early 1996, Notra Trulock told CIA officials about his discoveries on the PRC's theft of America's nuclear warhead designs.
February
On February 14, a People's Liberation Army (PLA) space launch vehicle crashed, destroying the Loral Space & Communications satellite (Intelsat 708) it was carrying. PRC officials kept American investigators away from the crash scene at first, supposedly for their own safety. When the Americans were allowed into the crash site, they found the militarily sensitive encryption chips missing from the control box where they were attached. Encryption chips prevent unauthorized people from commanding, or receiving information from, satellites in space.Shmitt, Eric, "A Secret U.S. Device Missing After '96 China Rocket Crash" , New York Times, June 24, 1998 Loral and Hughes Electronics' engineers were accused of giving missile secrets to China in the ensuing investigation of the launch failure."Loral CEO frequent administration guest" , Associated Press, May 21, 1998Mintz, John, "2 U.S. space giants accused of aiding China Hughes, Boeing allegedly gave away missile technology illegally" , Washington Post, January 1, 2003"Boeing, Hughes settle technology transfer charges", Associated Press, March 6, 2003"Chinese Aerospace Official Denies Giving To Dems" , CNN.com, May 21, 1998
March
On March 27, Energy Department officials were notified by an American agent that it appeared the PRC recently stole U.S. neutron bomb secrets.Gerth, Jeff and Risen, James, "Intelligence Report Points To 2d China Nuclear Leak" , New York Times, April 8, 1999
April
Sometime in April 1996, intelligence analyst Ronald Pandolfi wrote a report for the CIA warning about military implications of Hughes Electronics' sharing of missile expertise with the PRC. The CIA decided not to distribute the classified report to select government officials, as is routinely done with intelligence estimates, saying it was insufficiently rigorous. The report would be kept from Congress until late 1998.Gerth, Jeff, "Old Concerns Over Data Transfer to China Get New Attention", New York Times, December 7, 1998
On April 13, the Energy Department briefed the White House about the PRC's espionage at Los Alamos weapons lab. A group of senior officials including Notra Trulock met with Deputy National Security Advisor Sandy Berger and told him that the PRC appeared to have acquired both W-88 nuclear and neutron bomb secrets and that a spy for the PRC might still be at Los Alamos. Berger later stated he did not inform the president of the espionage until July 1997, but did inform Congress in April 1996. The Energy Department also notified Defense Secretary Perry, Attorney General Janet Reno, and FBI Director Louis Freeh about China's alleged espionage during this same time period. According to the National Security Advisor's testimony to the National Security Committee, no one informed the president.Select Committee on U.S. National Security and Military/Commercial Concerns with the People's Republic of China , Chapter 2, Notification of the President and Senior U.S. Officials, Retrieved: June 2, 2006 Sometime in April, Vice President Al Gore's national security advisor Leon Fuerth was informed about the PRC's nuclear espionage at America's weapons laboratories. Some documents showed he may have been informed as early as 1995, though Fuerth did not recall a briefing then. Fuerth did not mention the espionage to Gore until March 1999.Gerth, Jeff, "China Stole Data, Report Concludes" , New York Times, May 21, 1999
May
On May 30, the FBI formally opened a criminal investigation into the theft of the W-88 nuclear design. Originally only 1 or 2 agents were assigned to the case and the inquiry made little progress over the rest of the year.
June
In late June or early July, the CIA issued an internal government statement that declared they may have misread their original analysis of the documents delivered by the double agent to their Taiwan offices and that China may not have America's weapons designs after all. The FBI, in turn, suspended their investigation of the matter (which had just started) for about six weeks.
1997
Sometime in early 1997, Energy Department intelligence analyst Notra Trulock learned of new nuclear espionage evidence. He attempted to contact newly appointed Energy Secretary Federico Peña about the information but was not given an appointment to see him until July.
April
The FBI issued a classified report that recommended background checks on foreign visitors to nuclear laboratories be reinstated. The Energy Department ignored the recommendations for 17 months.
May
In May 1997, Los Alamos laboratory scientist Wen Ho Lee came under suspicion, in what some later called a political character assassination. (He was a suspect since February 1996 in the FBI's investigation of China's nuclear espionage campaign.) He was promoted to a position that required an even higher security clearance than he already had. The Justice Department repeatedly refused FBI requests to tap Wen Ho Lee's phone and gain access to his computer over the next few months because there was insufficient evidence against him.Risen, James, "Though Suspected as China Spy, Scientist Got Sensitive Job at Lab" , New York Times, March 24, 1999 The judge in the case would later apologize to Lee. Lee took a plea bargain on September 13, 2000, to a single count under the Espionage Act 18 USC 793(e), withholding national defense information, in order to avoid the 'vagaries' of a jury trial, and all other counts were dropped.Sterngold, James, "Nuclear Scientist Set Free After Plea in Secrets Case; Judge Attacks U.S. Conduct" , The New York Times, September 14, 2000 Many considered Lee to have been seriously mistreated, and the president later apologized to him. Lee would go on to win a multimillion-dollar lawsuit against the government and the media for invasion of privacy. Former Sandia and Los Alamos laboratory employee Peter Lee (no relation to Wen Ho Lee) gave top secret information on antisubmarine radar technology away to Chinese nuclear-weapons experts during a May 11 lecture at the Institute of Applied Physics and Computational Mathematics in Beijing, China. Lee pleaded guilty to filing a false statement about his 1997 trip to China and to giving classified laser data to Chinese scientists during an earlier trip to China in 1985.Gerth, Jeff and Risen, James, "Reports Show Scientist Gave U.S. Radar Secrets to Chinese", New York Times, May 10, 1999
July
Sometime in July, Secretary Peña met with Notra Trulock who had new information about China's ongoing espionage at America's nuclear weapons laboratories. After the meeting, Peña sent him to see National Security Advisor Sandy Berger. Trulock then briefed Berger. Afterwards, Berger then briefed President Clinton about China's nuclear espionage campaign for the first time.
August
Sandy Berger went to China August 10.Almanac , CNN.com, August 10, 1997 Before he left, he assigned his NSC aide in charge of proliferation to assess the nuclear espionage situation. The aide later stated that, while the espionage had taken place, Trulock's briefing was only a worst-case scenario.
September
Sometime in September, FBI Director Louis Freeh recommended the Energy Department fire nuclear scientist Wen Ho Lee. They ignored his recommendation for 18 months.Risen, James, "U.S. Fires Scientist Suspected Of Giving China Bomb Data", New York Times Attorney General Reno opened a criminal investigation into Loral Space & Communications and Hughes Electronics' illegal transfer of ballistic missile technology to China.
October
On October 29, President Clinton certified that China was not engaging in the export of nuclear technology to non-nuclear nations, which allowed a 1985 Sino-U.S. nuclear cooperation agreement to go into effect in 1998. The agreement allowed for the shipping of nuclear power plant technology to China.Diamond, Howard, "Clinton Moves to Implement Sino-U.S. Nuclear Agreement" , Arms Control Today, January/February 1998 "This agreement is a win-win," Clinton said. "It serves America's national security, environmental and economic interests… It is the right thing to do for America.""Clinton OKs Nuclear Power Sales To China" , CNN.com, October 29, 1997
November
General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party Jiang Zemin completed his tour of the United States with a November 2–3 visit to Los Angeles. While there, he toured Hughes Electronics' main headquarters and manufacturing plant.Purdum, Todd S., "Jiang Does Business On Last Stop Of U.S. Visit" , New York Times, November 3, 1997 Hughes Electronics was fined $32 million in 2003 for illegally transferring missile technology to China in 1995.Gerth, Jeff, , New York Times, March 6, 2003