For Immediate Release
May 19, 2000

Washington D.C.
FBI National Press Office

Statement of Assistant Director John E. Collingwood:

The FBI has and continues to achieve extraordinary successes in the counterintelligence area. In the matter of the Wen Ho Lee case, FBI persistence lead to the current indictment.

On May 17, 2000, the FBI received an internal classified report produced by Federal prosecutor Randy Bellows for the Attorney General. The FBI is carefully reviewing the report, which is nearly 800 pages long and includes thousands of pages of attachments. In the meantime, information from the report apparently has been made available to the news media and cited criticisms of the FBI's handling of portions of the Lee case. These issues have been the subject of extensive congressional hearings and examination. It should also be noted that this review was limited to a portion of one investigation and by its own notation does not reflect a comprehensive review of the conduct by the FBI of counterintelligence investigations.

The problems identified with the early parts of this case have or are being remedied and substantial changes have already been made.

We have the highest regard for Mr. Bellows and believe his recommendations will further enhance our ongoing improvements.