When confronted with details of the matter Thursday morning, Cleveland resigned from Lawrence Livermore, officials said. Susan Houghton , a spokeswoman for Livermore, said a security official had chosen to resign Thursday morning, but she would not confirm the name of the official because of privacy concerns.
Houghton said that all the work the official had been involved in was being reviewed to make sure that no national security secrets had been compromised.
She did not name Cleveland as the former agent. According to the FBI affidavit, Cleveland -- who was not specifically named -- was part of a bizarre love triangle.
While still with the FBI, he had learned from his own informant that Leung had been in contact with a Chinese citizen believed to be engaged in espionage and known by a code name of "Mao. Cleveland passed this information on to Smith, tipping him off in that Leung may have been a double agent. Smith, however, carried on with the relationship.
It is not clear when Cleveland and Leung's relationship ended. But according to court documents, Cleveland resumed his affair with Leung after he knew of her alleged contact with Chinese intelligence.
Susan Houghton , a spokeswoman for Lawrence Livermore , said the lab has "been working closely with the FBI on this situation. Smith and his relationship with an alleged spy for the Chinese government, Katrina Leung. She is a Los Angeles businesswoman and suspected double agent who reportedly was romantically involved with both Smith and Cleveland. A federal affidavit does not say when Cleveland began a relationship with Leung, But it indicates that the romance occurred over many years at the same time she was involved with Smith.
Federal law enforcement officials said Cleveland, while working as an expert on Chinese counterintelligence for the FBI, suspected as early as that Leung was a double agent. Documents in the case assert that Smith continued the relationship. Both Smith and Leung were arrested Wednesday, he for gross negligence and she for spying.
All of Cleveland's equipment at Lawrence Livermore has been confiscated and his office sealed. His security clearance was suspended by the Department of Energy. She claimed contacts with some 2, Chinese officials over the years and frequently visited China, where she was often seen with high-ranking government officials. Smith was involved in several high-profile Chinese counterintelligence investigations, including allegations that China tried to use campaign contributions to influence U.
The government says Leung provided the Chinese with information from FBI files regarding Chinese fugitives, a telephone list of agents involved in an espionage case, lists of agents serving at overseas posts and other classified information.
FBI officials learned in through an intercepted telephone call that Leung was giving classified information to her Chinese handler, code-named "Mao. Cleveland, who retired in , is not charged in the case and is said to be cooperating. But he did lose his position as chief of security at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California after the story broke in April. The FBI is conducting an internal review to determine what happened after officials learned that Leung was apparently a double agent.
There was a meeting at FBI headquarters in regarding the case, but court documents say the matter was left to Smith to address and he provided assurances that it had been resolved. The FBI also is conducting an exhaustive review of all its intelligence assets, including some use of lie detectors, to determine the quality and validity of the information they are providing. Fine to perform a review of the management issues raised by the Leung breach. The first question people will ask is why isn't this an out-and-out espionage case, why just a gross negligence and wire fraud case.
I suspect it has something to do with the level of intent necessary. Prosecutors must feel they cannot prove that Smith intentionally spied or even had any criminal intent when he allegedly allowed his lover to look at certain documents.
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