Barton asks Bodman to sack embattled nuclear security chief

Barton asks Bodman to sack embattled nuclear security chief

Washington (Platts)--21Jun2006

Representative Joe Barton on Wednesday ramped up his demand that Linton
Brooks, chief of the Energy Department's National Nuclear Security
Administration, resign or be fired.

Barton, a Texas Republican who chairs the House Energy and Commence
Committee, asked Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman to demand Brooks' immediate
resignation. Barton also gave Bodman the option of asking President Bush to
fire Brooks.

"I urge that you ask for [Brooks'] resignation forthwith or request his
removal from office by the President," Barton said in a letter to Bodman
Wednesday.

"His conduct has substantially undermined both your constitutional
obligations and those of the US Congress, and the American people expect their
public servants to be held fully accountable for their actions," he wrote.

Representative Ed Whitfield, Republican-Kentucky, also signed the letter
to Bodman. Whitfield chairs the Energy panel's subcommittee on oversight and
investigations.

Barton and Whitfield first called for Brooks' removal on June 9, when
Brooks revealed at an energy panel subcommittee hearing that a computer hacker
stole the Social Security numbers, security clearances and other information
of 1,500 NNSA employees.

Brooks said the security breach occurred more than eight months ago, and
that he learned about it shortly after it was discovered. Brooks, though, said
he didn't tell Bodman about the incident until just before the June 9 hearing.

Barton, Whitfield and other lawmakers, likewise, were not told about the
eight-month-old security breach until only shortly before hearing.

Barton and Whitfield, in their letter to Bodman, said Brooks' failure to
immediately inform top DOE officials and Congress of the breech constitutes a
"dereliction of duty."

"It strikes us as likely that...Brooks' decision not to inform you fully
of the situation was, at least in part, his maneuvering to allow NNSA staff to
deliberately conceal this information from the [energy] committee," Barton and
Whitfield said.

DOE did not immediately return messages asking if Bodman would urge
Brooks to step down. NNSA, likewise, did not respond to messages inquiring
about Brooks' plans.

--Brian Hansen, brian_hansen@platts.com

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