博聞靜思 物我一體
冷眼看世界 熱心過人生
2017年8月2日，克裏斯托弗·雷伊就任聯邦調查局局長（Source: Wikipedia）
給聯邦調查局局長的一封信：你犯了一個嚴重的錯誤
胡善慶博士
尊敬的雷伊局長，
2017年12月7日，你在眾院司法委員會聽證會上作證，並發表如下聲明 [1]：
“我們（聯邦調查局）是否會犯錯誤？我敢打賭我們會犯錯誤，當我們犯錯誤時，會有獨立的流程來驅動和深入探究這些錯誤的真相。如果完成了獨立的事實調查，我們會在適當的情況下讓我們的員工負責。”
作為一名退休的聯邦雇員，我真誠感謝你的勇氣和坦率，維護聯邦調查局及其35,000名員工的誠信，他們為保護我們的國家安全作出個人犧牲並冒著生命危險，日複一日地辛勤執法。
然而，在2018年2月13日參議院情報委員會聽證會上，你把所有華人留學生，學者和科學家都視為美國的國家安全威脅，是犯了嚴重的錯誤 [2]。
聯邦調查局局長的說話是有後果的。我高度尊重你追求和懲罰有罪人員。但是，就我所知道的美國司法係統，你也有責任保護無辜者。你這番言論無助於以上兩個目的中的任何一個。
你的前任利用宣傳運動作為執法的普遍手段。一批在學術界 [3]，聯邦政府 [4] 和私營企業 [5] 工作的無辜華裔美國科學家因此冤枉被捕，錯誤地被指控背叛美國這種最嚴重的罪行。雖然他們的案件後來都被撒銷，他們的生活和家庭已經遭受了嚴重的損害。
聯邦調查局向以高質量的起訴、執法而自豪。然而，製衡製度在（保護）這些美國公民時遭遇慘敗。也許禍因是人為錯誤和“附帶損害” [6]。也許這是聯邦調查局的偏見甚或邪惡目標，使他們作為中國崛起的替罪羊。不管原因是人為錯誤，隱含的偏見或明確的仇視，聯邦調查局一直沒有被追究責任，反而表現得好像這些案件從未發生過。
作為美國能源部的前任國家監察員，我經曆了20世紀90年代的考克斯報告 [7] 所創造的仇外心理，殃涉所有華裔美國科學家。你目前的“非傳統情報搜集人員”一詞與當時聯邦調查局使用的“沙粒群眾” [8] 非常相似。
據我所知，考克斯報告沒有抓到任何間諜。隨之而來的歇斯底裏在許多美國人，特別是在美國國家實驗室工作的華裔美國科學家當中，引起恐懼和憤怒。它對在洛斯阿拉莫斯國家實驗室的核科學家，一位美國公民，李文和博士造成了不可挽回的損失。
聯邦調查局魯莽指責李博士為調查中唯一的嫌疑間諜。盡管外國情報監視法院的聲譽就批準政府請求而言它僅僅是個“橡皮圖章” [9]，但聯邦調查局特工提供的可能原因就連這樣法院手令的法律標準也“從未達到接近”的程度 [10]。
經過九個月的單獨監禁後，李博士被審判法官當庭釋放，基於包括聯邦調查局在內的政府行政部門對李博士的虐待，作為司法部門一員的審判法官前所未有地向李博士表示道歉 [11]。
美國國會亞太裔美國人核心小組前任主席Patsy Mink（D-HI）在2000年的一次國會特別指令會議上發表了關於李博士的調查和待遇的講話。她呼籲對聯邦調查局的行為和做法進行審查，這事目前在國會記錄中仍然懸而未決 [12]。
作為一名亞裔美國人，我希望你的行為能夠符合聯邦調查局局長在2017年12月7日發表的承諾。包括亞裔美國人在內的美國人民將他們的信任和巨大權力賦予你身上，期望你會公正和公平。你也要對你自己說的話負責。
為了維護為其光榮職責兢兢業業工作的聯邦調查局人員的榮譽，為了維護聯邦調查局這一美國機構的信譽，我希望你在公開聲明和未來的國會監督聽證會上提供事實和證據，以證實你2018年2月13日的言論。
這也許是個奢望：基於華裔美國人，包括以前和現在的學生、學者和科學家，為美國社會的方方麵麵做出了許多積極的貢獻，希望你能夠重新審視你的群眾定性的政策。
本文中所表達的意見和看法僅是個人觀點。它們不反映任何美國政府機構和組織的官方立場或政策。
A Letter to the FBI Director: You Made a Grave Mistake
Jeremy S. Wu, Ph. D.
Dear Director Wray,
On December 7, 2017, you testified in the House Judiciary Committee hearing and made the following statement [1]:
“Do we (the Federal Bureau of Investigations) make mistakes? You bet we make mistakes, and when we make mistakes, there are independent processes that will drive and dive deep into the facts surrounding those mistakes. And when that independent fact-finding is complete, we will hold our folks accountable, if appropriate.”
As a retired federal employee, I truly appreciate your courage and frankness in upholding the integrity of the FBI and its 35,000 employees, who make sacrifices and risk their lives in protecting our national security and enforcing the law day in and day out.
However, you made a grave mistake in the February 13, 2018 Senate Intelligence Committee hearing by targeting all students, scholars and scientists of Chinese origin as a national security threat to the United States [2].
The words of the Director of the FBI have consequences. I hold you to the highest esteem to pursue and punish the guilty. However, you are also responsible to protect the innocent in the American justice system that I know. Your remarks will help neither purpose.
Your predecessor also used publicity campaigns as a broad brush approach to law enforcement. A series of innocent Chinese American scientists in academia [3], federal government [4], and private industry [5] were caught in the dragnet and wrongfully accused of the most serious crime of betraying the U.S. Although their cases were all subsequently dismissed, severe damage was already done to their lives and families.
The FBI prides itself in bringing high-quality prosecutions to justice. And yet the system of checks and balances failed these American citizens miserably. Perhaps they were human mistakes and “collateral damage” [6]. Perhaps it was the FBI’s bias or sinister objective to use them as convenient scapegoats for the rise of China. Be the cause human mistakes, implicit bias or explicit prejudice, the FBI has not been held accountable, instead acting as if these cases never occurred.
As the former National Ombudsman at the U.S. Department of Energy, I lived through the xenophobia created by the Cox Report [7] which implicated all Chinese American scientists in the 1990s. Your current term of “non-traditional collectors” is eerily similar to the term of “grains of sand” [8] used by the FBI at that time.
As far as I know, the Cox Report did not catch any spies. The hysteria that followed created fear and fury among many Americans in general, and Chinese American scientists in the national laboratories in particular. It inflicted irreparable damage to Dr. Wen Ho Lee, a naturalized U.S. citizen and a nuclear scientist at the Los Alamos National Laboratory.
The FBI rushed and locked into Dr. Lee as the only suspect in its investigation. FBI agents “never came close” to meeting the legal standards of probable cause for a warrant from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court [9], despite the court’s reputation as a “rubber stamp” for approving the government’s requests [10].
After nine months of solitary confinement, Dr. Lee was released by the presiding judge, who issued an unprecedented apology [11] to Dr. Lee on the mistreatment he received from the executive branch of government, including the FBI.
Rep. Patsy Mink (D-HI), former Chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, took the House floor and spoke about the investigation and treatment of Dr. Lee in a special order session in 2000. Her call for a review of the FBI behavior and practices is still pending in congressional records [12].
As an Asian American, I hope your deeds will match the words of the FBI Director on December 7, 2017. The American people, including Asian Americans, vested their trust and enormous power to you to be just and fair. You are also accountable by your own words.
For the sake of the FBI workforce dedicated for its honorable duties and the FBI as an American institution to be trusted, I hope you will further justify your February 13, 2018 remarks with additional facts and evidence in public statements and future congressional oversight hearings.
It may be hope against hope that you would also review the profiling approach by recognizing that Chinese Americans have made many positive contributions to every aspect of the American society. They include former and current students, scholars and scientists.
The views and opinions expressed in this article are mine and mine only. They do not reflect the official position or policy of any organization or any agency of the U.S. government.
參考文獻/References：
[1] YouTube (2017). House Judiciary Committee Hearing: Oversight of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. http://bit.ly/2GDsmdk.
[2] C-SPAN (2018). Senate Intelligence Committee Hearing: Global Threats and National Security. http://cs.pn/2ERs6Ki.
[3] New York Times (2015). U.S. Drops Charges That Professor Shared Technology With China. http://nyti.ms/1jFui9J.
[4] New York Times (2015). Accused of Spying for China, Until She Wasn’t. http://nyti.ms/1J3RKSe.
[5] Wall Street Journal (2014). Wire Fraud Charges Against Former Lilly Scientists are Dismissed. http://bit.ly/1OjNbf3.
[6] CBS 60 Minutes (2016). Collateral Damage. http://cbsn.ws/1Nvsii1.
[7] U.S. House of Representatives Select Committee (1999). U.S. National Security and Military/Commercial Concerns with The People's Republic of China. http://bit.ly/2EFgfM0.
[8] Washington Post (1999). China Prefers the Sand to the Moles. http://wapo.st/2GMEit2.
[9] Washington Post (1999). FBI `Never Came Close' To Threshold in Lee Case. http://wapo.st/2o8c9WG.
[10] National Public Radio (2013). FISA Court Appears To Be Rubber Stamp For Government Requests. http://n.pr/2HrtmSI.
[11] New York Times (2000). Statement by Judge in Los Alamos Case, With Apology for Abuse of Power. http://nyti.ms/2EVARmQ .
[12] C-SPAN (2000). Rep. Patsy Mink on the Investigation and Treatment of Dr. Wen Ho Lee. http://cs.pn/2oj2dsL.
作者簡介
胡善慶博士，資深統計專家和數據分析師，百人會董事，陳霞芬法律維權基金托管人。曾經在美國聯邦政府任職30多年，擔任過聯邦人口普查局、農業部、能源部、交通部和商務部的高管。
