Drug raid yields Los Alamos documents

WASHINGTON - A drug raid on a Los Alamos scientist's home in New Mexico turned up what appeared to be classified documents taken from the nuclear weapons lab, the
FBI said Tuesday.
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Police discovered the documents at the scientist's home while making an arrest in a methamphetamine investigation, according to an FBI official in Washington who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the case.

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The idea that police found classified documents at a home where a drug sting was being conducted is disturbing, she said.

"The problem is when you actually have those materials that are supposed to be protected inside the lab and you find them outside the lab in the hands of criminals — that should worry everybody," Brian said.

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Police found what appeared classified information from Los Alamos National Laboratory during a drug raid, according to a Project On Government Oversight tip confirmed by the Associated Press and CBS News last night. The incident is under investigation by the FBI.

“This appears to be a new low: even drug dealers can get classified information out of Los Alamos ,” said Danielle Brian, Executive Director of the Project On Government Oversight (POGO).

Since 1993, Danielle Brian has been the executive director of the Project On Government Oversight, a nonprofit government watchdog. She frequently testifies before Congress and appears in major national news outlets, including ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox News, Washington Post, New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, USA TODAY and National Public Radio. Brian has led numerous investigations that have exposed wasteful government spending and helped precipitate policy reforms improving government programs.

Under her watch, POGO prevailed in a lawsuit against then-Attorney General John Ashcroft for retroactively classifying FBI documents; forced the government to apply environmental standards to the super-secret Area 51 facility; forced the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to back down on its excessive secrecy regarding lax security at the Indian Point Nuclear Power Plant outside New York City; and has advocated for the rights of whistleblowers and other dissenters to have their voices heard.

Before becoming executive director, Brian worked as a producer for television documentaries, as a policy analyst at the Arms Control and Foreign Policy Congressional Caucus, and as a research associate at POGO.

Brian earned a master's degree in International Relations from the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University in 1990.

Inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2006.