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Wen Ho Lee's Son and Lawyer Discuss His Future Plans

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CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: Here's a check of our top stories at this hour: Fired Los Alamos lab scientist Wen Ho Lee says he wants to go fishing and relax today.

He was released from a New Mexico jail yesterday after nine months behind bars. Lee entered a guilty plea to one charge of mishandling nuclear secrets. Fifty-eight other charges were dropped. Neighbors and family greeted Lee with banners and hugs and a party last night.

On this morning-after, his son, Chung Lee and lawyer Brian Sun join us from Albuquerque to talk about the developments in this case.

Good morning, to both of you.

CHUNG LEE, WEN HO LEE'S SON: Good morning, Carol.

LIN: Mr. Lee, if I could begin with you, how is your father doing this morning?

LEE: Well, actually I haven't seen them this morning. I last saw him last night. I work down in Albuquerque now. But, last night, he was doing great. He was doing a lot better than I thought he would be.

LIN: Was he surprised at Judge Parker's apology, yesterday, in the courtroom?

LEE: Oh, yes, yes. Everyone was surprised, especially him. He told me that last night. He couldn't believe the kind words that came from the judge's mouth.

LIN: Is that going to be enough for your father?

As I understand, under the plea agreement, he has agreed that he will not sue the federal government, but you still have the option of suing if your family can prove that he was targeted because of his race. Are you planning to?

LEE: Well, we have a privacy act suit that we are -- I think that's still pending. That's something we're going to discuss with our -- my parents and the family, and with our attorneys here. We'll see. LIN: I'm just wondering, if -- if there is any vindication in all of this, or do you want to be able to, in a very public way, make some sort of statement about your father and your belief in his innocence?

LEE: Well, I think the -- the judge took -- took a -- took care of that, yesterday. He said, pretty much, what everyone in the courtroom -- or lawyers and the family wanted the to say. He said it so eloquently. It was great.

LIN: Mr. Sun, do you believe that, as you client goes ahead with the questioning, which begins on September 26th, is there any chance there that something might go wrong and he might end up back in jail? Is he protected in any manner from that?

BRIAN SUN, ATTY. FOR WEN HO LEE: Well, we believe that this process, which is part of the agreement, will go forward and -- and successfully to the satisfaction of both parties. I think both parties entered into the agreement with that expectation.

Could there be a problem? there always could be problems, but we don't expect any.

Another thing, Carol, I might clarify, you just asked Chung about the status of civil litigation. I should make it clear that the plea agreement called for Dr. Lee to agree not to recover legal fees and expenses under the so-called Hyde Amendment. But, the privacy act lawsuit that Chung had alluded to is still pending and it is the present intention of Dr. Lee, at this time, to pursue that matter vigorously.

Although, in the next few days, I'm sure he'll be talking about it some more with the family and -- but at the present time, based upon my conversations with him late last night, I believe we will pursue that matter, which, again, focuses on unauthorized leaks by government officials to the media, which we believe greatly distorted the public perception of his case.

LIN: How would you describe his state of mind? Is he angry? bitter?

SUN: I wouldn't say angry or bitter. I would say this is a man who feels like something significant has been taken away from him, that is to say at least nine months of his life, held under conditions that would, I believe, all would agree, were the most onerous one could think of, in terms of how we incarcerate people in this country.

Judge Parker spoke eloquently about this situation, yesterday, when he apologized to Dr. Lee for his having been incarcerated for that length of time under the terrible -- what Judge Parker called draconian conditions that Dr. Lee was held under.

LIN: So, Mr. Sun, what sort of compensation would you be looking for if you were to win your suit?

SUN: Well, that remains to be seen, based upon the evidence that we will obtain from the government in discovery in that matter. The statute -- the privacy act provides for statutory damages for every violation that we can prove. And, as our complaint reflects, we believe there were numerous, repeated instances of unauthorized disclosures of information by government officials about this case, many of which were clearly distorted and untrue.

LIN: Chung Lee, in the days and weeks ahead, how is your father going to spend his time? Is he really going fishing? and why?

SUN: There is no joke about that. He -- well, he's going to tend to his garden. He's two passions in his life: his garden and fishing. And, he loves the outdoors, and that's -- those are -- that's the way he gets his exercise. And, he wasn't kidding about that. He -- I talked to him about it last night, he plans to go fishing this weekend.

LIN: All right, well, a good way to spend the days and weeks ahead until the questioning begins, September 26th.

Thank you both very much for joining us this morning.

LEE: Thank you, Carol.

SUN: Thank you, Carol.

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