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Uranium Smuggling by ABC News Might Incur Criminal Charges U.S. officials are examining the possibility of bringing criminal charges against ABC News reporters who, for the second consecutive year, smuggled depleted uranium into the United States for a report on ineffective port security that is scheduled to air tonight (see GSN, Sept. 13, 2002). “We believe ABC News may have broke[n] the law and we are pursuing the appropriate course of action,” said Homeland Security Department spokesman Dennis Murphy. “It is a question whether or not journalists should be breaking the law in the pursuit of a news story. It’s not right for a reporter to rob a bank to prove the bank has lax security,” he added. ABC investigative correspondent Brian Ross and his producers shipped about 15 pounds of depleted uranium — which cannot be used to develop nuclear weapons — from Jakarta to Los Angeles in a falsely labeled package. They placed the uranium in a lead-lined, steel pipe for transport. If properly licensed, depleted uranium may be shipped legally. The container was not opened in Jakarta or the United States, despite being targeted for screening by U.S. border officials. The depleted uranium emitted a radiation signature that would be similar to nondepleted uranium packaged with a thicker shielding. “In our view, we do not believe we are in violation of the law because it was not our intent to defraud the U.S. government, to smuggle in contraband or to avoid duties,” said ABC News Vice President Jeffrey Schneider. “It was to test the system,” he added. Republican Senator Charles Grassley (Iowa) wrote to Attorney General John Ashcroft to support the ABC News report. “When the media are involved, I would urge that significant caution must be used by the federal government to ensure that legitimate reporting is not chilled,” Grassley wrote. “While embarrassed government bureaucrats may not think so, the country benefits from government mismanagement being exposed,” he added (Associated Press/USA Today, Sept. 11).
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