To Glenn Walp, the ex-cop brought in to stamp out corruption at the world's most important nuclear research center, it was obstruction of justice.
To Frank Dickson, the powerful chief attorney of Los Alamos National Laboratory, it was just a way of staying informed about an ongoing investigation of the facility.
The House Energy and Commerce Committee will decide who's telling the truth. Committee members heard statements from Dickson and several other current and former lab officials Wednesday in an attempt to sort out allegations of fraud, mismanagement and shoddy security at Los Alamos.
In his congressional testimony, Dickson agreed with Walp that he ran investigations parallel to the FBI's probes into fraud and theft at the troubled lab. He also admitted that he urged the FBI to speed up its investigations and that he tried to enter a top-secret facility where illicit goods were being kept -- a move that could have tipped off suspects that they were being watched.
But where Walp saw efforts to interfere with the FBI, Dickson claims there were only attempts to keep lab management in the loop about the investigations.
Check out my Wired News story for more on the Los Alamos hearings. And click here to learn more about what's been going on at the troubled lab.
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