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SECURITY STUDIES PROGRAM
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
292 Main Street (E38-603)
Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139

May 19, 2000

Mr. John Podesta
White House Chief of Staff
The White House
Washington, DC 20501
By FAX: 202 456-1121

Dear Mr. Podesta:

I am writing to inform you that Mr. Keith Englander, Chief System Architect of the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization (BMDO), is claiming that my letter to you of 11 May 2000 is now a classified document.

I have reviewed my 11 May 2000 letter to you and determined the following:

• Attachment D of my letter to you is a copy of the BMDO document "POET Study 1998-5, Independent Review of TRW Discrimination Techniques, Final Report." I can find no markings in this document that indicate it is classified. In fact it is instead marked "Unclassified Draft."

• I have also examined my Attachment C for documents that might be classified. Attachment C simply contains letters from the Defense Criminal Investigation Service to Mr. Englander informing him that the Department of Defense Inspector General uncovered evidence of possible contractor and government fraud.

• Attachments A and B contain my independent analysis of information derived from Attachment D. These attachments could only be lawfully classified if they contain classified information derived from either Attachment D, or perhaps Attachment C.

I therefore conclude that Mr. Englander is most likely attempting to illegally use the security and classification system to hide waste, fraud, and abuse by his agency, the BMDO.

If, on the other hand, classified information has been released in my letter to you of 11 May 2000, it is clear that this occurred due to the mishandling of classified information by the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization.

I would appreciate it if you would alert your colleagues at the White House about the claimed status of my 11 May 2000 letter to you and refer this matter to the Department of Defense Inspector General for immediate investigation.

Sincerely,

Theodore A. Postol
Professor of Science, Technology, and National Security Policy
Security Studies Program
and
Program in Science, Technology, and Society

Cc: Leon Fuerth, Assistant to the Vice President for Security Affairs,
FAX: 202 456-9500
Hans Binnendijk, Assistant to the President and Director Defense and Arms Control Policy
FAX: Voice: (202) 456-9190
Phil Coyle, Director, Operational Test and Evaluation, Department of Defense;
FAX: (703) 693-5248