ARC ITAR Inquiry
Senator Asks NASA About Alleged Disclosure of Sensitive Information, Science
“NASA chief Charles Bolden is reviewing a request from a U.S. senator for a briefing on alleged misconduct at the agency’s Ames Research Center (ARC) in California. The allegations appear to involve violations of U.S. laws meant to guard national secrets. In a letter obtained by ScienceInsider, Senator Charles Grassley (R-IA), the top Republican on the Senate Committee on the Judiciary, today asked “to be briefed by knowledgeable NASA officials” on “serious allegations from whistleblowers.”
What secrets does Ames actually have? They’re trying to get collaborators and spin off research — and this kind of news only makes companies even more skittish about associating with the center.
This is one of Grassley’s silliest attacks of jingoism, but hardly his first. When told China had stopped importationo of Iowa pork due to reports of swine flu his on-the-air response, to a major customer of his state’s agribusiness, was: “They’re stupid. They think you can contract swine flu from pigs. There is no evidence whatsoever over decades that that’s ever been the case. They need to be educated and we should take a strong position on that… they are violating their obligations under the WTO.”
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