Cops Debunk Whistleblower Beating

Beating Of Los Alamos Auditor Unrelated To Whistleblowing

(CBS/AP)  The police version of events was sharply at odds with what Hook, his wife and his lawyer have said happened outside the bar.

At a press conference Tuesday, Hook's wife, Susan, said her husband had been lured to the bar by a late-night phone call from an unidentified man requesting a meeting. She said her husband told her the man never showed up but as he was leaving the topless bar's parking lot, a group of men pulled him from his car and beat him.

"This individual was telling me I should keep my (expletive) mouth shut," Hook told CBS News on Tuesday, describing what happened during the beating.

Hook, an auditor and 15-year lab veteran, has sued the University of California, which manages the Los Alamos lab, alleging whistleblower retaliation. He had been preparing to testify before the House Energy and Commerce Committee this week.

Los Alamos has been under intense scrutiny since November 2002, when allegations surfaced about purchasing fraud, equipment theft and mismanagement. The ensuing scandal prompted an overhaul of lab business policies and a culling of top managers.