Exclusive: Los Alamos Breach Was Easy

CBS News Learns Details Of A Major Security Breach At Nation's Top Nuclear Lab

(CBS)  When Jessica Quintana wanted to sneak classified material out of the nation's top nuclear weapons lab, the biggest outrage is how scandalously simple it was.

"Where I was, It was easy," she tells CBS News correspondent Sharyl Attkisson.

Last week Quintana, 23, plead guilty to the national security breach at Los Alamos. In an exclusive interview with CBS News, she tells how she did it.

She was just 18, right out of high school, when the Lab hired her to archive documents. The job came with a security clearance that gave her access to highly sensitive weapons data.

Last summer Quintana claims she wanted to take some work home, a major security violation. She walked unchallenged into a special work vault with a computer storage device called a flashdrive.

"I had the flashdrive in my pocket when I entered the vault that day," recalls Quintana. "And at some point in the day I knew I wasn't being watched, the racks were open, simply inserted the flashdrive into my computer, took what I needed."

It was material related to underground nuclear weapons tests from the 70's, and she printed more classified documents — 228 pages.

"I printed out the pages I needed and put in my backpack with my school books and walked out like I did every day," said Quintana.

The materials were found accidentally months later by local police during a drug raid on Quintana's roommate in their trailer home, reports Attkisson.

It's an understatement to say that walking out with national secrets shouldn't have been so easy, especially in light of the rash of security scandals at Los Alamos: missing hard drives, even radioactive material smuggled out.

Tens of millions of tax dollars have been spent to upgrade security. Quintana's case raises the question. Have others, even spies, made off with top secret material?

Quintana says in the years she worked at the lab, nobody ever questioned or searched her. Not once.

"They were so lax about coming in and out," said Quintana.

Congress was so outraged that the Energy Department fired its top nuclear security official.

Quintana has agreed to cooperate with prosecutors and faces up to a year in jail. Her lawyer says Americans can thank her for one thing: exposing persistent gaps in security at a place guarding some of our most sensitive nuclear secrets.

[gunnerv1]

Well, when are we going to blame Bush for this?

[sssshnow]

This report makes it sound like Los Alamos is the only secure facility the US has that does not "challenge" its employees. DO NOT BELIEVE IT! The entire US government, and especially the military, handles security in the same way, with rare, "if ever" challenges. This woman who has done these unlawful acts is a product of a faulty clearance process. This person had questionable issues arise during her clearance processing and in hindsight should never have been granted this high-level clearance. The fact that she was granted a security clearance is not the fault of Los Alamos. The fault lies elsewhere with the US government. Once an individual has received a high-level clearance, public trust is bestowed and work with sensitive information begins and hopefully continues year-end and year-out with few mistakes. This awful person willfully violated that public trust with premeditated, criminal activity. "Her lawyer says Americans can thank her for one thing: exposing persistent gaps in security at a place guarding some of our most sensitive nuclear secrets..." is utter nonsense. Do not ever thank this person for anything. She broke her public trust and she should be punished. And problems with the security clearance processes should be fixed immediately. Finally, if CBS is going to do reports on security violations, they should hire someone to report on these violations who has actually held a government clearance so the reports can be fair, balanced and accurate.

[humdungler]

Are Americans really naive enough to believe this horrible woman? She's an admitted liar, drug addict and thief, and has betrayed the United States..it's called TREASON and she should be locked away for a long time..when I saw her interview, I was utterly disgusted by her snide remarks and smiles..she should be ashamed that she put our country in jeopardy..Once you grant a clearance, you have to TRUST the individual..if LANL is guilty of anything, it's that they TRUSTED the clearance process and this contemptible person..you can't watch everyone all of the time and this "person" took advantage of that trust..come on people, she's admitted her guilt so focus on that instead of this outlandish interview..CBS should also be more responsible.

[humdungler]

Are Americans really naive enough to believe this horrible woman? She's an admitted liar, drug addict and thief, and has betrayed the United States..it's called TREASON and she should be locked away for a long time..when I saw her interview, I was utterly disgusted by her snide remarks and smiles..she should be ashamed that she put our country in jeopardy..Once you grant a clearance, you have to TRUST the individual..if LANL is guilty of anything, it's that they TRUSTED the clearance process and this contemptible person..you can't watch everyone all of the time and this "person" took advantage of that trust..come on people, she's admitted her guilt so focus on that instead of this outlandish interview..CBS should also be more responsible.

[humdungler]

Are Americans really naive enough to believe this horrible woman? She's an admitted liar, drug addict and thief, and has betrayed the United States..it's called TREASON and she should be locked away for a long time..when I saw her interview, I was utterly disgusted by her snide remarks and smiles..she should be ashamed that she put our country in jeopardy..Once you grant a clearance, you have to TRUST the individual..if LANL is guilty of anything, it's that they TRUSTED the clearance process and this contemptible person..you can't watch everyone all of the time and this "person" took advantage of that trust..come on people, she's admitted her guilt so focus on that instead of this outlandish interview..CBS should also be more responsible.

[humdungler]

Are Americans really naive enough to believe this horrible woman? She's an admitted liar, drug addict and thief, and has betrayed the United States..it's called TREASON and she should be locked away for a long time..when I saw her interview, I was utterly disgusted by her snide remarks and smiles..she should be ashamed that she put our country in jeopardy..Once you grant a clearance, you have to TRUST the individual..if LANL is guilty of anything, it's that they TRUSTED the clearance process and this contemptible person..you can't watch everyone all of the time and this "person" took advantage of that trust..come on people, she's admitted her guilt so focus on that instead of this outlandish interview..CBS should also be more responsible.

[nukeworker2]

This person is a true looser! I cant believe that americans would believe this ***. "Unchallenged" oh please! This person should be executed for this CRIME against the United States!! I love my country and I will protect her against all enemies foreigh and DOMESTIC and this person is clearly Enemy Domestic!! Los Alamos workers are true americans who if they knew what this person was doing would of done whatever it took to STOP HER! I would called the protective force and hopefully she would of ran from them and given them a reason to SHOOT her on site!

[michellem99-2009]

If this woman walked right out with the data the news said she ripped off. Forgive me gentle readers here. Where were the people that were to make sure this would not happen. Sleeping on their watch! Get bitlock ,firewalls, what ever to keep the data safe. It is not smart to let who ever acess to them. WAKE UP. Know who is in the building and what they are up to. Lap tops stolen.
Step up to the plate and do your part guard these areas.

[ppadill1]

Jessica points out that so easy to steal classified information from Los Alamos but she fails to emphasize that her reponsibility was to protect that information. When an individual is granted a "Q" Clearance there is a great deal of trust and responsibility bestowed on that individual. Many employees of the Laboratory began working here at a very young age. They understood the importance of protecting classified information. This information was not only important to Los Alamos, but to the nation. This incident should not be about how easy it is to steal secrets from Los Alamos National Laboratory; rather, it should be about how unethical behavior jeopardized an entire facility, the community, and the future of many employees. Jessica should be apologizing for what she did; not bragging about how easy it was. Apparently she hasn't learned much from her experience.

[yuba44]

American's can THANK her? Her job was working on classified data. OF COURSE she had access to the data! She has committed a very serious crime and should be punished accordingly - not spun as some sort of hero. What kind of clueless irresponsible reporting is going on here? She has committed treason and has added insult to injury. Her attitude should disgust every citizen of the United States of America - you're the ones she hurt.

[yuba44]

American's can THANK her? Her job was working on classified data. OF COURSE she had access to the data! She has committed a very serious crime and should be punished accordingly - not spun as some sort of hero. What kind of clueless irresponsible reporting is going on here? She has committed treason and has added insult to injury. Her attitude should disgust every citizen of the United States of America - you're the ones she hurt.

[yuba44]

American's can THANK her? Her job was working on classified data. OF COURSE she had access to the data! She has committed a very serious crime and should be punished accordingly - not spun as some sort of hero. What kind of clueless irresponsible reporting is going on here? She has committed treason and has added insult to injury. Her attitude should disgust every citizen of the United States of America - you're the ones she hurt.

[yuba44]

American's can THANK her? Her job was working on classified data. OF COURSE she had access to the data! She has committed a very serious crime and should be punished accordingly - not spun as some sort of hero. What kind of clueless irresponsible reporting is going on here? She has committed treason and has added insult to injury. Her attitude should disgust every citizen of the United States of America - you're the ones she hurt.

[yuba44]

American's can THANK her? Her job was working on classified data. OF COURSE she had access to the data! She has committed a very serious crime and should be punished accordingly - not spun as some sort of hero. What kind of clueless irresponsible reporting is going on here? She has committed treason and has added insult to injury. Her attitude should disgust every citizen of the United States of America - you're the ones she hurt.

[prael1]

How can people not know that she is a danger to security and a theif. She had a responsibility to protect the information she was working with. She had a Q clearance and knew what that meant. There is no way, except strip searches, to control human reliability. I for one do not want that to happen. She was investigated and found to be responsible enough to have a clearance. Her job included the protection of the classified data. I can't understand how her lawyer could say she was doing us a favor by stealing information she should have protected???

[robtoppie]

Contrary to the story's statement Quintana wasn%u2019t hired by the Laboratory. She worked for a subcontractor.

The Lab does not conduct clearance investigations. The FBI is responsible for this task.

How difficult is it to carry a =-inch by 2-inch data device out of any facility? The real story here is that a person signed paperwork agreeing to abide by specific rules. She broke that promise %u2013 and the law %u2013 by breaking those rules. Her "wrist slap" punishment is laughable. Lacking serious consequences, people like Ms. Quintana will continue to make willful violations. The shame is that CBS makes her out to be a victim rather than the criminal that she is.

The reporter states that radioactive materials have been smuggled out of LANL. I do not recall ever seeing this story previously. Nor can I find any reference to a similar incident through a Google search. Lacking citation it would seem that this reporter is just making this up or doesn't understand her "facts."

What is the point of the video of the control room, and the accompanying flashing red light? This criminal, Quintana, was a data archivist, so the most complex equipment in her work area was likely to have been a PC and a photocopy machine. This footage seems inconsequential to the story and is likely to have been included just to heighten the drama in the story.

Whenever I encounter stories from the MSM I am readily reminded of the reasons why I no longer rely on sources such as CBS for news.

[observer02]

As a long time observer of LANL I find that when it comes to cultural diversity, community relations what really matters is appearance, not substance. It would seem that the same attitude applies to security.

[tecwerks-2009]

As a 20+ year employee of at Los Alamos National Laboratory I find it ludicrous to make Jessica Quintana out as some hero. Holding and being granted a Q clearance brings with it some responsibilities. I know as well as countless others here at Los Alamos know what they are and would NEVER have done what Ms Quintana did. If you have an insider that does not take personal responsibility there is nothing you can do to prevent such an individual from doing what she did short of strip searching everyone that works here.

[sssshnow]

The Walkers, Hanssen, Aimes, and now Quintana were all insiders with criminal intent...and all in possession of a high-level U.S. government clearance at the time of their crimes. You can do nothing short of full-body cavity strip searches to stop determined insiders like these. (Imagine for a moment being the one to do a full body cavity / strip search on Miss Quintana, huh...)

This is a problem whose scope literally encompasses the entire "complex" of national labs, intelligence organizations, military organizations, and government agencies. No group is spared from the treasonous actions of people like Quintana or the others (and all the others were all sentenced to prison, BTW).

A childhood friend described John Walker as "intrinsically evil." There was no right or wrong, no morality or immorality in his eyes. There were only his own wants and his own needs. In Walker's view, "Everyone is corrupt...everyone has a scam."

If you were to talk with the people who knew her from her high school days (especially her teachers), they'll tell you that she has many of Walker's characteristics...and still has them today.


This "wrist slap" of a punishment she gets is outrageous! Can we get a re-count on that one, please. I vote for a substantial amount of time in Leavenworth for her!

[ilnymhorrim]

This article is horribly under-researched and less than objective. The point has been made before - if workers are granted a secret or top secret clearance level, then the FBI has supposedly researched and validated the employee's credentials to handle classified material for whatever institution they work. Why jump on the bandwagon? Why not do an article on how the overall system of credentialing ALL national lab employees is broken and dysfunctional? It seems this would be more useful to the public, and to national security, than this article. Quintana should be punished for violating national security, and the Feds should be held accountable for granting her a Q clearance when she lived with a drug dealer. THAT is the scandal. Let's start looking behind the catchy headlines and get the NEWS again, please.

[jdme42]

Government employees with clearances play an integral role in security defense. It is our responsibility to understand the gravity of the information we are dealing with and protect it accordingly. Our nation has entrusted us by allowing us to hold these clearances and provided direction to protect the information at our disposal. When we are granted clearances we are briefed and trained so that we have an awareness and the ability to protect our nation by protecting its information. Unfortunately, Jessica had no regard for her responsibility or her nation and did not abide by these rules and had no desire to protect her country. I do not believe for an instance that she was taking this information home to finish work; only she knows the real reason. She is a deviant and has committed a serious crime and should be seriously punished.

I take offense to the idea that her age had something to do with her ability to handle the level of clearance she had been granted. I received a clearance at a very young age and am still fairly young. I take my responsibilities very seriously and the idea that someone as ignorant as Quintana has had the opportunity to make the thousands of us who do our jobs look dishonorable makes me angry!

[xtacee1]

This criminal has committed espionage and treason. Your station has glorified her, stating that we should be thankful she stole documents and infromation from her trusted position. If more of her type were imprisoned and fined we would have a more solid case for standing against crimnals such as her. How dare you insult our intelligence with the "valued" venom she spews from her wicked toungue. Shame on you for irresponsible journalism.

[jjcitizen]

A misdemeanor charge? The American people should be shocked that this woman isn't jailed without bail until a federal court can hear her case for felony treason charges. Her job did not %u2018come with a security clearance%u2019. She was granted a security clearance by DOE, and was thoroughly briefed on the significant responsibility holding a security clearance means.
The reporter who wrote this story belongs in a creative writing group, not in a professional position, but she did do our country a favor by giving this criminal the opportunity to announce and describe, very obviously without remorse, her illegal and treasonous actions. This criminal should be tried in federal court for felony charges and serve the maximum sentence for her actions. The rare times I read a CBS story I am reminded that they have repeatedly proven that the public cannot expect honest, thoroughly researched, and credible news stories. I am saddened by this fictional dramatization of a very serious news story. Shame on all of you.

One last point regarding CBS. In order to post comments CBS requires that you agree to their %u201CRules of Engagement%u201D.
Shouldn't their reporters be held to the same standards? In particular: "no libel, slander, no lying, no fabricating".

[nukeworker2]

You are more likely to get more prison time from stealing from coca-cola than the federal government!
http://www.washingtontimes.com/business/20070523-013438-7238r.htm

This is pathetic, this woman needs to be jailed for at least 30 years to think about the seriousness of her actions. She must of had a democrat judge who was way too liberal!!!!