Justice Department Investigates Commerce's China-Satellite Decision
By Pierre Thomas/CNN
WASHINGTON (June 23) -- Justice Department officials are investigating the Commerce Department's decision to allow Hughes Electronics to give the Chinese a company study analyzing the failure of a Chinese satellite launch in 1995.
Commerce allowed Hughes to give the Chinese the study without notifying the Pentagon and State Department.
A senior Commerce Department official testifying at a joint House committee hearing Tuesday told lawmakers that the Justice Department had requested all documents relating to the Hughes study. The report concerned why a Chinese rocket was unable to deliver a Hughes satellite into space in 1995.
Commerce officials maintain the information Hughes planned to give the Chinese did not go beyond the parameters of what the company was allowed to share under its waiver agreement.
The Justice Department request of Hughes is part of a sweeping document review the department has taken on to determine whether Hughes and another satellite company -- Loral Space & Communications -- gave the Chinese technology which they in turn used to improve the accuracy of their long range nuclear missiles.
The Justice investigation is also looking at whether campaign donations played a role in the Clinton Administration's decision to approve the waivers. Administration officials deny any wrongdoing and said the U.S. government had a longstanding policy of granting such waivers.
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