Seattle Times reporter Ray Rivera spent seven months investigating the origins and collapse of the spy case against Army Capt. James Yee. He interviewed more than 70 people, including more than a dozen directly involved in or intimately familiar with the investigation and the legal cases of Yee and Air Force Senior Airman Ahmad Al Halabi. The story also draws on more than 130 documents, comprising more than 1,000 pages, obtained through the Freedom of Information Act and from government sources and legal proceedings involving Yee and Al Halabi.

Most key sources spoke on the record. However, The Times also relied on military and government sources who asked to remain anonymous because of nondisclosure orders or fear of professional retaliation. These sources were used mostly to provide context for documents and to provide greater detail about incidents and information already obtained through reporting. No information based on a single unnamed source was included in the series.

In the course of his work, Rivera traveled to Guantánamo Bay, Cuba; Jacksonville Naval Air Station, Fla.; Springfield, N.J.; Washington, D.C.; Travis Air Force Base, Calif.; and other locations.

Dozens of interviews with Yee's friends, family and people who served with him before and during his service in Guantánamo provided details on his background and duties at the prison camp.

Some quotes from Yee and key biographic details about his time in Saudi Arabia and Syria and his desire to become a Muslim chaplain were taken from a lengthy Seattle Times interview with him Sept. 28, 2001, at Fort Lewis. Since his arrest, neither Yee nor his military lawyers have granted interviews or shared documents with The Times. His lead civilian attorney, Eugene Fidell, citing attorney-client privilege, discussed the case only in general terms and shared only documents that were already in the public domain.

Contributors to the series include staff reporter Mike Carter and staff researcher Miyoko Wolf.

Inside The Times column: Reporter investigates investigation into Yee

CREDITS

Reporter: Ray Rivera (rayrivera@seattletimes.com)
Editor: Mark Higgins (mhiggins@seattletimes.com)
Copy editor: Jerry Holloran
Web producer: Tracy Cutchlow
Web designer: Alix Han