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Suspicion in the Ranks

Inside the spy investigation of Capt. James Yee
A special report by Ray Rivera · January 9 - 16, 2005
Special Projects Index

Documents



CHAPTER 2

James Yee's performance evaluation
Officials gave Yee the highest possible rating for his performance at Guantánamo's Camp Delta. Lt. Col. Steve Stewart, deputy Joint Detention Operations commander, did the rating; the Rev. Herbert Heavner, head chaplain, assisted; and Col. Adolph McQueen, Joint Detention Operations commander, reviewed their work, according to Heavner. The evaluation covered Yee's 10 months at Guantánamo. It was issued two days before his Sept. 10, 2003, arrest.

CHAPTER 3

Memos regarding Yee's behavior
Books passed to detainees | Security access | Orlich's statement to investigators
Capt. Jason Orlich documented his suspicions about Yee and others. Some behavior he noted, including Yee's wish to access information from the Detainee Management Information System, were within Yee's job duties.

Yee's cultural-awareness briefing
All incoming soldiers at Camp Delta were required to attend Yee's PowerPoint presentation. It was this briefing that first made Orlich suspicious of Yee; he thought it was too sympathetic to the detainees being held at Guantánamo Bay.

CHAPTER 4

Counter-intelligence timeline
Scribbled notes were written by an investigating agent. Note the July 23, 2003, entry stating that Senior Airman Ahmad Al Halabi conducted "suspicious" activities at the direction of Yee. The entry apparently refers to Al Halabi's duties in the prison library, including distribution of literature to detainees. A SAEDA report is a standard form used to report suspected security violations; it stands for "Subversion and Espionage Directed Against the U.S. Army."

CHAPTER 5

Arrest affidavit
A Naval Criminal Investigative Service agent describes the day Yee was arrested. Note that another Navy officer on the plane with Yee never saw him attempt to leave the air terminal.

Arrest Executive Summary
Guantánamo command summary of the arrest.

CHAPTER 6

Command memo
Maj. Gen. Geoffrey Miller, commander of Joint Task Force Guantánamo, issued this memo, known as a "72-hour memorandum," two days after Yee's arrest, urging military legal authorities to keep him confined until trial. The charges included potential death-penalty counts, but counterintelligence agents said they did not have nearly enough evidence to bring espionage charges.

Counter-intelligence sworn statement
Capt. Theo Polet's sworn statement, written two days after the arrest, paints the worst-case scenarios of items found on Yee the day of his arrest. Another agent who viewed the items the day of the arrest described them as unclassified and said it wasn't unusual for Yee to have them for his work duties at Camp Delta. But he also said Yee should never have taken the material off base. Polet's statement shows the date of materials being seized as Sept. 24, an apparent typo. The actual date was Sept. 10, 2003.

CHAPTER 7

Charge sheets
These charges filed against Yee were minor compared to the allegations of espionage and aiding the enemy, but they contained new counts of adultery and downloading pornography on a government computer.

CHAPTER 8

Ahmad Al Halabi's statement
In this partial statement given during his court-martial, Al Halabi told about his life in America and the military and about life at Guantánamo, and why he mishandled classified information, took unauthorized photographs and lied to investigators.

CHAPTER 9

Yee's record cleared
Gen. James Hill reverses Yee's written reprimand on the pornography and adultery counts, clears his record, but offers no apology.

Charges dropped
Maj. Gen. Geoffrey Miller drops criminal charges against Yee but leaves the taint of suspicion on him.

Relieved for cause
Yee is relieved of duty at Guantánamo. He would be reassigned to Fort Lewis.