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President Elect Barack Obama yesterday announced New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson will be his new Commerce Secretary. Richardson is yet another Clinton-era politician, serving as Energy Secretary and UN Ambassador under Bill Clinton. After his own failed bid for the presidency, he angered the Clintons by opening supporting Obama and helping mobilize the Latino vote in his favor. Richardson will be the first Latino in history to serve as Commerce Secretary and many in the Latino community are viewing his appointment with pride. But, this week a group of Chinese Americans resurrected an embarrassing aspect of Richardson’s past. A petition circulating nationally denounces Obama’s pick because of Richardson’s incriminating role in the case of Taiwanese born scientist Wen Ho Lee. Lee was accused of being a spy for the Chinese government and passing on US nuclear secrets. Then Energy Secretary Richardson apparently revealed Lee’s name and other personal information to the media and helped initiate the accusations. After 9 months in solitary confinement Wen Ho Lee was acquitted – he received a multimillion dollar settlement from the government and an apology by Bill Clinton. But Richardson has never apologized for his role.

GUEST: Henry Der, long time civil rights activist with the WenHoLee.org committee