The Director of Central Intelligence, George J. Tenet, announced today that Admiral David Jeremiah, USN, (Ret), will lead a panel of outside experts that will provide an independent review of the work of an interagency damage assessment team looking into possible harm to U.S. national security as a result of alleged disclosure of classified nuclear weapons information to China.

Admiral Jeremiah is the former Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and currently Partner and President of Technology Strategies & Alliances Corporation.

Admiral Jeremiah will be joined by several other prominent outside experts who will be named shortly.

The Jeremiah group will provide an outside review of the damage assessment which is now being conducted. That damage assessment is being led by Robert Walpole, National Intelligence Officer for Strategic and Nuclear Programs for the National Intelligence Council. Walpole's team is made up of intelligence analysts and weapons experts drawn from across the Intelligence Community and from the National Labs. The team is scheduled to complete their work by the end of March. Admiral Jeremiah's group will then review the damage assessment and provide their independent assessment.

In making the appointment of Admiral Jeremiah, Director Tenet said: "The potential loss of highly classified nuclear weapons design information is extremely serious. I am grateful to Admiral Jermiah, for sharing his expertise once again with the nation to ensure that we have made a rigorous review of all available facts and have come to the appropriate conclusions. Admiral Jeremiah is the perfect person to lead such a review. His credentials are impeccable and his credibility is unquestioned. We are fortunate to have him chair this outside panel of experts."

When Admiral Jeremiah's panel completes their work, the results will be shared with the White House and appropriate Congressional oversight committees.

[DCI Statement on Damage Assessment] [Key Findings] [Introductory Note]