Sen. Grassley Asks NASA About Alleged ITAR Violations at Ames

The top Republican on the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee on April 18 asked NASA Administrator Charles Bolden for a briefing on whistleblower allegations that foreign nationals obtained NASA secrets while visiting the agency’s Ames Research Center in Mountain View, Calif.

“Recently my office received serious allegations from whistleblowers regarding [NASA Ames] and its current director Simon P. Worden,” Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) wrote in a letter to Bolden, first obtained  and reported by Science magazine. “These allegations came to my office from individuals who are concerned about the direction of [Ames] under Mr. Worden’s leadership.”