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ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Supporters of Wen Ho Lee said Friday they are seeking a presidential pardon for the Los Alamos scientist who was freed last week in a plea agreement. 

Lee, 60, pleaded guilty Sept. 13 to one of 59 counts against him and had the other 58 dropped in a negotiated settlement of the nine-month national security prosecution that had kept him in solitary confinement. 

Meanwhile, defense attorney John Cline said Friday a scheduled government debriefing for Lee next Tuesday has been postponed. Cline said he expected the session to be rescheduled shortly. 

He declined comment on reasons for the postponement, but it was clear that the session would conflict with congressional hearings on the Lee case that were scheduled to begin the same day. 

Cecilia Chang of the Wen Ho Lee Defense Fund in Fremont, Calif., sent out a thank-you note Friday to Lee supporters expressing both joy and sadness for Lee — joy that he was finally released and sadness that he had to plead guilty and lose such citizenship rights as being able to vote. Only a presidential pardon could restore those rights. 

“So where do we go from here?” she wrote. “First and foremost, we are seeking a presidential pardon from President Clinton.” 

“There are one or two groups that are calling for a pardon,” said Victor Hwang, managing attorney of the San Francisco-based Asian Law Caucus. He said the groups were calling for a campaign of faxes to be sent to the White House on Lee’s behalf. 

Hwang said his group is not involved in that effort but is focused on trying to secure evidence linked to racial profiling that the defense had alleged was used against Lee before his indictment Dec. 10. The defense had won a court order for the government to turn over that evidence to U.S. District Judge James Parker, but the defense petition was withdrawn as part of the plea agreement. 

Hwang said the Asian Law Caucus hopes congressional hearings will secure the release of those materials. 

“We will try to push for the committee to subpoena the materials on racial profiling,” Hwang said. “I think we’re going to try to do this through the congressional process now.” 

If that doesn’t succeed, he said, his group and others may try to secure the release through the Freedom of Information Act. 

Cline declined comment on the pardon effort. 

Lee’s civil attorney, Brian Sun, said the scientist’s lawyers are not involved in the pardon effort but are focused on complying with terms of the plea agreement, including the now-postponed debriefing. 

With the debriefing, investigators expect to learn in detail how and why Lee downloaded nuclear data to unsecure computers and tapes and how and when he destroyed them. According to government sources, Lee has acknowledged making 10 computer tapes and another 10 backup copies.