Yahoo's Callahan parses his testimony
In my testimony, I stated: "When Yahoo! China in Beijing was required to provide information about a user, who we later learned was Shi Tao, we had no information about the identity of the user or the nature of the investigation. Indeed, we were unaware of the particular facts surrounding this case until the news story emerged."
This was my point in making the statements in my prior testimony, and the point is unchanged by the additional information I now know. I also emphasized my understanding that failure by the Yahoo! China operation in Beijing to comply with lawful orders from government authorities may have subjected the Chinese employees of that company to civil and criminal penalties, including imprisonment.
At the time of my testimony, I did not know that the order referenced a "state secrets" investigation. I realized that only in October 2006, eight months after appearing before your subcommittees. Although the reference to state secrets is not information that I had at the time of the February 2006 hearing, in my view this additional information does not support the contention that Yahoo! provided false information to Congress. (Emphasis added.)
In October 2006, I reviewed draft materials prepared for response by Yahoo! to this investigation, and I noted a statement that the order referenced a "state secrets" investigation. When I inquired about this language, our regional lawyer in Hong Kong confirmed that the order said "state secrets."
Mr. Chairman, I was surprised to hear this because that was different from my understanding at the time of my February 2006 testimony.
Please let me once again express my regret that in October 2006, when I realized that this "state secrets" language was included in the order, it did not occur to me to contact the Committee about this additional information. ...
But, in my view, this is not, Mr. Chairman, the provision of false information to Congress. I understood the fundamental point of my February 2006 testimony remains the same today: The order did not reveal the name of the individual, that the case targeted a reporter, or that the investigation was related to political activities.
