The research could have dragged on for years with the ambiguous results, Tether told The Times.
"After the [March 2004] hearing, I basically said, 'OK, this is it, Alibek. You're either going to get over here and listen ... or you're not going to get a nickel from us,' " Tether said.
He preserved the funding, Tether said, after Alibek agreed privately to change his approach and perform experiments outlined by Tether's staff. Some of Alibek's subsequent work with mice has shown promise, Tether said.
Alibek also has been helped by Mark A. O'Connell, a lobbyist and Republican fundraiser who for a decade served as Saxton's congressional chief of staff. (Campaign contributions in recent years to Saxton from Alibek, Alibek's wife and one of their business partners have totaled $14,450, public records show.)
O'Connell said he began lobbying Congress for Alibek's company in mid-2003, two months after he left Saxton's staff. His congressional salary, O'Connell said, was slightly below a revolving-door threshold that would have barred him from lobbying Saxton or his staff for one year. He confirmed that he had lobbied for the congressional earmarks benefiting Alibek's company.
Saxton acknowledged in an interview that he had done much for Alibek since Forrest brought them together about a decade ago:
He said he introduced Alibek to then-Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich and to other congressional and executive-branch leaders. Among them was Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-Redlands), who from 1999 to 2005 was chairman of the subcommittee that controlled spending for national security projects. Lewis headed the full House Appropriations Committee from 2005 to 2006.
Lewis, Saxton said, began providing the annual earmarks of federal money for Alibek's projects.
"We were able to convince Jerry Lewis to begin an appropriations stream for him," Saxton said.
Lewis' spokesman, Jim Specht, did not return telephone calls seeking an interview with the congressman. Earmarks generate controversy because they enable some projects to win federal funding based more on political influence than competitive merit. And earmarks can be carried out discreetly, obscuring the identity of the originator.
This year, Saxton said, he has guided Alibek as he seeks an additional $10 million in research funds -- from the U.S. Defense Threat Reduction Agency.
Saxton said that he had helped Alibek solely to bolster national security.
