OKC Anniversary: A New Investigative Report by J.M. Berger

An FBI undercover program known as PATCON spent more than two years collecting intelligence on the Patriot movement, without producing a single conviction. Timothy McVeigh was in contact with members of the targeted groups at the time of the investigation, but those links escaped notice, even after the Oklahoma City bombing.

The program and its connections to the bombing are the subject of a major new investigative report by J.M. Berger for Foreign Policy.

Read the full story

PATCON will be examined in more detail in a forthcoming report by J.M. Berger for the New America Foundation, which looks at the double-edged sword of infiltration techniques and raises questions about how undercover agents and informants should be used in light of current controversies.

Documents related to the case will be published on INTELWIRE in the weeks to come.

For more investigating reporting on terrorism, check out J.M. Berger's new book, Jihad Joe: Americans Who Go to War in the Name of Islam, on sale everywhere.

Labels: American-Pistol-and-Rifle-Association, Andreas-Strassmeir, Civilian-Materiel-Assistance, Louis-Beam, OKBOMB, Oklahoma-City-Bombing, PATCON, Roger-Moore, Texas-Light-Infantry, Timothy-McVeigh

Views expressed on INTELWIRE are those of the author alone.

Posted by J.M. Berger | Permalink

 

Witness: Dennis Mahon claimed he was third man in Oklahoma City bombing

The trial opened today for Arizona white supremacists Dennis and Daniel Mahon, who are accused of bombing the office of a state diversity official in 2004.

Much of the case hinges on information collected by informants, including a woman who sent the brothers racy photos. A defense attorney dismissed statements made by Dennis Mahon to the informant, saying he was an alcoholic with a tendency toward self-aggrandizement.

Alcohol, at least, was likely not a factor in Dennis Mahon's conversations with his cellmate after he was arrested in 2009. One of those statements was particularly interesting according to a recent filing in the case:

Mr. Scott [the cellmate] stated that he and Dennis Mahon found they had an interest in military history in common, and that is how they began talking about bombs. Ms. Scott said that Dennis told him he had known Tim McVeigh and that he (Dennis) was the number three anonymous person in the Oklahoma City bombing investigation.

Read the full document

Mahon has spoken of knowing McVeigh in the past. Based on those comments and other information, it is at least plausible that Mahon was involved in the bombing. I'll have more on this over time.

Labels: Dennis-Mahon, OKBOMB, Oklahoma-City-Bombing, Timothy-McVeigh

Views expressed on INTELWIRE are those of the author alone.

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Oklahoma City Bombing: FBI Informants Reported on ABC News, McVeigh Defense Team

FBI informants reporting on the Oklahoma City bombing provided the bureau with leads taken from ABC News and Timothy McVeigh's defense team, according to documents filed in a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit.


A confidential informant in the St. Louis, Missiouri, area "learned of the following information as a result of interviews and contacts made by the ABC News team covering OKBOMB," the FBI's code name for the investigation, according to an FBI FD-302 record dated April 3, 1996.

The informant said government documents including "telephone records and grand jury information" had been "leaked" to attorneys for both Timothy McVeigh and his co-conspirator, Terry Nichols.

The informant said the information was "being used to fuel belief that a government conspiracy exists to 'cover up' government mistakes," the document states, including information indicating that the goverment was warned of the April 19, 1995 attack ten days in advance. The material was being used to bolster claims that "the government had a confidential informant next to McVeigh."

The informant also provided information on reporting by the late J.D. Cash regarding the bombing and the possibility of additional conspirators.

According to the document, the informant also provided information on gun dealer Roger Moore and German neo-Nazi Andreas Strassmeier, both of whom have been the subject of scrutiny for their relationships to McVeigh and possible roles in the bombing plot. According to the informant, "some right-wing group supporters believe [Strassmeier] is an FBI informant."

A second document from the same informant again provided information learned "as a result of interviews and contacts made by the ABC News Team covering OKBOMB" related to Elohim City, a white supremacist compound in rural Oklahoma where Strassmeier lived and worked as security director.

A third document identifies a numbered informant in Oklahoma who claimed to be alerting the FBI to a planned ABC expose concerning the bombing. This informant was relaying information from "a confidential source who works for a news agency."

A fourth document from April 16, 1996, was previously released and identifies a numbered FBI informant based in New York who was "a senior official employed by ABC News for over fifteen years." This informant was pressured into revealing the name of a ABC News source -- Vincent Cannistraro -- who had provided information pointing to overseas involvement in the attack. This informant was later allegedly identified as Christopher Isham, who denied providing information to the FBI.

The complete set of new Oklahoma City bombing documents were filed as support for a sweeping motion that details the FBI's noncompliance with previous court orders regarding disclosure of documents related to the Oklahoma City bombing.

Salt Lake City attorney Jesse Trentadue sued the FBI under the Freedom of Information Act for documents related to the Oklahoma City bombing after his brother, Kenneth, was found dead in a federal prison cell soon after the bombing. Trentadue won a wrongful death suit against the Bureau of Prisons for covering up key details of his brother's death, which the Bureau claimed was a suicide.

Documents previously disclosed as part of the lawsuit can be found here, here and here.

Labels: Andreas-Strassmeir, Informants, Jesse-Trentadue, OKBOMB, Oklahoma-City-Bombing, Roger-Moore, Terry-Nichols, Timothy-McVeigh

Views expressed on INTELWIRE are those of the author alone.

Posted by J.M. Berger | Permalink

 

In Latest Filing, FBI Says It Can't Find OKC Bombing Videos

The FBI admitted in a court filing Thursday that videotapes related to the Oklahoma City bombing -- including possible footage of the actual truck bomb detonation -- may have been misfiled and as a result might never be found.

The new filing came as part of a lawsuit filed by Salt Lake City attorney Jesse Trentadue. Documents previously disclosed as part of the lawsuit can be found here, here and here.

The lawsuit seeks, among other things, information pertaining to surveillance videotapes that may have captured the bombing in progress and which Trentadue believes may show additional conspirators in the domestic terrorist attack that claimed 168 lives on April 19, 1995.

Trentadue previously submitted affidavits and other filings claiming the existence of a tape that shows the truck bomb in the moments before it detonated as well as another tape showing the arrest of Timothy McVeigh during a traffic stop soon after the bombing.

In response to these documents and another filing which showed David Hardy, the FBI's main FOIA compliance official, had intentionally misled the judge in a different FOIA case, Judge Clark Waddoups in May ordered the FBI to provide additional information on its search for the tapes as well as other documentation averring the truthfulness of previous FBI filings.

Filed Thursday, Hardy's response was largely uninformative, repeating its earlier claims and averring that Hardy had not misled the judge. Hardy claimed he had no information which could assist additional searches for the tapes, except for a manual review of the 450,000 pages of documents generated during the first two weeks of the Oklahoma City bombing investigation, which he said could take as long as a year and a half to complete.

Hardy argued against making the search, saying that it would impact other pending FOIA cases. The documents in question are, in fact, covered by a FOIA request made by INTELWIRE which has not been fulfilled to date.

Hardy also said in Thursday's filing, "While it is always a possibility that responsive documents might have been misfiled and thus could be located somewhere other than in the OKBOMB file (though it would be impossible to know where), I am not aware that this is the case, and a reasonable search did not and would not locate any such documents (if they exist) because they would not be in a location likely to contain responsive documents."

The complete response from the FBI can be viewed here.

Trentadue sued the FBI under the Freedom of Information Act for documents related to the Oklahoma City bombing after his brother, Kenneth, was found dead in a federal prison cell soon after the bombing. Trentadue won a wrongful death suit against the Bureau of Prisons for covering up key details of his brother's death, which the Bureau claimed was a suicide.

Labels: Jesse-Trentadue, OKBOMB, Oklahoma-City-Bombing

Views expressed on INTELWIRE are those of the author alone.

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Just Days After OKC Bombing, Informant Named Two Key Suspects

Just days after the Oklahoma City bombing, an informant told the FBI that white supremacists Dennis Mahon and Andreas Strassmeier had been actively discussing plans to bomb the Alfred E. Murrah federal building for months prior to the attack.

A record of an FBI interview with Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms informant Carol Howe, dated April 21, 1995, was provided to INTELWIRE by Salt Lake City attorney Jesse Trentadue and investigative journalist Roger Charles. Trentadue is engaged in a lawsuit to compel the FBI to release documents pertaining to the bombing under the Freedom of Information Act. Charles, a retired Marine Corps officer, worked with J.D. Cash of the McCurtain Gazette investigating the bombing.

Mahon and Strassmeier both have ties to a large number of white supremacist and anti-government movements, and both have been linked to a white supremacist compound in Oklahoma known as Elohim City. Both men separately claimed to have met convicted OKC bomber Timothy McVeigh at gun shows prior to the attack. McVeigh placed a call to the Elohim City compound, where Strassmeier was living, shortly before the bombing.

According to the document (click here to read), Mahon told Howe he wanted to target federal facilities for bombings, including specifically federal buildings in Tulsa and Oklahoma City.

Howe told the FBI that Mahon and Strassmeier took three trips to Oklahoma City, in November 1994, December 1994 and February 1995. According to a chronology of McVeigh's travels compiled by his defense team (link), McVeigh was also in Oklahoma City in December 1994 and cased the Murrah building during that trip. However, Howe said she accompanied Mahon and Strassmeier on the trip and did not report any meeting with McVeigh.

It's not clear how much the FBI did to attempt to follow up on this information. The FBI has consistently refused to disclose the bulk of its investigative file related to the Oklahoma City bombing.

What records have been released through Trentadue's lawsuit and other sources do not detail any substantial investigation of Mahon and only relate a belated interview of Strassmeier by phone after he had left the United States. Strassmeier left the U.S. soon after the bombing and now lives in his native Germany.

Dennis Mahon is currently facing trial, along with his twin brother Daniel, for a 2004 bombing that targeted Don Logan, a black official working for the Scottsdale, Arizona, city diversity office. Logan was injured in the attack.

According to the Associated Press, the Mahon brothers' trial was scheduled to start this month but has been delayed until early 2012 because of "a 'substantial' amount of information disclosed by the government" during discovery. The nature of the disclosures is currently unknown.

Previously released documents (click to read) indicated that Howe had related the possible threats described above to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms prior to the April 1995 bombing (for specific testimony, click here).

Labels: Andreas-Strassmeir, Dennis-Mahon, Elohim-City, Jesse-Trentadue, OKBOMB, Oklahoma-City-Bombing, Timothy-McVeigh

Views expressed on INTELWIRE are those of the author alone.

Posted by J.M. Berger | Permalink

 

New OKBOMB Documents Show Threats To Nichols' Family After FBI Reopened Investigation in 2005

The family of convicted Oklahoma City bombing conspirator Terry Nichols was threatened after the FBI began looking into new investigative leads in 1995, according to new documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act.

The documents also detail the FBI's sparring with U.S. Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, who sought to interview Nichols as part of a probe into additional, unindicted conspirators in the bombing, as well as summarizing Nichols' comments during the interview, including a claim that Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh was connected to Middle Eastern terrorists. However, Nichols did not provide specifics to support that allegation, according to the documents.

The documents were obtained by Salt Lake City attorney Jesse Trentadue.

June 17, 2005 memorandum

The interview with Nichols was conducted with Nichols separated from his visitors by a bulletproof window. The window had holes drilled in it for conversation and an intercom system was also available.

The congressman's request to make an audio recording of the interview was refused. Rohrabacher asked to bring a reporter from MSNBC to witness the interview, which was also refused.

June 23 memorandum

June 24 memorandum

Rohrabacher's interview request coincided with a renewed investigation into the Oklahoma City bombing, due to the discovery of unexploded ordinance at Nichols' former home in Herington, Kansas (story).

The tip about the explosives was first reported by Gregory Scarpa Jr., a mobster who shared a prison block with Nichols. It was confirmed on subsequent investigation. Nichols subsequently confirmed the information to the FBI.

Nichols had expressed concerns about putting his family in danger by discussing the Oklahoma City bombing and the role of alleged additional conspirators.

Just days after the FBI began making inquiries about the new information from Nichols, the FBI in Newark received a phone call, the details of which have been redacted from the documents but which appears to pertain to a "threat to Nichols' family."

The next day, the FBI sent an urgent message to all field offices where Nichols' family members notifying them of information which has also been redacted from the documents.

With an active investigation underway, the FBI was concerned about the impending Rohrabacher interview, but the primary concern seemed to be the prospect that Nichols might identify "John Doe #2," an early suspect in the OKC bombing whom the FBI sought initially but later dismissed as a dead end.

The FBI's Domestic Terrorism Operations Unit "expressed concern regarding John Doe #2's name surfacing during the Congressman's interview." The FBI then re-interviewed Nichols, before Rohrabacher's visit, pressing him for information "specifically pertaining to John Doe #2."

According to the documents, if Nichols did not provide that specific information, the FBI said it would no longer interview him. It's not clear why the agents would be so specifically focused on John Doe #2, when it had previously ruled out the relevance of the suspect and when other possible co-conspirators who did not match the John Doe #2 description had been specifically named by Nichols.

Meanwhile, a grand jury investigation -- about which all information has been redacted -- was being conducted in the same time frame. An unidentified individual testified before the grand jury on June 6, 2006, with an unspecified connection to the case.

The FBI repeatedly canceled dates scheduled for Rohrabacher's visit with Nichols and denied Rohrabacher's repeated requests to make an audio recording of the interview. Meanwhile, the FBI tried to get Rohrabacher to reveal his questions in advance.

June 28 memorandum

During the actual interview, which finally took place June 27, 2005, the FBI observed the interview through a closed-circuit camera in another room. The interview was recorded on video, but without audio. An FBI agent was placed in the room to take notes of the interview, the only record permitted.

Nichols objected to the FBI's presence in the room. Rohrabacher asked the agent to leave, but the special agent in charge on the scene told him the FBI would terminate the interview if the agent was not permitted to remain. The agent eventually returned to the interview, which resumed:

Nichols advised Congressman Rohrabacher that he had no direct or "first-hand" knowledge of "foreign invoivement" in the Oklahoma City bombing. Nichols stated that Timothy McVeigh mentioned "Middle Eastern" people (no further information), and their connection to terrorism (no further information) several times. According to Nichols, McVeigh mentioned this in reference to serving in the U.S. Army during Operation Desert Storm and not in connection to the Oklahoma City bombing. Nichols believed there was an "Arab" connection to the Oklahoma City bombing, but could not articulate the reasons for his belief. Nichols advised McVeigh "talked to Muslims"
before the the Oklahoma City bombing.

Nichols told Rohrabacher he did not meet World Trade Center bomber Ramzi Yousef in the Philippines during a visit when both men were in the country in late 1994, but that he had met him subsequently in prison. Both men are housed at the Supermax facility in Florence, Colo.

Nichols claimed that McVeigh had mentioned "Andy the German" prior to the bombing, a reference to Andreas Strassmeier, a German neo-Nazi who has long been suspected of links to the case and has been mentioned as a possible "John Doe #2." When asked directly about John Doe #2, however, Nichols said he didn't know who that was. Nchols told Rohrabacher he knew of at least two other people involved in the bombing, but only identified one.

Nichols passed notes to Rohrabacher during the interview. The FBI tied to get the documents away from Rohrabacher after the interview, but the congressman declined and told the special agent in charge he would send copies after his staff had reviewed them.

Jesse Trentadue sued the FBI under the Freedom of Information Act for documents related to the Oklahoma City bombing after his brother, Kenneth, was found dead in a federal prison cell soon after the bombing. Trentadue won a wrongful death suit against the Bureau of Prisons for covering up key details of his brother's death, which the Bureau claimed was a suicide.

Trentadue believes his brother was murdered in prison in a case of mistaken identity due to his resemblance to a suspected accomplice in the bombing, Richard Guthrie, who was also found dead in prison under similar circumstances in 1996.

Labels: Jesse-Trentadue, OKBOMB, Oklahoma-City-Bombing, Terry-Nichols

Views expressed on INTELWIRE are those of the author alone.

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FBI Lab Took Nearly Three Years To Analyze Terry Nichols Bomb Cache

The FBI Laboratory took 34 months to check for fingerprints on a cache of explosives hidden by Oklahoma City bombing conspirator Terry Nichols, according to new documents released by the FBI under the Freedom of Information Act.

The cache of explosives was discovered in 2005 in connection with a threat that they would be used in an act of domestic terrorism and a claim that the fingerprints might point to an unindicted co-conspirator in the Oklahoma City bombing.

The documents were obtained by Salt Lake City attorney Jesse Trentadue.

On March 5, 2005, the FBI received information from an asset concerning explosives that had been hidden in Terry Nichols' home in Herington, Kansas, since the time of the Oklahoma City bombing, without being discovered by investigators (click here for more on how the tip came about).

The tip, which was received by the Kansas City FBI field office, indicated that the material was slated for use in an "impending act of domestic violence." The tip was specific about the type of explosives stored at the house and their location.

According to the report, Nichols told fellow prisoners that the material also bore the fingerprints of Roger Moore, an Arkansas gun dealer and friend of Timothy McVeigh whom investigators had previously discounted as a suspect. Moore's name is redacted from the document, but Nichols previously confirmed this detail in a letter.

Moore, who testified against McVeigh and Nichols, claimed that Nichols had robbed his home prior to the bombing. According to the FBI report, Nichols claimed Moore had provided explosives for use in the bombing. According to the report, Nichols also claimed to believe Moore was an FBI informant who had forewarned the FBI about the bombing.

Read the March 14, 2005 report about the tip

It took more than two weeks from the report being filed for the FBI to investigate whether live explosives were hidden on the site for use in a domestic terrorism attack. On April 2, 2005, agents from the Kansas City field office discovered that there was in fact a substantial cache of explosives still hidden in Nichols' former home, which had somehow been missed during the original investigation of the Oklahoma City bombing.

Items found in the house included almost 70 Kinestik explosives (used in the design of the Oklahoma City bomb), hundreds of detonators of various types, detonator components and accessories, flares, bomb fuses, tear gas grenades, and books on improvised explosives and manufacturing poison.

April 8, 2005, inventory of Nichols house search

April 2005, photos of items retrieved in Nichols search

April 2005, sketch of former Nichols home

Nichols had claimed that Moore's fingerprints would be found on the explosives. It took almost three years for the FBI lab to report on whether it found any fingerprints.

In a report dated Feb. 21, 2008, the FBI Laboratory stated that it had not found useful prints on the explosives. However, it did find fingerprints that did not belong to Terry Nichols on one of the books. The name of the person to whom the fingerprints belonged has been redacted from the lab report.

Request to FBI Lab for fingerprint analysis, May 5, 2005

FBI Lab Receipt of Evidence, May 13, 2005

FBI Lab Receipt of Evidence, July 1, 2005

On April 24, 2008, the FBI Lab destroyed the explosives which Nichols had hoped would yield the fingerprints of Roger Moore. The FBI Lab confirmed the destruction of the evidence months later. Explosives are routinely disposed of after they are no longer required for evidentiary purposes.

FBI Lab Report on Disposition of Evidence, October 10, 2008

Jesse Trentadue sued the FBI under the Freedom of Information Act for documents related to the Oklahoma City bombing after his brother, Kenneth, was found dead in a federal prison cell soon after the bombing. Trentadue won a wrongful death suit against the Bureau of Prisons for covering up key details of his brother's death, which the Bureau claimed was a suicide.

Trentadue believes his brother was murdered in prison in a case of mistaken identity due to his resemblance to a suspected accomplice in the bombing, Richard Guthrie, who was also found dead in prison under similar circumstances in 1996.

Labels: Jesse-Trentadue, OKBOMB, Oklahoma-City-Bombing, Terry-Nichols, Timothy-McVeigh

Views expressed on INTELWIRE are those of the author alone.

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Jesse Trentadue Presses FBI on Secret Files In OKC Bombing

Salt Lake City attorney Jesse Trentadue has filed new evidence of secret FBI filing practices in his Freedom of Information Act lawsuit against the bureau seeking files related to the Oklahoma City bombing.

Trentadue this week filed exhibits pertaining to FBI procedures for filing documents while keeping them out of legal disclosure processes such as FOIA or discovery. The exhibits were provided to INTELWIRE by Trentadue.

Affidavit of Richard Ojeda

Ojeda was an FBI agent from 1989 to 1999 who worked on the Oklahoma City bombing. According to Ojeda, when FBI agents interviewed subjects, they were trained to "be careful what we put into" written records such as FD-302 forms, since such records were "likely to be turned over to the defense in discovery."

According to Ojeda's affidavit, some information for FD-302 files would be omitted from the main report, but included in an insert "which we knew would generally not be discoverable in court."

"The FBI also kept 'zero files' which were reports containing information that the FBI would not generally want disclosed to the defense and which were kept in a separate case file." Ojeda indicated that he believed information about the Oklahoma City case had been improperly withheld from defense attorneys.

Memorandum and Order, National Lawyers Guild et. al. v. FBI et. al.

The unpublished 1980 court ruling found that the FBI maintained what were called "June Files," which held "the results of electronic surveillance and other secretive methods of acquiring sensitive information."

Trentadue sued the FBI after his brother, Kenneth, was found dead in a federal prison cell soon after the bombing. Trentadue won a wrongful death suit against the Bureau of Prisons for covering up key details of his brother's death, which the Bureau claimed was a suicide.

Trentadue believes his brother was murdered in prison in a case of mistaken identity due to his resemblance to a suspected accomplice in the bombing, Richard Guthrie, who was also found dead in prison under similar circumstances in 1996.

Labels: FOIA, Jesse-Trentadue, OKBOMB, Oklahoma-City-Bombing

Views expressed on INTELWIRE are those of the author alone.

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Oklahoma City Bombing: Still Digging

It's the 15th anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing, and in some ways, the public understanding of the worst domestic terrorist attack in history has not progressed significantly since the first anniversary.

Serious questions remain about McVeigh's co-conspirators -- whether he had any, and who they might have been -- and those questions are not just a fringe pursuit. A growing body of documentary evidence points to the possibility of a wider conspiracy, including FOIA documents obtained exclusively by INTELWIRE.

Significant advances in understanding the case have also been made thanks to the efforts of Jesse Trentadue. Trentadue sued the FBI to force it to disclose information about the Oklahoma City bombing after the death of his brother, Kenneth Trentadue, in federal custody on Aug. 21, 1995 (link, graphic content warning).

Trentadue believes his brother was killed by authorities because he was mistaken for Richard Guthrie, one of McVeigh's suspected co-conspirators, which led him to seek more information on the bombing from the FBI through FOIA.

Here's a quick guide to just a few of INTELWIRE's exclusive reports on the Oklahoma City bombing. There will be more stories to come.

PATCON: The FBI's Secret Plan To Infiltrate The Militia Movement

1991 FBI Memo Warned Of Truck Bomb Inspired By 'Turner Diaries'

Terry Nichols Claims Midwest Bank Robber Link To Timothy McVeigh

OKC Witness Linked To CIA

Richard Lee Guthrie's Suicide

Richard Lee Guthrie, ATF Investigative Files

Documents Tighten Net Around Additional OKBOMB Conspirators

The Jesse Trentadue Files

Did Terry Nichols and Ramzi Yousef Meet?

Informants, Middle Eastern Suspects, And More

Secret Service Document Describes Missing Scenes From FBI Release of Oklahoma City Bombing Videos

Labels: Andreas-Strassmeir, Jesse-Trentadue, OKBOMB, Oklahoma-City-Bombing, Richard-Lee-Guthrie

Views expressed on INTELWIRE are those of the author alone.

Posted by J.M. Berger | Permalink

 

Secret Service Document Describes Missing Scenes From FBI Release of Oklahoma City Bombing Videos

By J.M. Berger
INTELWIRE.com

A Secret Service timeline of events around the Oklahoma City bombing describes video surveillance tapes that show the Ryder truck used in the terrorist both before and during the detonation.

The FBI last week released security camera footage of the moments after the bombing. The videotapes, which the FBI claims were not edited, do not show the Ryder Truck, McVeigh or the explosion.

The Secret Service document, dated May 1, 1995, and provided to INTELWIRE by Attorney Jesse Trentadue, describes:

"Security video [that] shows the Ryder truck pulling up to the Federal Building and then pausing (7-10 seconds) before resuming into a slot in front of the building."

"Security video tapes from the area show the truck detonation 3 minutes and 6 seconds after the suspects exited the truck"

The word "suspects" in plural refers to a witness report that two men exited the truck. It is not entirely clear from the document whether the security tape shows anyone exiting the truck. Witness reports also described a third suspect, a woman believed to have been directing the truck into position for detonation.

Timeline document (excerpt)

The videotapes were released to Trentadue under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Trentadue sued the FBI to force it to disclose information about the Oklahoma City bombing after the death of his brother, Kenneth Trentadue, in federal custody on Aug. 21, 1995. Kenneth Trentadue's death was initially declared a suicide by prison officials, but the family discovered signs of numerous injuries when preparing him for burial. The family was awarded more than $1 million after winning a wrongful death suit against the government. Trentadue believes his brother was mistaken for a suspect in the case.

For more information on Trentadue's lawsuit including documents he has obtained through his FOIA lawsuit, click here.

Labels: American-Terrorists, INTELWIRE-Exclusive, Jesse-Trentadue, OKBOMB, Secrets-Scandals

Views expressed on INTELWIRE are those of the author alone.

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Secret Oklahoma City Bombing Footage Released

The FBI has released surveillance tapes showing the Okahoma City bombing from several angles. The videos have been kept secret for years by the FBI and were only released in response to a Freedom of Information Act action by Salt Lake City attorney Jesse Trentadue (story).

Surveillance video from downtown library

Southwestern Bell surveillance video

Speaking to the Associated Press, Trentadue said:

"Four cameras in four different locations going blank at basically the same time on the morning of April 19, 1995. There ain't no such thing as a coincidence," Trentadue said.

He said government officials claim the security cameras did not record the minutes before the bombing because "they had run out of tape" or "the tape was being replaced."

"The interesting thing is they spring back on after 9:02," he said. "The absence of footage from these crucial time intervals is evidence that there is something there that the FBI doesn't want anybody to see."

A spokesman for the FBI in Oklahoma City, Gary Johnson, declined to comment and referred inquiries about the tapes to FBI officials in Washington, who were not immediately available for comment Sunday.

The soundless recordings show people rushing from nearby buildings after the bomb went off. Some show people fleeing through corridors cluttered with debris. None show the actual explosion that ripped through the federal building.

FBI agents did not report finding any security tapes from the federal building itself.

The FBI in the past refused to release the security camera recordings, leading Trentadue and others to contend the government was hiding evidence that others were involved in the attack.

"It's taken a lawsuit and years to get the tapes," Trentadue said.

He received the latest batch of tapes over the summer in response to an April request for video from security cameras in 11 different locations. Nothing on the tapes was unexpected.

"The more important thing they show is what they don't show," Trentadue said. "These cameras would have shown the various roads and approaches to the Murrah Building."

Labels: American-Terrorists, Jesse-Trentadue, OKBOMB, Weblog

Views expressed on INTELWIRE are those of the author alone.

Posted by J.M. Berger | Permalink

 

Oklahoma City Bombing Witness Linked to CIA, New Filing Reveals

By J.M. Berger
INTELWIRE.com

A potential witness in the Oklahoma City bombing investigation had contact with the CIA.

That is just one of dozens of revelations in a document released by the CIA, in response to a lawsuit by Salt Lake City attorney Jesse Trentadue.

Trentadue has been seeking government documents related to Oklahoma City through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), as part of an investigation into the death of his brother while federal custody (story).

Trentadue sought documents from the CIA under FOIA. Although the Agency released some documents (story, documents), it withheld many more. In response to Trentadue's lawsuit, the CIA filed what is known as a Vaughn Index, describing the withheld material in detail. While much of the material was classified, the CIA also refused to disclose several unclassified documents.

Among the documents described in the index:

A document written by a CIA attorney to the Justice Department that "responds to request for information as to whether a potential witness in the Oklahoma City Bombing trial was at any time associated with the CIA." The document describes "contacts between the CIA and the potential witness," which also contains information on "the location of a covert CIA facility."

A letter to an FBI agent describing CIA records searches related to Timothy McVeigh and co-conspirator Terry Nichols.

A 10-page fax describing a name trace search conducted by the CIA on Terry Nichols.

A one-page cable dated April 19, 1995, with the subject line "Bombing in Oklahoma City," which contains information about "the location of a covert CIA facility, a CIA cryptogram, and CIA intelligence limitations and capabilities."

A two cable dated April 19, 1995, and titled "Identity of US Citizens Who Attended the PAIC [Popular Arab Islamic Conference]." The annual Sudan-based conference was known as a nexus for Islamic terrorist leaders including Al Qaeda members. The document also contains information about "CIA intelligence collection requests, the location of a CIA covert facility, and cryptonyms."

A one-page cable dated April 19, 1995, and titled "Call From Foreign Liason Contact," which describes "the identity of a foreign government that provided information to the CIA in the aftermath of the Oklahoma City bombing, the location of a covert CIA facility, and information regarding another agency's sources, information sharing, and analysis of source information. Release of the classified information reasonably would be expected to result in serious damage to the national security of the United States."

A three-page cable dated April 20, 1995, and titled "Planned Correspondence With Foreign Government Liaison Partners," which describes contact between the CIA and "an asset regarding the Oklahoma City bombing."

A two-page cable dated April 20, 1995, and titled "Explosion at Federal Building in Oklahoma" which describes "the location of a covert CIA field station, the identity of a human source, information sharing, and information credited to a representative of a foreign government."

Multiple documents dated April 20, 1995, describing claims of responsibility for the Oklahoma City bombing. As previously reported on INTELWIRE, there were several such claims in the aftermath of the bombing (story, story).

A two-page cable dated April 20, 1995, and titled "Possible Suspect" which "provides information about a possible person of interest in the Oklahoma City bombing."

A two-page cable dated April 20, 1995, and titled "Name Trace Results" which describes "a person named in connection with the Oklahoma Bombing investigation, but whom was not the object of plaintiff's FOIA request." Trentadue's FOIA request specifically requested information on Andreas Strassmeir, a German national linked to McVeigh.

A two-page cable dated April 21, 1995, and titled "Investigative Lead."

A two-page cable dated April 21, 1995, and titled "Possible Lead."

A two-page cable dated April 21, 1995, and titled "Information Regarding Possible Suspects." It contains "the identity of an intelligence source and details regarding inter-agency coordination with respect to the intelligence as well as to protect the location of a covert CIA field station and foreign liaison"

The Vaughn Index lists numerous other leads generated by human intelligence sources.

Read the full document

Labels: American-Terrorists, CIA, INTELFILES, INTELWIRE-Exclusive, Jesse-Trentadue, OKBOMB, Oklahoma-City-Bombing, Terry-Nichols

Views expressed on INTELWIRE are those of the author alone.

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OKBOMB: Dennis Mahon Indictment

White supremacist brothers Dennis and Daniel Mahon have been indicted in Phoenix, Arizona, for an alleged bombing plot:

Indictment of Dennis and Daniel Mahon

The name of Dennis Mahon will be familiar to those who have followed the Oklahoma City bombing conspiracy investigation.

Chairman's Report, Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee of the House International Relations Committee, Oklahoma City Bombing Investigation

A relevant excerpt:

Carol Howe came from a prominent Tulsa family. She was attracted to the white supremacist movement in February 1994 after she was allegedly attacked by three African-American men. She became a paid informant for the ATF and a frequent visitor to Elohim City in June 1994. Howe testified in Terry Nichols' federal trial that she saw McVeigh with [German national Andreas] Strassmeir at Elohim City in July 1994.

Howe dated Strassmeir in 1994 and January 1995. Howe asserted that Strassmeir trained Elohim City racist radicals in weaponry and had discussed assassinations, bombings and mass shootings. Strassmeir, according to Howe, frequently called for direct action against the U.S. federal government. Howe reported these statements to the ATF. It is not clear how seriously they were taken, as authorities have tried their best to discredit Howe as a witness. She was a former drug abuser and had other personal weaknesses; nonetheless, she was a paid ATF informant and in the aftermath of Waco and Ruby Ridge must have been considered an important source of information.

Howe also talked to the ATF regarding Dennis Mahon, an occasional inhabitant of Elohim City who is listed as a terrorist in several countries (including Germany and Canada) and is a leader of the White Aryan Resistance. Strassmeir also stayed with Mahon while attending weekend gun shows in Tulsa. Howe reported that Mahon talked about targeting federal buildings for bombings. Her reports could be interpreted as warnings of the upcoming Oklahoma City bombing. Howe, for example, claimed that Mahon and Strassmeir took three trips to Oklahoma City, in November 1994, December 1994, and February 1995, on one of which she accompanied them.

Labels: American-Terrorists, Andreas-Strassmeir, Dennis-Mahon, INTELFILES, OKBOMB, Oklahoma-City-Bombing

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CIA Records On Oklahoma City Bombing

Salt Lake City attorney Jesse Trentadue released more than 50 pages of heavily redacted documents relating to the Oklahoma City bombing, which he obtained from the CIA under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).

Trentadue had petitioned for a number of documents relating to the bombing itself, communications between the CIA and the FBI over the bombing, and records related to Andreas Strassmeir, a German national linked to McVeigh who is alleged to have played a role in the bombing.

The CIA claimed a number of exemptions including that the release of the documents would pose a threat to national security and could expose CIA methods.

Read the full documents

Labels: American-Terrorists, INTELFILES, Jesse-Trentadue, OKBOMB, Oklahoma-City-Bombing

Views expressed on INTELWIRE are those of the author alone.

Posted by J.M. Berger | Permalink

 

Videotapes of Oklahoma City Bombing

A dozen or more surveillance videotapes showing the Oklahoma City bombing may soon be released under the Freedom of Information Act. The videotapes are described in documents released to Salt Lake City attorney Jesse Trentadue, who is also seeking the tapes themselves. The actual tapes "are due any day," Trentadue said Thursday.

Read the documents

Labels: American-Terrorists, INTELFILES, Jesse-Trentadue, OKBOMB, Oklahoma-City-Bombing

Views expressed on INTELWIRE are those of the author alone.

Posted by J.M. Berger | Permalink

 

Oklahoma City Bombing Videotapes Release May Be Imminent

By J.M. Berger
INTELWIRE.com

A dozen or more surveillance videotapes related to the Oklahoma City bombing may soon be released by the FBI under the Freedom of Information Act.

The unreleased tapes have long been the subject of controversy. Some have argued the tapes may contain images of additional conspirators in the 1995 bombing of the Alfred E. Murrah federal building, for which only Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols have been convicted.

The videotapes are described in documents newly released to Salt Lake City attorney Jesse Trentadue, who is also seeking the release of the tapes themselves. Click here to read the original documents.

The actual tapes "are due any day," Trentadue said this week.

(Click here and here for more about Trentadue's battle to force FBI to disclose information about the Oklahoma City bombing.)

Separately, Trentadue released more than 50 pages of heavily redacted documents relating to the bombing, which he obtained from the CIA under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Click here to read the original documents.

Trentadue had petitioned for a number of documents relating to the bombing itself, communications between the CIA and the FBI over the bombing, and records related to Andreas Strassmeir, a German national linked to McVeigh who is alleged to have played a role in the bombing.

The CIA referred 26 documents it found during its search to the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, a division of the Air Force responsible for satellite imagery intelligence.

"Release of this information could cause grave damage to our national security," the Agency wrote in a letter to Trentadue.

The withheld documents likely relate to satellite images of the Murrah building.

As previously disclosed by an INTELWIRE FOIA request, the CIA provided imagery of the Alfred E. Murrah Federal Building for use by the FBI in evaluating the bomb blast.

The imagery included both before and after images. The documents released to INTELWIRE do not indicate when -- or why -- the "before" pictures were taken.

Labels: American-Terrorists, INTELWIRE-Exclusive, Jesse-Trentadue, OKBOMB

Views expressed on INTELWIRE are those of the author alone.

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OKBOMB and The Order: New Documents Don't Add Up

By J.M. Berger
INTELWIRE.com

New Oklahoma City bombing documents released by the FBI say a domestic terrorist group known as "The Order" had been defunct for 10 years, even though the Bureau was conducting two active investigations on related groups from 1990 to 1993.

One of those two groups, the Texas Reserve Militia, was linked to Andreas Strassmeir, an associate of Timothy McVeigh.

The new documents were released as part of a FOIA lawsuit by Salt Lake City attorney Jesse Trentadue (story).

According to one of the new documents (link), "documents written by Timothy
James McVeigh in the past contain references to 'The Turner Diaries,'" a white supremacist novel that "outlines, in detail, the
establishment of a terrorist group known as 'The Order.'"

The original Order (external link) was formed during the mid-1980s and carried out a criminal spree that included bank robberies, an assassination and counterfeiting.

"The group has not been active in almost a decade," the document says.

But in reality, the FBI investigated outgrowths of The Order just two years earlier in two separate locations -- Benton, Tennessee, and Austin, Texas.

In 1993, the FBI had an active investigation of The Order of St. John, based in Tennessee. According to an FBI document obtained by INTELWIRE (link), the head of that group was also the head of an organization known as the American Pistol and Rifle Association. APRA members were directly linked to the original Order, the document says.

"During the mid-1980s, several members of the white supremacist terrorist group known as 'The Order' were current or former members of APRA," the document states.

Perhaps even more significantly, a group known as the Texas Reserve Militia -- the subject of a domestic terrorism investigation -- was also calling itself "The Second Order." According to an FBI letterhead memorandum dated 12/26/1991 (link), "it is known that the 'first' Order was involved in murder, armored car and bank robberies, and counterfeiting. When [name redacted] talks about the group being the 'Second Order,' it is assumed from that that the same kind of criminal activities may be carried out."

A January 1993 FBI memorandum further indicated that a leader of the Texas Reserve Militia had "made statements about The Second Order such as the Government 'has no idea what's in store for them. The Second Order, The Second Front is in place.'"

One member of this "Second Order" was Andreas Strassmeir, a German national associated with the Elohim City white separatist compound in Vian, Oklahoma. McVeigh and Terry Nichols apparently visited the compound on at least one occasion, and McVeigh telephoned Strassmeir shortly before the Oklahoma City bombing took place.

A great deal of suspicion has revolved around Strassmeir as a possible co-conspirator in the bombing. Some have also speculated that he acted as a government informant. Strassmeir was also an associate of the bank robbery gang the Aryan Republican Army (story and documents). The ARA, long suspected of playing a role in the Oklahoma City bombing (story and documents), robbed banks with the idea of using the proceeds to support anti-government activity -- the same game plan used by the original Order.

Danny Coulson, an FBI agent who worked on both the Oklahoma City bombing and the Texas Reserve Militia investigation, said he believes Strassmeir may have been some kind of government informant but was not working for the FBI. He suggested Strassmeir might have been working for a foreign intelligence service.

"I think there are people who know the answer to that and I think they're in the FBI," Coulson said.

One of the newly released documents is an interagency communication from the FBI which addresses that question to the CIA (link).

"This inquiry concerns [name redacted, belived to be Strassmeir based on description provided] and whether he has ever been a CIA confidential source or asset," the communication states. No corresponding response was released.

The full collection of new documents obtained by Trentadue can be read by clicking here. They include previously unknown discussions of phone threats and a communication, largely redacted, concerning an April 20 interaction between the FBI and the CIA.

Labels: American-Terrorists, INTELWIRE-Exclusive, Jesse-Trentadue, OKBOMB, Secrets-Scandals

Views expressed on INTELWIRE are those of the author alone.

Posted by J.M. Berger | Permalink

 

Timothy McVeigh as Straw Man

Secretary of State Madeleine Albright recently repeated an incorrect statement that cuts to the heart of one of the most serious debates in the arena of terrorism studies. At a Senate hearing, she said:

We do not portray the Oklahoma City bombing as Christian terrorism, even though Timothy MacVeigh [sic] thought of himself as a Christian. MacVeigh [sic] was guilty of mass murder -- and there was nothing Christian about it. The same principle applies with Islam. When Muslims commit terrorist acts, they are not practicing their faith; they are betraying it.

I generally try to stay out of political discussions of any stripe, but this statement is flatly incorrect in its factual basis, on an issue which deserves some serious consideration.

McVeigh was not a Christian in any meaningful sense of the word. He did not identify himself in that way, nor was he a member of any religious group or congregation. He claimed no religious motivation for what he did, and he wasn't radicalized by a self-proclaimed religious leader or through his association with a religious organization.

For a more detailed discussion of this, see my posting from last year around this time:

Why 'Islamic Terrorists' And Not 'Christian Terrorists'?

I first spotted Albright's testimony in a link from the Global Muslim Brotherhood Daily Report Web site.

Labels: American-Terrorists, OKBOMB, Weblog

Views expressed on INTELWIRE are those of the author alone.

Posted by J.M. Berger | Permalink

 

Trentadue Takes Aim At AG Nominee

Salt Lake City attorney Jesse Trentadue is taking aim at President Barack Obama’s nominee for Attorney General.

In a letter to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy late last week, Trentadue charged that Eric Holder -- a Deputy Attorney General during the Clinton Administration -- took part in covering up the alleged murder of Trentadue’s brother, Kenneth, in August 1995. Trentadue included copies of several internal Justice Department documents which he alleges show
Holder’s role in a cover-up.

Read the letter and documents

Kenneth Trentadue's death was ruled a suicide by hanging by the Bureau of Prisons and the FBI. But Jesse Trentadue believes his brother was murdered because of his resemblance to a bank robbery suspect connected to the Oklahoma City bombing.

Trentadue sued the government for wrongful death and won. The family was awarded about $1 million. The court ruled that the death was a suicide, but said the government mishandled the case so severely that it merited an award for intentionally inflicting emotional distress. An internal Justice Department investigation also ruled Kenneth Trentadue’s death a suicide but found extensive irregularities in how the case was handled.

Labels: American-Terrorists, Jesse-Trentadue, OKBOMB, Weblog

Views expressed on INTELWIRE are those of the author alone.

Posted by J.M. Berger | Permalink

 

Jesse Trentadue Offers Reward In Brothers' Death

By J.M. Berger
INTELWIRE.com

On August 21, 1995, Kenneth Michael Trentadue was found dead in his cell, at a federal prison in Oklahoma City.

After 13 years of battling the government in search of answers, Trentadue's brother is offering a $250,000 reward for the truth.

Salt Lake City attorney Jesse Trentadue is offering the reward for "new evidence resulting in final felony murder convictions" of those responsible for his brother's death.

Details on the reward can be found at kmtreward.com. The reward was also published in newspapers today and will be advertised in a corrections industry magazine.

Kenneth Trentadue's death was ruled a suicide by hanging by the Bureau of Prisons and the FBI. But Jesse Trentadue believes his brother was murdered because of his resemblance to a bank robbery suspect connected to the Oklahoma City bombing.

That suspect, Richard Lee Guthrie Jr., died in prison less than a year later, also the result of a hanging. Guthrie's death was also ruled a suicide (documents). Jesse Trentadue has sued the government under the Freedom of Information Act seeking more information on the bombing conspiracy (documents).

Kenneth Trentadue was in prison awaiting a hearing on an alleged parole violation. Trentadue had been convicted in 1982 of playing a role in a bank robbery and was released on parole in 1987.

Two days after arriving at the Federal Transfer Center in Oklahoma City for processing on August 18, Trentadue asked to be placed in protective custody telling a prison official he had "stepped into some shit" and may have had a problem with "mistaken identity," according to a Justice Department internal investigation into the death.

Trentadue was moved into a special unit for closer supervision later that day. He was found dead in his cell early the following morning.

Prison officials did not attempt to revive him and subsequently misrepresented various aspects of the case to Trentadue's family. In 1999, a Justice Department internal investigation found that the Bureau of Prisons employees "inappropriately delayed entry into (Trentadue's) cell, did not examine him properly, and did not immediately provide medical attention to him."

The investigation also found that the BOP "inadequately processed the cell for evidence and inappropriately rushed to clean the cell."

According to the report of the investigation, the FBI "did not investigate the case adequately, (...) mishandled evidence, failed to document the case adequately, and made various mistakes in its investigation."

The investigation also found that at least three BOP employees and one FBI employee had made false statements about the case under oath.

Despite all this, however, the investigation concluded Trentadue's death had been a suicide, explaining the trauma to the body as the result of a sequence of events in which Trentadue "attempted to hang himself, fell from the sink during this attempt, attempted to cut his throat with a toothpaste tube, then successfully hanged himself with a bed sheet he put around his neck and attached to the vent grate above the sink."

Jesse Trentadue sued the government for wrongful death and won. The family was awarded about $1 million. The court ruled that the death was a suicide, but said the government mishandled the case so severely that it merited an award for intentionally inflicting emotional distress.

Labels: American-Terrorists, INTELWIRE-Exclusive, Jesse-Trentadue, OKBOMB, Richard-Lee-Guthrie

Views expressed on INTELWIRE are those of the author alone.

Posted by J.M. Berger | Permalink