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News, documents and analysis on violent extremismMonday, April 19, 2010
Oklahoma City Bombing: Still DiggingIt'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.
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Sunday, November 23, 2008
Jesse Trentadue Offers Reward In Brothers' DeathINTELWIRE.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.
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Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Trentadue OKC Lawsuits Expand To CIA, Add Demand For VideosINTELWIRE.com Salt Lake City Attorney Jesse Trentadue today sued the CIA for records relating to the Oklahoma City bombing, including any documents related to Andreas Strassmeier, a German national believed by many to have played a role in the terrorist attack. In the same court action, Trentadue also sued the FBI for copies of all surveillance videotapes related to the bombing, including several videos known to exist which have never been released. Both actions demand the release of the cited documents under the Freedom of Information Act. In addition to the new lawsuit, Trentadue has an ongoing case against the FBI. Last week, the FBI filed an appeal attempting to overturn a court order allowing Trentadue to take a videotaped deposition from convicted OKC conspirator Terry Nichols in order to help resolve outstanding questions about the bombing and the existence of conspirators in the plot who have not been charged. Trentadue, a Salt Lake City attorney, became involved in researching 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. Jesse Trentadue's lawsuit over the FBI's disclosure stems from a belief that his brother was killed because of his resemblance to Richard Lee Guthrie, a white supremacist and bank robber who has been credibly linked to the Oklahoma City bombing by numerous reports, including those from the Associated Press, J.D. Cash of the McCurtain Gazette and In Bad Company, a 2001 book by criminology professor Mark S. Hamm. Read the new lawsuit Read documents previously obtained in Trentadue's lawsuits Terry Nichols Affidavit Claiming Additional Conspirators Documents Tighten Net Around Additional OKBOMB Conspirators INTELWIRE Documents on OKC and Strassmeier, Gammat Islamiyah Labels: American-Terrorists, INTELWIRE-Exclusive, Jesse-Trentadue, OKBOMB, Richard-Lee-Guthrie Views expressed on INTELWIRE are those of the author alone.
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Monday, April 21, 2008
New OKC Document Claims Prior Knowledge of BombingSalt Lake City attorney Jesse Trentadue filed a new document last week in his ongoing Freedom of Information Act lawsuit against the FBI seeking documents related to the Oklahoma City bombing.The filing submits an FBI FD-302 record relating to Mark Thomas, a former Christian Identity minister and Aryan Nations member, pleaded guilty in 1997 to conspiring with the Aryan Republican Army (ARA) bank robbery gang, which was led by white supremacists Richard Lee Guthrie and Peter Langan. The source of the document is not specified in the filing. According to the document, Thomas' former girlfriend approached the FBI in early 1997 and told agents that Mark Thomas made the following statement to her in February 1995: "We are going to get them. We are going to hit one of their buildings during the middle of the day. It's going to be a federal building. We will get sympathy if we bomb the building. ... [T]he people who will lose their loved ones, will realize how bad it feels." The new filing reinforces a scenario described in documents obtained by Trentadue and posted here in March. An informant quoted in those documents claimed to have heard from a third party that Thomas indicated having prior knowledge of the Oklahoma City bombing. The contents of the document have been previously reported by the Associated Press and others. According to the AP story, Thomas said he did not recall making the comments described herein. Labels: American-Terrorists, Jesse-Trentadue, OKBOMB, Richard-Lee-Guthrie, Weblog Views expressed on INTELWIRE are those of the author alone.
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Thursday, March 20, 2008
New Documents Tighten Net Around Additional OKBOMB ConspiratorsINTELWIRE.com A warning about the impending Oklahoma City bombing may have been delivered three days in advance to a white supremacist tied to suspected additional conspirators in the terrorist attack. Newly released documents reveal a detailed timeline of events that strengthens the case for additional conspirators in the bombing that killed 168 people on April 19, 1995 (timeline). The new documents also corroborate key testimony from other sources regarding a wider conspiracy. The documents were obtained by Salt Lake City lawyer Jesse Trentadue through the Freedom of Information Act. The documents were obtained by Salt Lake City lawyer Jesse Trentadue through the Freedom of Information Act (related story). Mark Thomas, a former Christian Identity minister and Aryan Nations member, pleaded guilty in 1997 to conspiring with the Aryan Republican Army (ARA) bank robbery gang, which was led by white supremacists Richard Lee Guthrie and Peter Langan. Thomas was staying in Elohim City, a white supremacist compound in rural Oklahoma, just days before the bombing, at the same time as other ARA associates with suspected links to the bombing and at the same time that Timothy McVeigh called the residence where some of the ARA members were staying. ARA members and associates have long been eyed by journalists and investigators as possible accomplices in the bombing plot. The ARA's activities were the main focus of the book In Bad Company: America's Terrorist Underground by Mark S. Hamm. The new documents corroborate key claims regarding the ARA's connection to the Oklahoma bombing which were put forth by Hamm. They also corroborate claims made by ARA member Peter Langan in an affidavit given to Trentadue. As part of an ongoing FOIA lawsuit by Trentadue, the FBI previously stated it could not locate documents linking the ARA to the Oklahoma City bombing. However, the new releases do just that. An FBI letterhead memorandum dated June 20, 1995, indicates that a female informant cooperating with the FBI and the Pennsylvania State Police implicated Thomas as having advance knowledge of the bombing. The memorandum reported a conversation with the informant which took place on May 1, 1995. There is no explanation of why the conversation was being reported more than a month and a half after it took place. The FBI redacted the subject line before releasing it to Trentadue. However, the memorandum is addressed to a case file dealing with the United States Nationalist Party, a white separatist organization. Read the June 20, 1995 FBI memorandum Thomas maintained a home in Macungie, which was used as a meeting place for recruiting and gatherings of white supremacist and militia-oriented extremists. A careful comparison of existing documents from Thomas' court case and other documents obtained by Trentadue and by INTELWIRE confirm that Thomas is the subject of the June 20 memo. According to the informant, a La Salle University college student had gone to Macungie to "house-sit for [name redacted] while [redacted] and his family were in Elohim City, Oklahoma. [redacted name or names] returned to Philadelphia on the day of the bombing of the Federal Building in Oklahoma City saying that 'They were warned three days in advance.'" Mark Thomas and his family were in Elohim City as late as April 17 and traveled back to his farm, arriving some time on April 19, according to "In Bad Company," court records and an April 2007 affidavit given to Trentadue by ARA member Peter Langan. The new documents corroborate several claims made by Langan in the affidavit. Affidavit of Peter Langan Langan said Guthrie (a wanted fugitive at the time) traveled to the Macungie farm in July 1995, just one month after the tip described in the FBI memorandum. According to Langan, two other members of the gang were already present at the farm -- Kevin McCarthy and Scott Stedeford. This claim is confirmed by court records and some of the newly released documents. Money raised by Guthrie and Langan was funneled to Thomas, for the purpose of financing domestic terrorism, according to testimony in Thomas' 1997 trial. The FBI field office in Philadelphia may have suspended its investigation of Thomas around the same time that Guthrie, Stedeford and McCarthy arrived at the farm, according to a June 13, 1995 FBI airtel newly released to Trentadue. The Philadelphia field office forwarded to headquarters a copy of a May 27, 1995, newspaper article linking Thomas to the bombing. The communication also included information about phone number searches conducted by the field office, apparently in connection with Thomas. "Philadelphia will conduct no further action in regards to the attached subscriber information, unless directed to do so by" the OKBOMB Task Force, a special unit created specifically to lead the bombing investigation, according to the airtel. Read the June 13, 1995, FBI airtel Guthrie remained at large until he and Langan were arrested in January 1996. Another document newly released to Trentadue says "information has been developed that [redacted name] and [redacted name] were at the home of [redacted name] Oklahoma when OKBOMB subject, Timothy McVeigh, placed a telephone call to [redacted name] residence. Read the August 22, 1996 FBI teletype In April 1995, McCarthy and Stedeford stayed at the Elohim City home of Andreas Strassmeir, a German national long associated with the militia movement, according to a June 17, 1996 FBI record previously obtained by Trentadue. Read the June 17, 1996 FBI FD-302 Strassmeir is another figure suspected of playing a role in the bombing; he has never been charged and currently lives in Germany. Timothy McVeigh made at least one phone call to Strassmeir prior to the bombing, which was discussed during the trial of Terry Nichols. A second call claimed in the June 17 FD-302 allegedly took place "several weeks" before the bombing. The verified call was made April 5, according to court records. This corresponds to the period McCarthy and Stedeford were staying with Strassmeir, according to the Aug. 22, 1996 teletype. According to Langan, Thomas was also present in Elohim City during this time frame. The teletype states "[redacted] and [redacted] left [redacted] residence on 4/16/95, enroute to Pittsburgh [sic], Kansas where they joined [redacted] and Guthrie. [redacted] did not accompany (them) but rather returned directly to the Philadelphia division." Based on a careful comparison of the Langan affidavit and court records to the newly released documents, the names in this redacted section likely read: "[Stedeford] and [McCarthy] left [Strassmeir's] residence on 4/16/95, enroute to Pittsburgh [sic], Kansas where they joined [Langan] and Guthrie. [Thomas] did not accompany (them) but rather returned directly to the Philadelphia division." The source for the April 16 date appears to be McCarthy, who turned states evidence no later than May 1996 (after being fingered by Guthrie) and became an FBI informant. McCarthy later testified against Thomas in exchange for a minimum sentence. However, Stedeford and McCarthy did not actually arrive in Pittsburg, where the ARA kept a safe house, until April 20, 1995, according to Langan. Langan described them as "overdue" and said he speculated at the time that they (or other Elohim City residents) may have been involved in the Oklahoma City bombing. According to Langan, Guthrie told Thomas in July 1995 that McCarthy was Timothy McVeigh's accomplice in the bombing. "Your young Mr. Wizard took out the Murrah Building," Guthrie reportedly told Thomas, referring to McCarthy. In 1997, Mark Thomas also became an informant and later that year pleaded guilty to conspiracy for his role in the bank robberies. He was released from prison in 2004. Langan is currently serving a life sentence in federal prison. UPDATE: Follow-up Filing Details New Claim Of Prior Warning Timeline of events in this story Reconstructed from FBI documents obtained by Jesse Trentadue and other sources as described above. Labels: American-Terrorists, INTELWIRE-Exclusive, Jesse-Trentadue, OKBOMB, Richard-Lee-Guthrie Views expressed on INTELWIRE are those of the author alone.
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Monday, October 8, 2007
PATCON Revealed: An Exclusive Look Inside The FBI's Secret War With The Militia MovementINTELWIRE.com Editor's note: This story has been substantially updated and revised. The new version can be seen at Foreign Policy.  Archived version of previous story is here. Undercover FBI agents posing as white supremacists gathered alarming intelligence about the militia movement during the early 1990s, according to documents obtained by INTELWIRE. But FBI headquarters abruptly terminated the undercover operation -- code-named PATCON -- just three months after the disastrous siege at the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas. The timing could hardly have been worse; the networks targeted by the investigation were inflamed to violence by Waco. At least one individual targeted in the investigation -- Andreas Strassmeier -- was later linked to Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh. Another target of the investigation was later linked to Eric Rudolph, perpetrator of the 1996 Olympic Park bombing. PATCON was the centerpiece of an extensive investigation of militia and white supremacist groups in Arizona, Alabama, Tennessee and Texas. From 1991 to 1993, at least three undercover agents working under the auspices of the FBI posed as members of a fictional white supremacist group seeking closer ties with established organizations. The targeted groups "advocate violent overthrow of the U.S. government and the establishment of an Aryan nation," according to the documents. The FBI documents linked below describe the PATCON operation as well as the Bureau's efforts to penetrate two secretive extremist groups, the Texas Reserve Militia (TRM), based in the Austin, Texas, area, and the Order of Saint John (OSJ), based in Benton, Tennessee. Despite the operation's success in gathering intelligence on the militia movement, the PATCON undercover operation was officially terminated on July 15, 1993, six months after the disastrous siege of the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas. FBI field offices in Baltimore, Knoxville and San Antonio were ordered to shut down the PATCON operation in an FBI teletype, in which FBI headquarters deemed there was "insufficient justification" to continue the investigation. It is not clear from the documents that even one significant arrest resulted from the two-year investigation. But the very same militia groups targeted by PATCON had been inflamed to violent action after Waco, in a wave of anger that led directly to the Oklahoma City bombing. At least one member of the Texas Reserve Militia -- Andreas Strassmeier -- has been linked to Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh. In 2005, INTELWIRE filed a request with the FBI under the Freedom of Information Act for all documents pertaining to a militia organization called the Texas Light Infantry, one of the names used by the Texas Reserve Militia. After reviewing the records, INTELWIRE filed follow-up requests for records concerning the a group known as the Order of Saint John. The two FOIA responses contained documents that revealed the PATCON operation. Believing more documents exist, INTELWIRE filed a request specifically for records related to PATCON. Last month, the FBI claimed it was unable to located any such documents -- despite the fact that all the documents cited in this story were provided in response to previous FOIA requests. INTELWIRE is appealing the refusal. ORIGINS During the late 1980s, the Texas Reserve Militia was formed by some members of the Texas State Guard, a volunteer state military force intended for use when the National Guard is unavailable. The TRM broke away from the state organization when Texas officials determined they were forming an unconstitutional "private army." The group was also known as the Texas Light Infantry, the Second Order and The Order. The latter names were inspired by a 1980s neo-Nazi gang that robbed banks and counterfeited money to fund attacks on the government and target ethnicities (external link). The FBI believed TRM leadership was linked to the original Order and also closely tied to the Aryan Nations white supremacist network based in Idaho (external link). One TRM member reportedly received at least $250,000 in funds from armored car robberies by the original Order, according to the documents. According to the FBI's case files -- including an FBI letterhead memorandum dated December 21, 1990 -- the TRM conducted monthly paramilitary training courses at a camp in the Austin, Texas, area. The camp provided training in firearms, explosive and guerilla warfare for volunteers from Texas and out-of-state, including skinheads from Las Vegas and Memphis. By the end of 1991, the TRM had about 50 members and a much larger number of informal associates, the documents said. In or around July 1990, a member of the Texas Reserve Militia threatened to murder two FBI agents with the Austin field office, according to documents obtained by INTELWIRE. The person who threatened the FBI agents "is a major figure in the Aryan Nations," an FBI teletype stated. In response to the threat, the FBI initiated a domestic terrorism investigation against the TRM. Undercover agents were deployed to infiltrate the group, an operation that would later expand into PATCON. AIMS AND PRACTICES "Members of the group advocate violent overthrow of the U.S. government and the establishment of an Aryan nation," according to the FBI letterhead memorandum. At TRM training camps, military discipline was enforced and officers were saluted with the Nazi "Heil Hitler" gesture, the memo said. At one point, the FBI searched the training camp and found one exploded and one partially assembled pipe bomb, the memo said. According to an FBI lab report, the pipe bomb found on the premises was created by a "skilled craftsman" with a high degree of sophistication. TRM members also trained with firearms, including fully automatic weapons, the documents state. Undercover agents were dispatched to investigate the group after the threat to murder two Austin-based FBI agents, the documents said. The threat was sparked by the FBI's arrest of an unnamed TRM member on an unspecified charge. The undercover agents posed as "white supremacists who were willing to commit violence in order to further the white supremacy movement." Informants were also actively recruited to penetrate the TRM's ranks. During the course of the investigation, mulitple informants provided information about the organization to the FBI. In one instance, the FBI documented a meeting between TRM members and an Austin-area police officer, during which they discussed keeping the group's activity secret and paying bribes to the police officer to suppress complaints by the training camp's neighbors concerning the group's activities. A confidential source of the Los Angeles FBI field office revealed that a prominent TRM member had set up a bulletin board network "in which persons with the right code numbers can dial [redacted] phone and enter his computer system and enter the names and addresses of homosexuals who live in the U.S. and Canada. The purpose of the list, according to the source, is to allow action to be taken against those homosexual individuals in the event of a takeover of the United States by the Aryan Nations." In 1991, authorities authorities discovered a cache of explosives and paramilitary supplies in Alabama. The FBI believed the explosives were linked to the TRM, according to a February 1992 letter from FBI Assistant Director Larry Potts to the criminal investigative division of the U.S. Army. The explosives were found next to a highway north of Birmingham and included ammonium nitrate, the primary explosive component later used in the Oklahoma City bombing. According to the letter, the material and other items found at the site were intended for a raid on a National Guard convoy. INFORMANTS IN THE RANKS Starting some time in 1990, a parade of informants from within the militia movement began talking to the FBI about planned activities by the TRM and other groups. Over the course of several months, the intelligence became alarming and expanded to include other militia groups around the country. On November 21, an informant told the FBI in Phoenix about a shipment of various explosives, improvised military-style ordinance, detonators and assault rifles (illegally modified to be fully automatic). The informant told FBI agents that the TRM was joining forces with an organization called the Texas Reenactment Group and that the combined organization would train using "old East German police uniforms which are being obtained by [redacted]." The merger was expected to increase membership of the TRM by at least 200 members. Members would be armed with fully automatic M-1 carbines. The source said all members of the group "hate the current President, George Bush" and subcribed to conspiracy theories about a "New World Order" (external link). On January 22, 1992, an informant revealed to the FBI that the TRM leadership had scheduled a meeting with a member of Civilian Material Assistance (CMA), "which started out as an anti-communist group supporting the Contras in Nicaragua, but has recently turned into a racist right-wing white supremacist group." That meeting had its origins at the November 16-18, 1991, CMA convention in Decatur, Alabama, where a trend toward cooperation by diverse extremist groups began to emerge as a significant potential threat to U.S. domestic security. By the time of the convention, the FBI had infiltrated a number of sources into the mix. PATCON In March 1991, the FBI extended its investigation of the TRM into a undercover sting code-named "PATCON." Details of the PATCON operation were included in a routine request for re-authorization of the TRM investigation. The January 1992 memo from San Antonio-based FBI Agent Daniel Coulson is addressed to Assistant FBI Director Larry Potts. "During March 1991, a Group 1 Undercover Operation titled PATCON was approved, utilizing three undercover agents, in order to prevent the murder of (two FBI) agents," Coulson wrote, referring to the threat cited above. PATCON initially targeted the TRM, but in January 1993, the undercover agents were also deployed to penetrate the Order of St. John, according to a follow-up memo from Coulson to Potts. PATCON undercover agents posed as extremists who financed their activities through armored car robberies, according to an October 1992 teletype. PATCON was a Group I Undercover Operation. According to Justice Department guidelines, Group I operations must be approved by FBI Headquarters and are used for investigation involving "sensitive circumstances" or significant financial investment. "Sensititive circumstances" include investigating possible criminal misconduct or corruption by government employees, political and/or religious organizations. They may also describe optations "having a significant effect on or constituting a significant intrusion into the legitimate operation of a federal, state, or local governmental entity." Group I undercover operations may involve "activity by an undercover employee that is proscribed by federal, state, or local law as a felony or that is otherwise a serious crime" and "activities that present a significant risk of violence, risk of financial loss, or a realistic potential for significant claims against the United States." One possible factor in the Group I designation involves an investigation of military equipment stolen from Fort Hood, Texas. According to several documents, an active duty soldier at Fort Hood was an associate and possible member of the TRM. PATCON undercover agents tracked and in at least one case purchased some of the stolen equipment. Another factor is only referenced in short asides among the documents currently released. A October 1992 teletype notes that part of the PATCON budget was reserved "for the purchase of Stinger missiles." Several documents refer to the possible theft and resale of Stingers by militia groups, but details are sparse. It's not clear whether the Stingers actually existed and whether PATCON recovered them. INTERLOCKING PATCON was fully operational by the time the CMA convention was held in November 1991. The convention featured extremist speakers from around the country, most of whom were pursuing some sort of racial agenda. An FD-302 interrogation report dated November 21, 1991, provided an extremely detailed report on the event. One speaker, described in the documents as a U.S. Marine, addressed the convention on the new cooperative strategy. Before beginning his speech, he requested that all cameras and recorders be turned off. According to an informant, the Marine discussed a new strategy for the assembled extremists -- "interlocking anti-government groups so that the movement could be ready to fight the government when the government attempts to take over the rights of the citizens." The speaker believed this battle would take place within two years. According to the informant, "interlocking" would connect extremist groups by "making members of one group members of another group" in order to "increase communication and cooperation among these groups" so that they could unite to violently oppose the government. "This interlocking procedure ... allows groups with different viewpoints but with the same common antigovernment beliefs to join together," according to the informant. After the Marine, a member of CMA also spoke about interlocking. One attendee objected to CMA interlocking with "hate groups such as the KKK" and was told that "come compromises had to be made" in order to fight the New World Order, according to the informant. Another document reveals that CMA and the Aryan Nations were planning to interlock "for the purpose of fighting the U.S. government." Under the interlocking scheme, "the CMA and the TRM are so closely related that officers in one have equal and dual rank in the other group," according to an informant cited in a December 26, 1991 letterhead memorandum. PARANOIA AT THE CONVENTION One member attending the convention attempted to interest people in a modified cannon launcher he had designed for long-range attacks (see story). Another informant said the cannon's inventor wanted to use the cannon to "lob shells" into the FBI and IRS buildings in Phoenix, Arizona. The inventor was later arrested in relation to this threat, the documents said -- one of the only arrests documented in the case files in relation to any aspect of the investigation. An informant who attended the convention said the inventor grilled attendees for names and addresses, leading many to suspect he was a government agent. The informant and another who attended the conference said the attendees were paranoid about government surveillance. Although convention attendees aimed most of their mistrust at each other, they did come close to discovering one member of the FBI's actual surveillance team, according to one informant. THE ORDER OF SAINT JOHN  A map of the Benton, Tenn., compound used by the Order of St. John, which the FBI penetrated in 1993. One speaker at the convention, representing a group known as the American Pistol and Rifle Association, coached attendees on tactics for shooting police officers. PATCON agents would follow connections between CMA and the APRA to an armed compound in rural Tennessee. The Order of St. John, based in Benton, Tennessee, was closely linked to APRA -- to the extent that they appeared to be the same group with adjacent mailing addresses. Both groups were tied to the TRM, according to several FBI documents. Like the TRM, the Order of St. John also went by "The Order." FBI sources penetrated the group so effectively that they were able to draw maps of the Benton compound. A PATCON agent met with the leader of the Order of St. John, John L. Grady, at the group's Benton compound in September 1992 and on at least one other occasion, according to an October 1992 teletype and June 1993 memorandum. (Please see notes below regarding allegations against named individuals in these documents.) Grady told the PATCON agent that some members of the OSJ-linked American Pistol and Rifle Association had been members of the original Order, describing them as "hardcore types and having committed a number of indiscretions for which they were now serving prison terms," according to the documents. The September 1992 meeting coincided with the APRA's annual conference. Security was tight at the conference, including patrols armed with semi-automatic pistols. The PATCON was told that a large stockpile of weapons was stored at the compound. Speeches were given at the event. One attendee identified in the October 1992 teletype, was Tom Posey, a leader of the CMA who had been deeply implicated in the Iran-Contra scandal. The PATCON agent was shown five sets of night-vision goggles in the back of Posey's vehicle, according to the document. The agent bought the goggles for $7,500, the document states, and they "appeared to be part of the Fort Hood theft." Curiously, the FBI field office in San Antonio was instructed to check the serial numbers of the goggles "without revealing to Army authorities" that they had been recovered. A document states that Grady told the undercover agent he was "aware of various law enforcement agency efforts to infiltrate his organization as well as the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and that a group called 'Klan Watch' put out a publication which expressed views contrary to Grady." (KlanWatch was a project of the Southern Poverty Law Center.) On a second visit, the PATCON agent and was "warmly welcomed," according to the memo. He received a tour of the compound, including a library "which contained over 30,000 books on topics ranging from religion to conspiracy." "Grady talked about the aftermath of the Waco incident and stated that the Davidians shot in the compound had been killed by a Special Forces unit," the memo said. It was later revealed in mainstream media reports that Special Forces officers had been involved in planning the raid, but that was not public knowledge at the time of the visit. The leak of that story was linked to another underground group (external link). NAMES IN THE DOCUMENTS INTELWIRE is publishing a representative sampling of more than 2,000 pages of documents relevant to this story, which were obtained through the Freedom of Information Act. Additional documents will be published in the future, and additional related FOIA requests are in process. The first batch of documents can be viewed by clicking here. The documents name several figures in connection with the investigation. It is important to note that in almost every case, the individuals named in the documents have never been prosecuted for the acts alleged in these documents. INTELWIRE does not assert any claim as to the truth of the allegations contained in the documents. Some individuals whose names are redacted or incomplete in the documents have been identified by INTELWIRE. Additional reports are planned to address this issue and the veracity of the claims made in the documents. Members of the Texas Reserve Militia identified in the FBI's extensive case files included: Associates of the Texas Reserve Militia who are named in the documents include: Another member of the group, described but not named in the redacted documents released by the FBI, was Andreas Strassmeier, a German national who would later be linked to the Oklahoma City bombing. The son of a prominent German politician and a veteran of that country's army, he moved to the United States from Hamburg in the late 1980s or early 1990s, and established relationships with various racist and anti-government movements around the country. (US v Nichols, 96-CR-68, 12/10/97; In Bad Company, Hamm, pp. 116-117) Members of the TRM suspected Strassmeier was a government informant, according to published reports. (McCurtain Gazette, FBI document links former Green Beret to McVeigh, bombing, Cash and Charles, Aug 31, 2005) Shortly before the Oklahoma City bombing, an informant told the ATF Strassmeier was plotting to blow up U.S. federal buildings. The informant also said Strassmeier had traveled to Oklahoma City prior to the bombing. Right after renting the Ryder truck used in the Oklahoma City bombing, Timothy McVeigh called the Elohim City compound and asked to speak with Strassmeier (US v Nichols). Another informant described at least one additional call (story and documents). After the bombing, Strassmeier fled the country and returned to Germany. The FBI interrogated Strassmeier by phone in May 1996, but agents did not ask him about his association with the TRM (document). The documents also name the official responsible for overseeing PATCON from FBI headquarters in Washington, D.C. -- Larry Potts, then an assistant FBI director. During his tenure with the FBI, Potts was involved in the 1991 Ruby Ridge standoff and the 1993 Waco siege -- two events that created deep suspicion and hostility among members of the militia movement. In addition to Strassmeier, several key events and figures encountered in the PATCON investigation overlap with the activities of the Aryan Republican Army, a white supremacist bank robbery gang that has been linked to the Oklahoma City Bombing. Like the Order, the ARA robbed banks with the stated purposes of financing an armed revolution against the U.S. government. In a 2007 affidavit (story, document), one member of the gang said he suspected Richard Guthrie and other gang members of taking part in the Oklahoma City bombing. In July 1996, Guthrie appeared to commit suicide in prison, shortly before he was scheduled to testify about the ARA's activities (documents). Shawn Kenney, a member of the gang and an FBI informant, had his criminal record "actively erased," according to an affidavit by former Cincinatti police officer Matthew J. Moning, who investigated the ARA, also known as the Midwest Bank Robbers. Another FBI informant close to the ARA was Scott McCarthy, according to a 2006 Congressional probe of the bombing (story and full text). The report, written by U.S. Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, claimed the Justice Department was "unwilling to permit" investigators to speak with McCarthy. Prior to their arrest, ARA members made a videotape outlining a proposed campaign of racial and antigovernment violence. According to a 2002 story in the McCurtain Gazette, two copies of the tape were seized by the FBI in mailing envelopes addressed to Richard Butler of the Aryan Nations and to Louis Beam, who is named in the Texas Reserve Militia documents. The ARA videotape also threatened terrorist violence against the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, a threat that was later carried out by Eric Rudolph. This story was updated on October 10, 2007. Labels: American-Terrorists, INTELWIRE-Exclusive, OKBOMB, Richard-Lee-Guthrie, Secrets-Scandals, white-supremacists Views expressed on INTELWIRE are those of the author alone.
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Tuesday, April 17, 2007
New Documents Expand View of Informants In Oklahoma City BombingINTELWIRE.com FBI and investigative documents filed in court yesterday shed new light on protected government informants within the militia and white supremacist movements around the time of the Oklahoma City bombing. Attorney Jesse Trentadue is suing the FBI for documents under the Freedom of Information Act. His interest in the case was prompted by the apparent murder of his brother while in federal custody, which Trentadue believes is connected to the investigation of the Oklahoma City bombing (previous story). Monday's filing revealed new evidence implicating members of a bank robbery gang known as the Aryan Republican Army, which may have played a role in the attack (previous story). Shawn Kenney, a member of the gang and an FBI informant, had his criminal record "actively erased," according to an affidavit by former Cincinatti police officer Matthew J. Moning, who investigated the ARA, also known as the Midwest Bank Robbers. The FBI recovered devices used to build improvised explosives, including the explosives themselves, blasting camps and rocket launchers, among other items, Moning said. Another FBI informant close to the ARA was Scott McCarthy, according to a 2006 Congressional probe of the bombing (story and full text). The report, written by U.S. Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, claimed the Justice Department was "unwilling to permit" investigators to speak with McCarthy. Further questions were raised about McCarthy in a 2007 affidavit from Peter Langan, who along with Richard Lee Guthrie Jr. (story and documents) masterminded the Midwest Bank Robbers' $250,000 crime spree from 1993 through 1996. Currently serving a federal prison sentence for his role in the ARA, Langan claimed in the affidavit that he suspected Guthrie, McCarthy and gang member Scott Stedeford were involved in the bombing, along with Mark Thomas, a Pennsylvania neo-Nazi. In his 1997 trial for conspiracy related to the ARA's crime spree, Thomas claimed Guthrie told him that McCarthy "took out the Murrah building." Thomas pled guilty and received a light sentence for his role in the bank robberies. He was released from prison on January 16, 2004. According to the Trentadue filing, Thomas is now also a protected federal witness. Previous document releases revealed the existence of several federal informants who provided information related to the bombing (previous story). INTELWIRE document requests under the Freedom of Information Act have revealed additional informants within the militia movement who were in a position to provide information about other figures linked to the bombing, including German national Andreas Strassmeir, a friend of the ARA who was security director at a white supremacist compound known as Elohim City (previous story). One figure close to the bombing conspiracy was Roger Moore, an Arkansas gun dealer whom Terry Nichols has accused of being a government informant and an active participant in the bombing plot (story). Included in the Monday filing was a memorandum on Moore prepared by a private investigator for Nichols' defense team. Entitled "The Enigma of Roger Moore," the lengthy document outlines a number of unanswered questions regarding Moore involvement with the OKC conspirators. Officially, prosecutors argued during the trials of McVeigh and Nichols that Nichols had robbed Moore of guns and valuables in November 1994 and used the proceeds to fund the bombing conspiracy. Nichols, later found in possession of items stolen from Moore, later admitted to carrying out the robbery. In November 2006, Nichols alleged that Moore was an FBI informant and that he had provided explosives to McVeigh for use in the bombing. The investigator's document included in Monday's filing outlines a series of allegations concerning Moore's alleged involvement with the FBI, including some information from published accounts and some information which was not previously disclosed. The document says a reporter for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette spoke with an informant who alleged Moore was involved in the Iran-Contra affair in South Florida during the mid-1980s. Several documents obtained by INTELWIRE also point to connections between various militia figures and Iran-Contra (story). Moore was the subject of an ATF investigation into explosives trafficking in May 1989, according to the memorandum. The investigation involved 100 pounds of C-4 explosives. The case was "suddenly dropped at almost the same time it was initiated, without any explanation offered in the written reports," the document said. The report also cited numerous inconsistencies and seeming contradictions in Moore's handling of the November 1994 robbery and his subsequent accounts of the incident. The filing also includes a 2004 letter from Terry Nichols to Attorney General John Ashcroft outlining allegations against Roger Moore, a drawing by Nichols of discrepancies in descriptions of the bomb used in the Oklahoma City attack, and a memo recording a conversation with a worker at the Southern Poverty Law Center concerning intelligence about McVeigh's militia links. The documents filed Monday include: Memorandum and overview by Jesse Trentadue FBI 302 interrogation of Kevin McCarthy Terry Nichols 2004 letter to Attorney General John Ashcroft accusing Roger Moore of complicity in the bombing Memorandum: The Enigma of Roger Moore Affidavit of Matthew J. Moning Affidavit of Peter Langan Terry Nichols drawing of discrepancies in accounts of the bomb design used in Oklahoma City 1995 FBI teletype on OKC Bombing informants 1/16/96 memo describing information obtained from the Southern Poverty Law Center Labels: American-Terrorists, INTELWIRE-Exclusive, Jesse-Trentadue, OKBOMB, Richard-Lee-Guthrie Views expressed on INTELWIRE are those of the author alone.
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Saturday, December 23, 2006
Full Text: The Oklahoma City Bombing: Was There A Foreign Connection?By J.M. Berger INTELWIRE.com An investigation into possible foreign involvement in the Oklahoma City bombing has uncovered new information about links between Terry Nichols and Ramzi Yousef, as well as possible links to domestic white supremacist groups. The report of the investigation is scheduled for release next week. A copy was obtained by INTELWIRE and is presented in its entirety below. Click here for analysis. Update: The text below is a draft, first reported by INTELWIRE. Click here for the final report (the two versions are substantially alike). According to a disclaimer posted on the Web page of Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, Chairman of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, who led the investigation, "this report reflects the views of (the subcommittee chairman) and its investigators, and has not been approved by a vote of the subcommittee or the full International Relations Committee." Chairman's Report Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee of the House International Relations Committee The Representative Dana Rohrabacher (R - CA) Staff Investigator: Phaedra Dugan Press Contact: Tara Setmayer On Wednesday, April 19, 1995, at approximately 9:02 AM, a bomb exploded in front of the Within our jurisdictional, legal and resource limits, the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee has conducted an intensive investigation into whether there was a foreign connection to the First, we attempted to determine whether McVeigh or Nichols received any help from Middle Easterners, and, second, whether a German national living at an extremist compound in eastern At the outset, members of Congress were met with a startling development. On March 31, 2005, the FBI was alerted that a second stash of explosives was missed by the FBI in their first search of Terry Nichols' house after the PART I: Possible Middle Eastern Connections There is serious, yet in some cases circumstantial, evidence that suggests a possible Middle Eastern connection to the For example, of all the cities in the world, convicted terrorist Ramzi Yousef and Terry Nichols were in The actual proven link, however, is elusive. One indication came directly from Abdul Hakim Murad, Yousef's roommate, childhood friend, and fellow convicted terrorist. On the day of the Note: the Another possibility of Islamic terrorist involvement in the Note: at the outset of the subcommittee's investigation, former This mindset, described by Governor Keating, may or may not have influenced the original Terry Nichols in the Terry Nichols began traveling to the Marife met Terry Nichols on his first trip to the On his first trip to Terry Nichols' behavior prior to his last trip to the Nichols' skill as a terrorist seems to have grown while in the Lisa and Marife Torres had a Filipina friend and fellow "tour guide" in NOTE: The Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee was unable to confirm the identity of Vilma's "Khan" because, even with the help of the Philippine National Police and the American Embassy in In addition to a "Khan" being with Marife's group in Cebu, a prominent member of the Philippine terrorist organization, Abu Sayyaf, made statements to investigators and police in the aftermath of the Angeles' credibility is another matter. Members of the Philippine National Police insisted to Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee staff that Angeles was unreliable. The authorities asserted that Angeles was a drug user, a likely double agent, and had made several conflicting statements. He was released from a Philippine jail in 1997 and was promptly murdered in broad daylight on a public street. His statements about an alleged terrorist meeting that included Nichols and Yousef should not be ignored, but cannot be relied upon without verification. The subcommittee was unable to find such verification. There is no doubt, however, that Nichols and Yousef were both in Yousef decided to do a test-run of his airline-bombing plot in December 1994. He took a Philippine Airline flight from In the December 1994 and January 1995 time period when Yousef and Nichols were in Cebu City, it is not known where Yousef stayed; however, items found one month later by the Philippine National Police in his Manila apartment suggest that he had either stayed at or visited the Sundowner Hotel, where Marife and Terry had met years before and where Tom Shelton ran his "tour guide" business. The opportunity for a Yousef-Nichols link-up during this time is clear. The proof, however, has not been established. Note: Nichols hastily departed the Phone Records Possibly Linking Yousef to Nichols Ramzi Yousef was in the The Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee interviewed Ernesto and Adora Malaluan, who said they knew nothing about Ramzi Yousef or any of the aliases he used while in the As Chairman of the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee in October 2005, I provided the FBI with the evidence showing Yousef's phone calls to the close friends and neighbors of Terry Nichols' in-laws in As one would expect of someone willing to plot the death of fellow Americans, Nichols' own veracity is far from clear. His initial interview with police was replete with lies and half-truths. To this day, he repeatedly promises to disclose more information about the case, only to blame it on Roger Moore, or hint of a sinister government conspiracy. At the same time, he has convinced his friends and family that he was a virtual patsy. Contrary to this passive image, McVeigh told his defense team that Nichols had actually threatened to kill him if he caught McVeigh sleeping with his wife. Furthermore, Nichols was on his own in PI where he obviously believed his life was in danger. Nichols has gotten something of a pass for his role in perpetrating this horrific act of violence. His complicated attempts to manipulate those investigating OKBOMB, including the Subcommittee, suggest capabilities that belie his image as subservient to McVeigh. To this day, Nichols does not fully acknowledge his complicity in this monstrous crime, seeking instead to draw attention to others, some of whom he self-servingly hints have yet to be exposed.
John Doe Two Timothy McVeigh visited Elliot's Body Shop in An employee at a tire store in Jeff Davis delivered Chinese food to McVeigh's room at the Dreamland Motel in On June 14, 1995, the FBI called off the hunt for John Doe Two. The FBI based its decisions on the belief that Michael Hertig and Todd Bunting, two US Army soldiers, had rented a truck at Elliot's Body Shop on April 18, the day after McVeigh transacted his business. Hertig and Bunting, we are told, resembled John Doe One and Two. According to the FBI, Elliot's Body Shop employee Tom Kessinger had confused the days on which the customers appeared. The FBI's insistence, that these and other witnesses who saw McVeigh with someone else, reflects a curious mindset to discredit or ignore any such report. In this instance, queried on the issue, the owner of the Junction City Ryder truck rental remains adamant that a second man accompanied McVeigh. Eldon Elliot emphatically states that there was a second man with McVeigh, and that the FBI has aggressively pressured him to change his story. He, too, is a credible witness. Within minutes of the More alarming is the discovery of a published list of un-indicted coconspirators from the first To this day, federal law enforcement cannot explain what, if anything was done to examine these possible links or scrutinize Khalil's activity related to terrorism in his hometown. Justice officials should at least show some curiosity about the subcommittee's request as to whether there is circumstantial evidence linking two major domestic terrorist attacks. As a result, our investigation into this matter is incomplete. PART II: A Possible Link to a German National in The subcommittee staff investigated whether there was a connection between a German, Andreas Strassmeir, and Timothy McVeigh. There is reason for suspicion. Timothy McVeigh met Strassmeir at a gun show in Although officially having only met Strassmeir once before, McVeigh attempted to call Strassmeir on April 5, 1995, in the time leading up to the Murrah bombing. He called from the Imperial Motel in Timothy McVeigh and Andreas Strassmeir Andreas Strassmeir is a German national who arrived in the Approximately two weeks before the bombing, Michael Fortier and Terry Nichols expressed a lack of interest in further participation. On April 5, 1995, at 3:48 p.m., McVeigh called There is speculation that a second phone call from McVeigh to Strassmeir on April 17 occurred, but the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee could find no evidence confirming this. Some time after the bombing, Strassmeir was asked to leave Additionally, Kathy Sanders, the grandmother of two young Carol Howe Carol Howe came from a prominent Howe dated Strassmeir in 1994 and January 1995. Howe asserted that Strassmeir trained Howe also talked to the ATF regarding Dennis Mahon, an occasional inhabitant of Note: Carol Howe was unresponsive to numerous attempts to reach her.
Midwest Bank Robbers It is widely speculated that a group of white supremacist bank robbers, known as the Midwest Bank Robbers or the Aryan Republican Army, helped finance McVeigh's activities. The radical bank robbers included Michael Brescia (who was Andreas Strassmeir's roommate for a time at The Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee interviewed Michael Brescia, Pete Langan, and Scott Stedeford. Richard Guthrie is deceased and Kevin McCarthy could not be found. Of the bank robbers we interviewed, all denied knowing Timothy McVeigh or having any part of the Mark Thomas has denied his own involvement in the Oklahoma City bombing; however, in a February 5, 2004 article, the Associated Press reported that his girlfriend, Donna Marazoff, told the FBI that in the Spring of 1995 Thomas said that "we are" going to bomb a federal building. The same AP report states that Thomas told agents he had no memory of saying that to his girlfriend. In his FBI file, according to the story, there is an article which claims that Thomas eluded that one of his fellow robbers was involved in the bombing. Richard Guthrie had claimed that he would soon be revealing information that would blow the lid off the The subcommittee's unsuccessful yet repeated attempts to reach Kevin McCarthy created more unanswered questions. Law enforcement officials told subcommittee staff that, after serving 5 years in federal prison for his role in the robberies, McCarthy was released on probation and returned to his native To further attempt to locate McCarthy, the subcommittee chairman contacted the head of the Department of Justice's federal witness protection program. The official confirmed that McCarthy had, in the past, been in the system but that he no longer was. The subcommittee also discovered, through a private source, that McCarthy is no longer attached to the Social Security Number he had at the time of entry into the federal prison system. These facts raise questions about whether McCarthy is, in fact, still under some sort of federal protection as well as why the Department of Justice was unable or unwilling to help find him. Midwest Bank Robber Pete Langan has alluded at times to the group's participation in the There is limited and indirect evidence of McVeigh's relationship with the bank robbers. Jennifer McVeigh, in a sworn FBI affidavit dated May 2, 1995, claimed that her brother, Timothy McVeigh, produced a stack of $100 dollar bills from a "bank robbery" that she laundered for him. However, Timothy McVeigh told his defense team he believed that his sister had confused a "bank robbery" with the robbery he ordered of Roger Moore, an Note: Jennifer McVeigh was unresponsive to numerous attempts to reach her. In retrospect, it is not clear if federal law enforcement expended an adequate amount of time or effort exploring the links between the Aryan bank robbers, Andreas Strassmeir and Timothy McVeigh. For nearly a year after the bombing, the FBI did not interview Strassmeir. Only when he had fled the country was he queried briefly on the phone by the FBI. The agents apparently accepted his denial of any relationship with McVeigh, and there is no evidence of any further investigation into this possible link.
Conclusions Federal law enforcement has been accused of an institutional mind-set that congressional oversight is a nuisance to be avoided or blocked. That mind-set was painfully obvious during this Subcommittee's inquiry into the Nevertheless, the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee's efforts uncovered significant new and relevant information not previously discovered or disclosed; however, unanswered questions and unresolved mysteries remain. Discoveries 1 In 2005, ten years after the bombing, Terry Nichols' second stash of explosives was found after a tip to the FBI and Congress. It had been inexcusably missed during the FBI's original searches of the Nichols home. 2 Terry Nichols brought a book entitled The Chemistry of Powder and Explosives with him to the 3 Terry Nichols was responsible for the robbery of 4 Ramzi Yousef called Mila Densing's apartment on multiple occasions in the period leading up to the 5 Although there are indications that McVeigh may have been involved with the bank robbers along with Strassmeir, three of the bank robbers that the committee was able to contact, Langan, Stedeford and 6 McVeigh conceded to his legal team the OKBOMB conspiracy did begin September 13, 1994 with the passage of the assault weapons ban. Unanswered Questions 1 While McVeigh affirmed that the OKBOMB conspiracy began in September 1994, there remains question if there was a meeting with Elohim radicals, including Strassmeir, on or after that date. What has been verified is that McVeigh was checked into a hotel that day near 2 Did McVeigh receive funding from the Midwest Bank Robbers for the bombing? If not, why did Jennifer McVeigh state that her brother asked her to launder money from a bank robbery? 3 Did Kevin McCarthy ever see Strassmeir with McVeigh or did he know of a friendship between them? For a time, McCarthy, was Strassmeir's roommate in 4 Why has the Department of Justice been unable or unwilling to help the subcommittee locate Kevin McCarthy? 5 Where was Hussain Al-Hussaini the morning of April 19, 1995? 6 Are the several reliable witnesses who claimed to have seen Hussaini with McVeigh wrong? 7 Why was Terry Nichols concerned for his personal safety when he traveled to the 8 Why did Terry Nichols leave $20,000 in a package at his ex-wife Lana Padilla's house before departing for the 9 How did Terry Nichols, a man with no steady job or source of income, finance his five trips to the 10 Why was an unaccounted-for leg found in the debris after the bombing? 11 Did Terry Nichols play a bigger role than he has admitted or has been thus far proven? 12 Why was there so little investigatory focus on Strassmeir and Hussaini? 13 Why the rush to rule out the existence of John Doe Two? Findings 1) The FBI was not justified in calling off any further investigation into John Doe Two. 2) The FBI did not thoroughly investigate the potential involvement of Andreas Strassmeir and Hussain al-Hussaini, et. al. despite evidence showing they may have played a role. 3) Authorities erred in allowing Timothy McVeigh to move forward the time of his execution while major questions remained about whether others were involved in the crime. 4) The DoJ has not seriously examined new information uncovered by this subcommittee. Specifically: phone records from Ramzi Yousef to a friend of Nichols' in-laws as well as the name Samir Khalil appearing on an unindicted coconspirators 5) Whether or not there was a foreign connection to the bombing is inconclusive. Questions remain unanswered and mysteries remain unresolved. Final Thoughts The original date of the 2001 execution of Timothy McVeigh was postponed by 30 days, following the belated discovery of more than 3000 documents. The files related primarily to the question of John Doe Two and eyewitness sightings. These documents did not raise significant doubt about McVeigh's guilt. Their disappearance, nevertheless, demonstrated that, despite multiple admonitions from the presiding judge and reassurances from law enforcement, the authorities missed key files in what was then the most prominent case in A close look at the findings of this subcommittee suggests that it is reasonable to question if all leads were thoroughly pursued, all evidence gathered and properly analyzed. While most of the victims' families' desire for swift justice is understandable, with the benefit of hindsight, the McVeigh execution should have been further delayed until there was greater consensus on the subject of John Doe Two. As is clear by their documents (which the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee has had access to for the first time), his own defense team had significant internal doubts about McVeigh's candor with them on this subject. His only failure on a polygraph test involved his response to a question on whether he had additional help with the bombing. The question persists, and the only person who might have shed light on it is gone. Further, it was McVeigh's decision to end his appeals that expedited his execution. His time from the end of trial to execution was only four years; the average condemned inmate spends well over a decade on death row. Given the significance of this case and the lingering questions, the execution date appears hasty in retrospect. Perhaps McVeigh would have continued to adamantly deny anyone else's involvement but simply keeping him alive closer to the typical death row stay would have allowed more opportunity for determining the truth. We have found no conclusive evidence of a foreign connection, but there remain questions that need to be answered before this final chapter can justifiably be closed. This investigation determined that many pieces of so-called evidence backing various theories of a foreign involvement were not based in fact. In some instances, our own research is inconclusive. Specifically, Hussaini and Strassmeir, as well as the Yousef phone calls, needed more investigatory attention. The Subcommittee is dismayed that there remains a lack of willingness to examine legitimate issues. The overall assessment is inconclusive on the varied theories. Labels: American-Terrorists, INTELWIRE-Exclusive, Jesse-Trentadue, OKBOMB, Richard-Lee-Guthrie Views expressed on INTELWIRE are those of the author alone.
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