Date: Wed Sep 1 20:32:16 1999
From: weavert@PRIMENET.COM ("T. Weaver")
Subject: Waco Evidence Impounded
To: AZRKBA@asu.edu
http://search.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WAPO/19990901/V000161-090199-idx.html
Marshals Impound FBI Waco Evidence
By Michelle Mittelstadt
Associated Press Writer
Wednesday, September 1, 1999; 9:42 p.m. EDT
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Federal marshals were dispatched Wednesday to the FBI's headquarters to impound previously undisclosed evidence in the 1993 assault by federal agents on the Branch Davidian compound, Justice and FBI officials said Wednesday night.
The marshals took custody of infrared tapes recorded during the early morning of April 19 when incendiary tear gas canisters were lobbed at a concrete bunker adjacent to the Davidians' compound near Waco, Texas, an FBI source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Hours later, the wooden compound erupted into flames. Cult leader David Koresh and some 80 followers died during the inferno.
Justice Department officials dispatched the marshals to the FBI building less than a block away after the FBI informed them it had uncovered in its files additional information about the tear gas.
Department sources said Attorney General Janet Reno and her top aides were angered at the latest turn of events. Just a week ago, the FBI was forced to recant six years of denials that it had used incendiary tear gas during the final hours of the 51-day siege.
That belated admission prompted a furor on Capitol Hill, where congressional Republicans are readying hearings for the fall. A frustrated Reno also ordered an investigation to determine why combustible tear gas was used against her orders.
The FBI source said the new material, found in the offices of the FBI's Hostage Rescue Team in Quantico, Va., was turned up as part of FBI Director Louis Freeh's mandate that all files be searched for relevant information in advance of the investigation.
The Hostage Rescue Team was in charge of the FBI's operation during the siege and the final tear-gas assault.
After the evidence was found, it was transferred to FBI headquarters in Washington, where the marshals took possession.
``Earlier this afternoon, senior main Justice Department officials learned from the FBI that the FBI had found additional materials in its possession regarding the shooting of military CS gas rounds on the morning of April 19,'' said Justice spokesman Myron Marlin.
The Justice officials ``immediately directed the United States Marshals Service to take possession and inventory the materials,'' Marlin added.
The FBI concurred, said bureau spokesman John Collingwood.
``We are anxious to identify and preserve for outside review and congressional oversight anything that may bear on the firing of the military gas rounds,'' Collingwood said. ``In the end, the only way we can completely restore our credibility is to identify every scrap of information we have and immediately turn it over to whomever is doing the review.''
It appeared increasingly likely Wednesday that Reno will order an independent inquiry, sidestepping the investigative resources of the FBI.
Joining a chorus of voices on and off Capitol Hill, the White House has made clear its preference for an independent investigation, a White House official said Wednesday.
``We would support a thorough and independent look at this,'' said the official, who asked not to be identified.
Freeh, who wants to head off any perception of conflict of interest, earlier this week indicated support for an inquiry fee of involvement from the FBI or the Justice Department.
Reno, who is out of the country on official business through Thursday, has not reached a final decision, Marlin said.
Justice sources, however, described Reno as leaning strongly in favor of an independent investigation and forgoing the use of a team of 40 FBI agents that had been assembled to re-interview all of the participants in the FBI operation.
The government's conclusion that the 1993 fire was set by Davidian cult members has long been doubted by conspiracy theorists and others who allege the government engaged in a widespread cover-up.
The FBI and Reno have said there is no evidence to suggest the blaze was set by the incendiary tear gas canisters. After insisting that only non-flammable devices were used, the FBI said last week that a ``very limited number'' of combustible canisters were lobbed at a concrete bunker 40 yards from the compound a few hours before the fire erupted.
The House Judiciary Committee is drafting legislation to establish a congressional commission to investigate the matter -- a step that in Chairman Henry Hyde's view could avoid the partisanship exhibited during earlier Waco hearings.
The House Government Reform Committee, which is already planning hearings, will issue subpoenas Thursday to the White House, Justice and Defense Departments, the FBI and Texas Rangers seeking documents and other Waco-related information, said spokesman Mark Corallo.
Sen. Phil Gramm, R-Texas, on Wednesday became the one of the first members of Congress to urge Reno to resign over the Waco controversy.
``I think the attorney general should step down,'' Gramm said. ``This is another example of where she has either lied to the American people or allowed the American people to be lied to.''
© Copyright 1999 The Associated Press
XXXXX DRUDGE REPORT XXXXX WED, SEPT 01, 1999 21:51:44 ET XXXXX
FURIOUS RENO ORDERS FBI EVIDENCE SEIZED!
A furious Janet Reno ordered federal marshals to the headquarters of the FBI to impound new, previously undisclosed evidence relating to the 1993 Branch Davidian assault near Waco, Texas.
As she returned from Panama late Wednesday night, Attorney General Reno expressed total anger over the development while aboard the plane, the DRUDGE REPORT has learned from one eyewitness.
"Her face was flushed, she was clearly shaken," the eyewitness told the DRUDGE REPORT.
Washington was rocked Wednesday night just hours after federal marshals took custody of infrared tapes recorded during the early morning of April 19 when incendiary tear gas canisters were lobbed at a concrete bunker adjacent to the Branch Davidians' compound.
The tapes capture conversation between agents giving the OK to use gas on the compound.
The recording contains the voices of agents asking for and receiving authorization from their operational commanders at Waco.
The new material, found in the offices of the FBI's Hostage Rescue Team in Quantico, Va. on Wednesday, was transferred to FBI headquarters in Washington -- where it was seized.
FBI Director Louis Freeh's has issued a mandate that all FBI files be searched for relevant information on Waco.
"The recording is on the audio track of an infrared videotape that picked up heat images from inside the compound," the NEW YORK TIMES is rushing in a Thursday Page One lead, according to publishing sources. The tape was made by an aircraft flying over the site at the time the tear-gas canisters were launched at the bunker, according to the report.
MORE...
RENO MAY NAME FORMER REPUBLICAN SENATOR TO HEAD NEW PROBE
Former Republican senators John Danforth of Missouri and Warren Rudman of New Hampshire are said to be on Reno's short list of candidates to head a new probe into the events surrounding Waco, the NEW YORK TIMES is reporting.
Another candidate is Dan Webb, a prominent Chicago lawyer and former Republican-appointed federal prosecutor.
MORE....
JUDGE TO IGNORE JUSTICE DEPT
An unnamed federal court official in Waco tells Thursday's ATLANTA JOURNAL CONSTITUTION that U.S. District Judge Walter Smith Jr. has no intention on holding a hearing on the Justice Department's motion that questions Smith's authority to gain possession of all evidence pertaining toWaco and an ongoing civil lawsuit.
Judge Smith is determined to begin the Branch Davidian's civil wrongful death lawsuit on October 18 -- however the Justice Department challenged Smith's August 9 order asking for all government agencies and individuals to hand over all materials relevant to the Branch Davidian case.
All Developing...
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Filed by Matt Drudge Reports are moved when circumstances warrant (c)DRUDGE REPORT 1999 Not for reproduction without permission of the author