updated 10-5-02

WACO FIRE

APRIL 19, 1993

Incendiary Devices WERE Used By Feds At Waco

FBI Releases Newly-Discovered Waco Videotape

Waco Details May Have Been Kept From Reno Says Report

Reno Planned Final Waco Assault With Delta Forces - FOIA Documents

Ex-CIA Officer: Delta Forces Helped FBI Final Waco Assault

SIGHTINGS - Excerpts of The Wilcher Report - The Truth About Waco

DID THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT START THE WACO FIRE?
SEE PHOTOS ON THIS SITE

WACO RE-EXAMINED - THE DALLAS NEWS

Report: FBI Fired Shots at Davidians

WASHINGTON (AP) - (October 5, 1999) An expert hired by the House Government Reform Committee says he believes an FBI agent fired shots during the bureau's 1993 siege of the Branch Davidian compound near Waco, Texas. That view, expressed in an interview published in today's editions of The Washington Post, is at odds with the FBI's position that none of its agents fired shots at any time during the siege in which about 80 people died. The expert in thermal imaging and videotape analysis, Carlos Ghigliotti, has done work for the FBI in the past. ``I conclude that the FBI fired shots on that day,'' Ghigliotti told the Post in an interview conducted Tuesday.

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U.S. halts Waco evidence fight

Prosecutor who complained about handling of case recused

09/15/99

By Lee Hancock and David Jackson / The Dallas Morning News

The government will not fight a federal judge's demand for control of all of its information and evidence tied to the 1993 Branch Davidian siege, a federal prosecutor said Tuesday.

News of that decision came the same day that Justice Department officials confirmed that an assistant U.S. attorney who has publicly complained about the department's recent handling of the Branch Davidian case has been removed from further participation in the case.

Justice Department officials said the recusal involves not only Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Johnston of Waco but all prosecutors across the entire judicial district that stretches from Waco to San Antonio and includes Austin and much of Central Texas.

Mr. Johnston, a career prosecutor who has been a key player in an ongoing Texas Rangers inquiry that has reawakened troubling questions about the 1993 tragedy, declined to elaborate Tuesday.

"I cannot say anything about the order," he said. "I will continue to do what I think is right."

Justice Department officials tried to characterize the move as relatively routine. But law enforcement officials expressed dismay. They noted that its timing was particularly troubling in the light of Mr. Johnston's recent efforts to help the Rangers answer questions about evidence directly challenging the government's account of what happened in Waco.

"People were stunned by the order - shocked and amazed," one Texas law enforcement official said.

Some congressional critics said they fear that the move may be an effort to silence Mr. Johnston, who sent Attorney General Janet Reno a letter on Aug. 30 warning that other Justice Department lawyers had long misled her and the public about some of the government's actions during the tragic final day of the Waco standoff.

Mr. Johnston's boss, U.S. Attorney Bill Blagg of San Antonio, said in a prepared written statement Tuesday that he had asked for the removal of his entire office from the Branch Davidian case because so many of its prosecutors may be interviewed as part of new investigations into the incident.

Sect leader David Koresh and more than 80 followers died in a fire that erupted amid an April 19, 1993, tank and tear-gas assault on the compound.

Government officials have long maintained that the Davidians set the fire, but questions about government actions that day have been raised by the recent revelation, after years of denials, that the FBI used tear-gas grenades capable of sparking fires.

U.S. District Judge Walter Smith of Waco ordered the government last month to turn over all evidence relating to the Davidian incident.

The government initially challenged his order as excessive and unlawful, but after the judge ordered U.S. marshals to begin seizing evidence last week, Justice Department lawyers hinted that they might drop their fight.

On Tuesday, the federal prosecutor assigned to take control of the Branch Davidian case said the Justice Department needs to work out logistics but has decided not to try to further challenge the judge's demand for the evidence.

"Our intent is to comply with the order. We're working on that now," said Mike Bradford, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Texas.

U.S. Sen. Charles Grassley, R-.Iowa, said the Justice Department must fully explain the decision to transfer control of the Branch Davidian case to Mr. Bradford's district from the district where Mr. Johnston works.

"The public could get the impression that main Justice is trying to control and neutralize what could be legitimate criticism from the assistant U.S. attorney about the way the Justice Department and the FBI have been handling the case," he said.

Department officials said Mr. Johnston will not be prohibited from speaking to outside investigators but must clear his contacts through Mr. Bradford and Justice officials. The recusals mean the office cannot represent the government in legal matters related to the Branch Davidians.

Mr. Bradford said he was not familiar with Mr. Johnston's role in the Texas Rangers' recent effort to identify questioned evidence from the standoff. But he added that Mr. Johnston probably will not be allowed to continue helping that inquiry as a federal prosecutor.

"To the extent that he has information that's helpful to ongoing matters, this is not going to prevent him from sharing his information with others," Mr. Bradford said. "It does mean that coordination of those matters is supposed to be handled through our office."

The recusal raises questions whether the Justice Department lawyers preparing to defend the government in the wrongful-death case will also be removed, department officials said. The case is scheduled to go to trial on Oct. 18, but court observers in Waco have said that recent skirmishes over control of evidence and other matters may force it to be delayed until early next year.

Congressional investigators have formally investigated interviews with civil attorneys in the wrongful death case. They seek to determine whether the attorneys long knew and withheld evidence about the use of pyrotechnic tear gas at Waco. Mr. Johnston has already supplied documents under subpoena to congressional investigators.

Justice officials have said they are still evaluating the request for interviews with the civil attorneys.

The revelations have triggered new investigations. In addition to an independent inquiry by former U.S. Sen. John Danforth, Republican-led House and Senate committees are gearing up for new investigations.

Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss., said his investigation should go beyond the Branch Davidian incident "into a number of other issues where we have concerns about the Justice Department and the lack of justice at that department."

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Prosecutor Removed From Waco Case

By SUSAN PARROTT

.c The Associated Press

WACO, Texas (Sept. 15, 99) - The federal prosecutor who first raised concerns about a cover-up at Waco says he's perplexed by the Justice Department's decision to remove him from the case.

''I'm not for sure what to make of it,'' said Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Johnston, who was removed along with his boss, U.S. Attorney James W. Blagg, and the rest of the federal prosecutor's office for western Texas.

''I'm trying not to be paranoid,'' Johnston said Tuesday. ''I don't know how to characterize it. Nothing in this case surprises me.''

Justice Department officials said the change, made on Friday, heeded a request made by Blagg to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest.

The officials said Johnston, who helped handle the criminal prosecution of survivors of the Branch Davidian tragedy, and his colleagues are potential witnesses in the independent inquiry into the government siege. Attorney General Janet Reno has recused herself from the case, and the officials said additional government lawyers may also be removed.

The special counsel for Waco, John Danforth, the former Republican senator from Missouri, is beginning his investigation into whether the government acted inappropriately during the fiery end of the 1993 siege and then tried to cover it up.

Branch Davidian cult leader David Koresh and an estimated 80 of his followers were killed on April 19, 1993 when a fatal fire engulfed their compound outside of Waco. Government officials maintain that Branch Davidians, and not federal agents, set the blaze.

Johnston's removal from the Waco case came to light Tuesday, less than 24 hours after the public release of a letter he had sent to Reno Aug. 30.

''I have formed the belief that facts may have been kept from you - and quite possibly are being kept from you even now - by components of the department,'' Johnston wrote.

Johnston had been at odds with Blagg and other Justice officials over the investigation of the government's actions. He had pressed for independent filmmakers to be allowed to review evidence sifted from the charred Waco ruins - evidence that led to the FBI's recent admission that potentially incendiary tear gas canisters were fired on the day of the fire.

That disclosure sparked congressional inquiries and Reno's appointment of Danforth.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Johnston said Tuesday he had done what he thought was right. ''In August, the department continued to deny there were any issues,'' he said. ''I just had to do something.''

Justice Department spokesman Myron Marlin, asked whether removing Johnston was a reprisal for his outspoken criticism in the Waco case, said: ''Absolutely not.''

But a frequent critic of Justice's conduct, Rep. Bob Barr, a member of the House Judiciary Committee, charged that the department acted to hush Johnston.

''The department has swiftly and quietly silenced the one internal voice of opposition to the party line, publicly embarrassed him and damaged his career,'' Barr said.

A team of lawyers in the civil division of the U.S. Attorney's office has been defending the government in a wrongful death suit that was scheduled to go to trial Oct. 18 in Texas.

Deputy Attorney General Eric Holder has appointed Michael Bradford, the U.S. attorney in a neighboring Texas district to take over for Johnston and his colleagues in any further Waco matters.

''We have a fresh look at this matter with a group that's not had any involvement or any potential conflict in the matter, and that's why we were asked to come in,'' Bradford said in an interview with The Associated Press after meeting with Blagg's staff.

Meanwhile, Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott said that renewed congressional inquiries into Waco should expand to other instances in which Justice officials may have withheld information about government conduct.

''I think it's going to have to be broader than just Waco itself,'' Lott, R-Miss., told reporters Tuesday. ''There are a number of investigations that they are basically either not doing or they have stiffed us on. So we need to find out what's going on.''

Plans for an initial flurry of hearings by various committees have narrowed to two: in the House by Government Reform Committee Chairman Dan Burton and in the Senate by the Judiciary Committee.

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GOP Promises Broad Probe Into Waco

By JIM ABRAMS

.c The Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) (Sept. 12, 99) - Angered by the Justice Department's failure to produce a crucial document on the Waco siege, GOP lawmakers are promising a broader investigation than the one planned by a special counsel.

Republicans on Sunday also stepped up pressure on Janet Reno to leave office, with Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott saying President Clinton should name a new attorney general.

But Clinton's chief of staff, John Podesta, expressed continuing support for Reno, declaring on CBS: ``She's a tough-minded person, she is going to get to the bottom of this.''

Meantime, former Sen. John Danforth, the Missouri Republican appointed by Reno to lead the independent investigation, said he would try to avoid a political inquiry.

The chairman of a House Government Affairs Committee, which will review the government's role in the 1993 Waco siege, said Danforth will concentrate on possible criminal activity while ``we're going to be taking a broader look.''

``We need to find out who's responsible,'' Rep. Dan Burton, R-Ind., said on ``Fox News Sunday.'' ``We don't want people in charge of things like Waco if they're not doing their job properly.''

Danforth, appearing on five Sunday news programs, said his investigation would have a narrow focus and seek to avoid politics.

``It's not going to be sort of a general sweeping investigation into whether or not good or bad judgment'' was used by government officials during the 51-day siege in which some 80 Branch Davidian followers died.

Asked about lessons learned from Kenneth Starr's investigations of the Clintons, Danforth said ``this cannot be absolutely open-ended where one issue sort of morphs into another issue.''

He said he would work with Congress, but ``what I would like to do is to wait until the very end to issue a report and not have a running commentary between now and then.''

Reno last week asked Danforth to determine whether there was a cover-up and the government was involved in the killings.

The renewed criticism of the Justice Department and Reno was prompted by the news that an FBI report the department turned over to Congress years ago lacked one page that mentioned the use of military-style incendiary tear gas against the religious cult.

A department spokesman has said the key page was given to lawyers in criminal and civil cases involving Waco survivors, and the special counsel will have to look into why it never reached Congress.

Burton, in a letter to Reno made public Sunday, said the omission of the critical page ``raises more questions about whether this committee was intentionally misled during the original Waco investigation.''

Lott has said previously that Reno should resign. On Sunday, he urged Clinton to take that decision out of her hands, if necessary, and replace her.

``I would think the president should consult with her and move to a different attorney general,'' he said on CBS' ``Face the Nation.'' ``I believe the time has come where that would help the sense of justice at the Justice Department.''

He said Reno has shown a pattern of incompetence on issues such as alleged Chinese theft of nuclear secrets and illegal campaign contributions.

Democratic Sen. Robert Torricelli of New Jersey, who has suggested Reno step down because of issues other than Waco, said someone must be held accountable for department missteps.

``There's so little confidence in the administration and Justice Department,'' he said.

Reno was asked Sunday by Burton to provide interviews this week with three Justice officials, including attorney James G. Touhey, Jr. Earlier this month, Touhey wrote a memo detailing his discovery that some copies of the 49-page FBI lab report, including the copy sent to Congress, did not include the last page which mentioned the use of military rounds.

The Justice Department insists that reports of the use of two flammable tear gas rounds against a storm bunker do not change the conclusion that the later fire that engulfed the Branch Davidians inside the compound was set by cult members.

AP-NY-09-12-99 1841EDT

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Coroner Would Welcome Waco Inquiry

'There is a Feeling That One Should Go Back and Reevaluate'

.c The Associated Press

WACO, Texas (Sept 11) - As an independent probe prepares to look into the government's role in the 1993 Branch Davidian standoff, a medical examiner says he'd like to look again into the deaths of sect members who died from gunshot wounds.

''There is a feeling that one should go back and reevaluate,'' said Dr. Nizam Peerwani, the Tarrant County medical examiner. ''The focus at the time was not whether the FBI was doing the shooting.''

About 80 people died after a fire ravaged the group's compound 10 miles east of Waco.

Peerwani said he wants to reexamine the deaths of 23 Davidians who died of bullet wounds. It may be possible to determine whether they were shot by someone outside the compound building, he told the Waco Tribune-Herald for today's editions.

Did the bullets go through an ''intermediary target, like a wall or door, before striking these people?'' he asked.

''We have sufficient photographs and other materials for us to review these issues. I have not started this, but I would certainly do so if asked by the proper authorities.''

A Justice Department spokesman declined comment on Peerwani's statements.

''All I can say is the attorney general certainly wants answers to the questions being raised,'' Myron Marlin said. ''That's why she appointed a special counsel.''

Attorney General Janet Reno ordered the independent investigation after revelations that the FBI used potentially-flammable tear-gas canisters - allegations previously denied by the government - in the April 19, 1993, raid.

The government maintains the Davidians set fire to the compound.

Justice of the Peace David Pareya, one of four McLennan County justices who ordered the autopsies, told the newspaper he has lingering questions about some of the deaths.

Pareya said he had no choice but to rule the cause of death for many Davidians as unknown because the FBI would not supply him with the results of the ballistics tests.

''The thing that always stayed in my mind was if they were afraid some of the ordnance or ballistics could be matched up with their weaponry,'' Pareya said.

Peerwani acknowledged there would be limits to what he could investigate.

''Obviously, I can say if a bullet went through an intermediary target and things like that. Beyond that, things have to stop,'' he said. ''Deciding who shot whom is absolutely part of a criminal investigation, and it falls outside the purview of a medical examiner's duties.''

Lawyers in a wrongful-death suit against the federal government told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram that they have been unable to fully explore the deaths of the Branch Davidians because many of their bodies liquefied when a cooler failed at the Tarrant County morgue.

Kirk Lyons, who is representing three Davidian survivors of the fire and relatives of 23 dead sect members, said he has been told that ''somebody accidentally pulled the plug, and the bodies turned to soup.''

The cooler failed weeks after Peerwani performed autopsies on members of the religious sect, including spiritual leader David Koresh, the newspaper reported in today's editions.

AP-NY-09-11-99 0744EDT

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Why Reno Sent the U.S. Marshals Over to the FBI

The attorney general wants to make it clear that she's furious over a Waco tape. But will she escape the fallout?

Janet Reno wants you to know she is peeved. It’s not exactly every day that the attorney general sends U.S. Marshals around to seize evidence being held at FBI headquarters. And by doing just that on Wednesday Reno signaled her anger that the bureau had kept her in the dark over the existence of tapes proving that federal agents had fired potentially incendiary CS gas canisters into the Branch Davidian compound at Waco. The tapes, which reportedly contain the voices of agents asking their field commanders for — and being granted — permission to fire the ordnance into the compound several hours before the outbreak of the blaze that left 80 people dead, have been held by the FBI for six years. Of course, the dramatic seizure of the tapes may have been purely theatrical, since it was the FBI that drew Ms. Reno’s attention to their existence last week following the revelation that — counter to FBI denials — such ordnance had been used at Waco.

Reno’s public slap-down of the FBI is most likely an attempt to inoculate the Justice Department from the growing political fallout over the government’s misrepresentation of events at Waco. The high-profile nature of the move is meant to emphasize that Justice hadn’t been properly briefed by the FBI and thus was not culpable for the six-year delay. But it won't mean the end of the Justice Department's troubles. Even though the attorney general is reportedly in the process of establishing an independent investigation, she’ll have plenty of competition from probes by the Senate Judiciary Committee, the House Government Reform and Oversight Committee and a congressional über-inquiry proposed by House Judiciary Committee chairman Henry Hyde. In addition, the Texas Rangers are about to complete their own inquiry, which may also challenge aspects of the federal government’s official story. Six years after the tragedy, the fires of Waco are burning again — and this time, Washington may get burned.

-- TONY KARON

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FBI Aware Early of Waco Tear Gas

1993 Lab Report Shows FBI Knew of Military Tear Gas Projectiles

By JOHN SOLOMON

.c The Associated Press

WASHINGTON (Sept. 10) - A lab document that the Justice Department failed to give Congress discloses that the FBI knew within eight months of the fiery end of the Branch Davidian siege that military tear gas projectiles were used, The Associated Press has learned.

A key final page from a 49-page FBI lab report was turned over to the House Government Reform Committee this week, along with an internal Justice Department memo acknowledging it ''was not produced to Congress'' during the 1995 investigations into the tragedy near Waco, Texas.

The first 48 pages of the lab report, dated Dec. 6, 1993, had been turned over to lawmakers years ago, absent the mention of the military-style tear gas that government officials for years had denied using.

The 49th page, obtained Friday by AP, discloses that FBI investigators who examined the scene at Waco found a ''fired US military 40 mm shell casing which originally contained a CS gas round,'' and two ''expended 40mm tear gas projectiles.''

The report is likely to become a key piece of evidence in the independent inquiry ordered by Attorney General Janet Reno and separate congressional investigations into whether government officials tried to cover up the use of potentially incendiary tear gas on the final day of the siege.

Justice Department and FBI officials denied for years that such tear gas grenades were used on April 19, 1993, the day the Davidian compound went up in flames. They abruptly reversed course earlier this month and acknowledged a ''very limited number'' of such devices were fired hours before the fatal fire.

The government continues to maintain that religious sect members set the fire, and federal agents did not contribute to it. They have said the tear gas canisters bounced off a roof of a concrete bunker and into a field. Sect leader David Koresh and some 80 followers perished during a later blaze in a wooden structure away from the bunker.

Justice spokesman Myron Marlin said Friday night that former Republican Sen. John Danforth, who is heading an independent inquiry into Waco, will have to examine why the crucial page of the report did not reach Congress earlier. Marlin noted, however, that the page was properly turned over to lawyers in criminal and civil cases involving Waco survivors.

''Whether it was an adminstrative error is something that the special counsel will have to look at,'' he said. ''But we know that the plaintiff and defendants counsel received it.''

The lab report does not specifically state whether the gas in the shells was incendiary or when they had been fired. But the potentially flammable M651 tear gas canisters that the FBI belatedly acknowledged using on the final day of the siege are 40mm military shells like those described in the lab report.

The FBI has always acknowledged firing one other type of 40 mm round that contained nonflammable tear gas.

A Sept. 2, 1999 Justice Department memo on the history of the lab document notes that the department's document database ''contains multiple copies of this document, most of which contain all 49 pages.'' It said only four copies of the report were missing the last page.

''It appears that the page on which mention is made of a shell casing for a military CS round and the expended tear gas projectiles was not produced to Congress,'' trial attorney James G. Touhey Jr. wrote.

During congressional probes, the FBI would typically forward its documents to the Justice Department, which would then produce the documents to lawmakers.

Danforth, a former Missouri attorney general, was named Thursday to oversee the independent inquiry. He promised to investigate whether government officials were responsible for the fatal fire and tried to cover it up. Also Friday, congressional aides sifted through documents subpoenaed from the Texas Rangers dealing with the fiery end of the 51-day siege.

The documents were subpoenaed last week by the House Government Reform Committee and included a previously unreleased Rangers report on ordnance used by the FBI in the final hours of the siege, a congressional aide said.

Texas Department of Public Safety spokesman Tom Vinger, whose agency oversees the Rangers, said the report represents ''an extremely exhaustive look at some of the controversial evidence.''

''When you get right down to it, it is very narrow in focus,'' Vinger said. He declined to be more specific.

The Rangers, who have stored tons of evidence collected from the Davidians' charred compound, began re-examining their holdings in June after learning that military pyrotechnic tear gas canisters were fired in the siege's waning hours.

AP-NY-09-10-99 2000EDT

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Danforth Vows Thorough Waco Inquiry

Former Senator Opens Inquiry Into Waco Siege

By PETE YOST

.c The Associated Press

WASHINGTON (Sept. 9, 99) - Vowing to pursue the ''dark questions'' of the Waco siege, former Republican Sen. John Danforth opened an independent inquiry Thursday into whether the FBI started the deadly fire and later tried to cover its actions. He pledged a thorough inquiry that could include questioning of Attorney General Janet Reno and FBI Director Louis Freeh.

President Clinton, talking to reporters at the White House, applauded the selection of Danforth, calling him ''an honorable man and an intelligent and straightforward man. The only thing I would ask is that he conduct a thorough and prompt investigation.''

Clinton added that ''I certainly don't think there's any reason'' for Reno to resign as several Republican leaders have urged.

At a news conference in the Justice Department, where Reno announced she had appointed him, Danforth said the country can survive bad judgment, ''but the thing that really undermines the integrity of government is whether there were bad acts, whether there was a cover-up and whether the government killed people.''

''I think my job is to answer the dark questions,'' Danforth said. ''How did the fire start? Were there shootings?''

He said his inquiry would include whether false statements were made to Congress and the Justice Department.

Danforth, who said he has authority to question both Reno and Freeh, will hold the title special counsel and is empowered to use a federal grand jury for his investigation. He said he hoped to get voluntary cooperation for what will start as an administrative, not a criminal, inquiry.

Reno said Danforth also will investigate whether there ''was any illegal use of the armed forces'' in the final assault. Members of the Pentagon's Delta Force commandoes were at Waco the day of the assault.

Freeh, who spoke with Danforth briefly this week, said in a statement that he welcomed the selection, and Reno called Danforth ''a man of impeccable credentials.''

As the former senator made a round of courtesy calls on Capitol Hill, congressional leaders said they envision Congress' own Waco investigations will be more wide-ranging than Danforth's.

''I want to know it all,'' House Majority Leader Dick Armey, R-Texas, said.

Reno said she herself had no plans to resign, despite calls from some Republicans to do so. ''I don't run from controversy,'' she said, removing herself entirely from the Waco matter from now on.

''I will obviously be a witness, and I think it's important'' the probe ''be conducted without influence of those who had been involved,'' Reno explained. With that, Deputy Attorney General Eric Holder would be the top person Danforth consults at Justice.

Reno has said that before the April 19, 1993, FBI assault on the Branch Davidian compound, she directed that only non-incendiary tear gas be used, to avoid the possibility of triggering a fire that might endanger lives.

She has been under renewed criticism since revelations that the FBI, contradicting a position it had taken for six years, had used some incendiary devices on the last day of the 51-day standoff, which ended in a fire and the deaths of David Koresh and about 80 followers. Reno and the FBI maintain that the devices did not cause the deadly fire, which they insist was set by the cult members.

Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, said Congress should not defer to the executive branch in delving into Waco because ''after all, Congress was misled by the executive branch.''

''I would hope that they would do it in the broadest possible way,'' Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss., said of the investigation.

Among the questions Danforth said he would leave for Congress:

whether it was a good idea for the FBI to have assaulted the compound on the final day and for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms to have raided it three months earlier, beginning the siege.

Danforth chose as his deputy the U.S. attorney in St. Louis, Edward Dowd, a Clinton appointee who is joining the St. Louis law firm where Danforth is a partner. A lifelong Democrat, Dowd was recommended for the U.S. attorney's job by House Minority Leader Dick Gephardt, D-Mo. Dowd's father was the Democratic nominee for Missouri governor in 1972.

Danforth said the investigative legwork in his inquiry would be done by private investigators ''to the maximum extent'' possible and by ''some government investigators'' from agencies other than the FBI.

''I don't believe the FBI should be investigating the FBI,'' said Danforth.

He added that ''I can't say that under no circumstances would I call on any help at all from the FBI, because I don't know how the course of this will proceed.''

Danforth will remain at his law firm in St. Louis but probably will open an office in Washington. Dowd will be full time on the probe, and Danforth will devote most of his time to it.

Danforth said some family members and friends advised him not to take the job, with one telling him it would not be a good career move.

''But, hey, I'm 63'' and ''at this point in your life. ...'' Danforth joked with reporters. He said the gravity of the questions surrounding Waco compelled him to take the job.

Danforth said he wants to present as many of the facts as he can to the American people - a goal that could be difficult if his inquiry turns into a criminal investigation and he starts using a grand jury to question witnesses under oath. Grand jury testimony is secret.

Danforth and the FBI agents could face some difficult choices.

Agents who cooperate voluntarily could be placing themselves in legal jeopardy by talking, depending on what evidence they provide.

If an agent refuses to answer, Danforth must decide whether to immunize the witness to compel him to talk, a step that would probably preclude Danforth from prosecuting the person later if Danforth decides the agent has engaged in wrongdoing.

Danforth is the first person to wield the powers spelled out in a new set of Justice Department regulations adopted in the wake of the expiration of the independent counsel statute June 30.

AP-NY-09-09-99 1858EDT

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Danforth To Head Waco Standoff Probe

By PETE YOST

.c The Associated Press

WASHINGTON (Sept. 9) - Former Republican Sen. John Danforth today took the reins of an independent inquiry into the fiery end of the 1993 Branch Davidian siege, pledging to answer the ''dark questions'' of whether there was a cover-up and ''did the government kill people?''

''Our country can survive bad judgment. But the thing that really undermines the integrity of government is whether there were bad acts - whether the government killed people,'' the ex-Missouri lawmaker said in a news conference convened by Attorney General Janet Reno.

Reno has been under attack since the revelations that the FBI, contradicting a position it took for six years, had used some incendiary devices on the last day of the 51-day standoff, which ended in a fire and the deaths of cult leader David Koresh and some 80 followers. Both Reno and the FBI maintain that the devices did not cause the deadly fire, which they insist was set by the cult members.

Danforth will hold the title special counsel and is empowered to use a federal grand jury for his investigation.

Danforth said he will not focus on poor judgment by federal officials ''even if those judgments led to the ultimate result. But whether there were good judgments or bad judgments is a different question than the dark question, and I think my job is to answer the dark questions: Was there a cover-up? That's a dark question. Did the government kill people? How did the fire start? Were there shootings?''

Reno said Danforth also will investigate whether there ''was any illegal use of the armed forces'' in the final assault.

Danforth said he has authority to question both Reno and FBI Director Louis Freeh. He did not say whether he will.

A Justice Department press release quoted Freeh as saying, ''I welcome the attorney general's selection of Senator Danforth.''

''Jack Danforth is a man of impeccable credentials, a record of integrity and a determination to get to the truth,'' Reno said in the news release. ''Questions have been raised, and he is the perfect person to find the answers.''

''Getting the facts. That's order No. 1,'' Danforth said. ''It is clear to me that the quality of the product that we hope to produce is going to depend upon the quality of the people we get to produce it.''

''I see at stake the beginning of the Declaration of Independence, the point of which was to protect the life and liberty and pursuit of happiness of the American people,'' Danforth said. ''And if government doesn't do that, if government cover things up and the government kills people, if that is what happened - and I don't prejudge that - then that is what Jefferson talked about as being the first foundation of government.''

He said U.S. Attorney Edward Dowd of St. Louis will be his deputy, describing Dowd as ''a person who is very highly regarded in our community, a very respected prosecutor.''

A defiant Reno said she had no plans to resign, despite calls from some Republicans to do so. ''I don't run from controversy,'' she said.

Danforth said he had accepted the job with some misgivings but is eager to get the work under way. He said he will try not to rely on FBI agents to do the legwork of the inquiry. ''My basic thought is the FBI should not be investigating the FBI,'' said Danforth, who will remain in his home state of Missouri but will open an office here.

Danforth was asked about the clamor on Capitol Hill for a series of committee inquiries. ''I am not going to try to tell Congress what to do or what not to do,'' he said. ''I'm not going to tell them how to do their business.''

Reno's selection of Danforth came as the top Republican in the Senate said he now has doubts about who started the fire that ended the siege 6 1/2 years ago near Waco, Texas, and believes it is time for Reno to step down.

Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss., said Wednesday that new revelations that the government withheld evidence about its use of force in the April 19, 1993, assault add to a ''pattern'' of refusing to cooperate with congressional requests, such as repeated GOP requests that she seek an investigation of Democratic fund-raising in the 1996 election.

''There are doubts because questions have been raised,'' Lott told reporters. ''All of that leads me to conclude that the attorney general should resign.''

Senate Majority Whip Don Nickles, R-Okla., also called for Reno to step down, his spokesman said.

At the same time, the attorney general received a strong endorsement from Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota, who said Reno ''deserves commendation rather than criticism,'' and that ''under no circumstances'' should she resign.

President Clinton has expressed continuing confidence in Reno, but has not done the same for Freeh.

Lott's comment added fuel to a GOP campaign against Reno since the belated revelation that the FBI fired two potentially incendiary devices near the Branch Davidian compound hours before fire swept through the wooden building and that the agency failed to produce, until last week, videotapes showing agents' raid on the compound.

Danforth left the Senate in 1995 and is respected by members of both parties for his stubborn independence and reputation for integrity.

Danforth, 63, is an Episcopal priest with solid Republican credentials. He successfully shepherded the troubled nomination of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas through a tough confirmation process. He also has a background in law enforcement. Before entering the Senate, he served as attorney general in Missouri for eight years.

AP-NY-09-09-99 1026EDT

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Flares Said Found in Waco Evidence

.c The Associated Press

DALLAS (AP)(Sept. 8, 1999) - Several spent illumination flares were found in the tons of evidence recovered from the charred rubble of the Branch Dividian compound near Waco, The Dallas Morning News reported today.

The newspaper said Texas Rangers discovered a star parachute flare while sifting through a storage facility Friday for missing pyrotechnic tear gas grenades.

Evidence logs showed more such incendiary flares were recovered in the weeks following the FBI siege and assault on April 19, 1993, said James B. Francis Jr., head of the Texas Department of Public Safety.

``These flares are potentially a very important issue, inasmuch as the government had enormous spotlights trained on the compound throughout the standoff.''

``They didn't need these flares to light the compound. One or more was fired,'' Francis told the newspaper. ``For what purpose or reason would these rounds be used?''

John Collingwood, an FBI spokesman, told the newspaper he could not flatly rule out the agency's use of illumination rounds during the deadly siege but said they played no part in the final assault.

``Several times during the standoff, they had people sneaking in or out of the compound at night. Whether they ever used them then, I don't know,'' said Collingwood. ``But I can say categorically, we did not use illumination rounds on the 19th.''

David Koresh and 78 followers died in the fire and assault at the compound following the 51-day siege. The government has maintained that the fires which destroyed the compound were deliberately set by the Branch Davidians.

Some GOP lawmakers want to know whether the FBI lied for several months about using incendiary tear gas canisters during the final raid. The possibility of launching an independent inquiry has been discussed.

Use of the pyrotechnic rounds, Attorney General Janet Reno has said, violated her strict instructions that nothing capable of sparking a fire be used during the FBI tear-gas assault.

Some 24,000 pounds of evidence has been recovered from the burned compound, plus more than 300,000 rounds of ammunition and other ordnance stockpiled by the sect.

``There is a big semiwarehouse of spent munitions that has not been investigated,'' one unnamed Texas official told the newspaper. ``Nobody knew what they were looking for before now. Nobody was hunting for incendiary devices.''

AP-NY-09-08-99 0839EDT

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Reno Said to Offer Danforth Waco Post

GOP Former Sen. John Danforth to Head Independent Waco Inquiry

By LAURIE KELLMAN

.c The Associated Press

WASHINGTON (Sept. 7) - Attorney General Janet Reno has offered Republican former Sen. John Danforth the job of heading an independent inquiry into the government's use of force at the fiery end of the Branch Davidian standoff in Waco, Texas, government sources said Tuesday.

The sources, who spoke only on condition of anonymity, told The Associated Press that the Justice Department was in final negotiations over the details of the independent inquiry and an announcement could come as early as Wednesday.

Congressional officials who spoke with the Justice Department Tuesday said they understood Danforth was willing to take the job. According to government lawyers and congressional officials, the Justice Department was considering appointing a second person to assist Danforth in the investigation and help to manage the day-to-day operations.

Danforth, 63, would bring solid Republican credentials as well as a background in law enforcement. Before entering the Senate, he served as attorney general in Missouri for eight years. He retired from the Senate in 1995.

A phone call to Danforth's office seeking comment was not immediately returned.

He is an Episcopal priest, and both admirers and detractors have noted his emphasis on morals as well as his stubborn independence.

Final touches were being put on the scope and nature of the investigation, said the sources, who include Republicans on Capitol Hill who had discussions Tuesday with Justice Department officials.

Reno's decision comes as congressional Republicans have increased pressure on her and on FBI Director Louis Freeh to explain how evidence, including a videotape, about the siege was withheld from the public for years.

The GOP wants to know whether the FBI lied about using incendiary tear gas canisters during the final raid on the compound. More than 80 sect members died, some of them children, a fire that the government contends was set by sect members.

No evidence has been uncovered by any of the committees probing the raid that the government was responsible for starting the fire, according to several aides familiar with the investigations.

Several GOP-led committees in Congress have begun reinvestigating the Waco matter.

At issue are recent revelations by the FBI that it fired several flammable tear gas canisters at a storm shelter hours before the main Branch Davidian building went up in flames. The FBI and the Justice Department had previously denied use of any incendiary devices, and investigations will focus on whether this misinformation was the result of a bureaucratic slip-up or a cover-up.

The Justice Department insists there is no change in conclusions that it was David Koresh and his followers who started the fatal fire. The department also stresses that military special operations officers were on the scene only as observers and advisers, and not in an illegal capacity as participants in the operation.

Republicans have used the revelations to attack the credibility of Reno and the Justice Department. The White House has stood behind Reno, but President Clinton has declined to give a similar vote of confidence to Freeh.

Democrats on Capitol Hill have asked the GOP to let the independent investigation sought by Reno occur before congressional hearings

Those who know Danforth say he would bring instant credibility to the investigation.

''He calls them like he sees them,'' former Sen. Thomas Eagleton, a Missouri Democrat who served 10 years with Danforth, has said. ''Members of the Senate or House will have full faith in his finding.''

AP-NY-09-07-99 2137EDT

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

XXXXX DRUDGE REPORT XXXXX MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 06, 1999 21:30:00 ET XXXXX

GOVERNMENT INFORMANT: DELTA FORCE INVOLVED IN WACO SHOOT-OUT

**World Exclusive**

**Must Credit DRUDGE REPORT**

WASHINGTON -- A former government officer has told investigators that members of the secret Army unit Delta Force said they participated in a shoot-out during the final assault on the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, the DRUDGE REPORT has learned.

The witness, according to congressional sources, has already named names -- and will soon offer his account under oath!

The development caused panic and confusion at the top levels of the Justice Department and the FBI over the holiday weekend, leaving one top official scrambling for details.

FBI Director Freeh has demanded a full briefing, one agency source divulged late Monday.

Developing...

Meanwhile, congressional investigators are growing convinced that infrared film taken by an FBI surveillance aircraft at 9,000 feet on the final day of the Waco standoff does appear to show U.S. armed forces firing into the church compound.

"We are looking at the footage frame-by-frame... most of us have grown convinced that it does show snipers unloading from the rear of a tank," an investigator for the House Government Reform Committee told the DRUDGE REPORT.

Former FBI agent Richard Schwein, a supervisor at Waco, said charges of government gunfire were "absolutely false."

"False, absolutely false," he said on FOX NEWS SUNDAY. "No FBI agent fired any rounds from their weapons at Waco. There were no Delta Forces or special operations soldiers in an operational capacity at Waco.

"And everyone on our side, and the FBI's side, were in armored vehicles, so I don't know how you'd have films of anybody firing into the back of the building. No one was on foot, because we had no body armor that would stop the rounds they were firing."

WAIVER WONDER

Use of active military personnel against civilians without presidential decree is a violation of federal law.

Late last month White House spokesman Joe Lockhart first told reporters that he had no information on the waiver issue.

[August 26, 1999; Thursday]

Q Joe, why was the Army's Delta Force present on the scene the day that Waco burned?

MR. LOCKHART: I would refer you to the Justice Department. I don't have information on the Delta Force one way or the other.

Q The reason I asked is because since the law prohibits the military being used against civilians, I wondered whether the White House either, A, requested it or, B, President Clinton signed a waiver for it.

MR. LOCKHART: I don't have any information on that. Again, I'd refer you to Justice. I don't have any independent information on their role, if any.

The next day, when asked again about any possible waiver, Lockhart offered more details.

[August 27, 1999; Friday]

Q What did the White House know about the potential operational involvement of Delta Force in the Waco siege?

MR. LOCKHART: I think that's an issue that was dealt with at the time. And as we said yesterday, the president was not asked to sign a waiver, nor were we aware of any activity that would have required a waiver.

But, the DRUDGE REPORT has learned, Lockhart may still not have the full story.

One witness has told congressional investigators that in April of 1993, in response to a press inquiry, a White House spokesman stated privately that a "waiver is on the president's desk" that would have authorized military intervention.

A development that will cause battle during fresh rounds of congressional hearings.

FILED BY MATT DRUDGE

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`

Posted at 10:45 p.m. PDT; Sunday, September 5, 1999

Documents link commandos to raid at Waco compound

by Philip Shenon

The New York Times

WASHINGTON - The Pentagon's elite Special Operations Command sent observers to the siege of the Branch Davidian compound in Texas more than a month before the final assault on the compound, suggesting that military commandos had a far longer and closer involvement in the disastrous 1993 operation than had been previously divulged, according to declassified government documents.

The documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act also show for the first time that officials at the highest levels of the Defense Department, including Secretary of Defense Les Aspin and the Joint Chiefs of Staff, were briefed by the Special Operations Command about the events near Waco.

The command, which is based at MacDill Air Force Base in Florida, oversees the military's most secretive commando squads, including the Army's Delta Force and the Navy Seals, and the documents suggest that the command was monitoring the situation virtually from the start of the 51-day siege. The command's spokesmen did not return calls for comment on the documents.

The exact relationship between the military and law-enforcement agencies in the planning of the raid on April 19, 1993, which ended in the fiery destruction of the compound and the deaths of about 80 people, has long been a mystery. It is expected to be a topic of congressional hearings this fall into the siege, especially given the new disclosure that possibly incendiary military-issue tear-gas canisters were fired near the compound.

Clinton administration officials, aware of the severe legal restrictions on the use of U.S. troops within the United States, have long said that the military's role during the siege was purely that of adviser to law-enforcement agencies, including the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.

The heavily censored documents do not show that the military had any operational role during the siege.

Although administration officials have previously acknowledged that three soldiers assigned to Delta Force were at the cult compound on the day of the fiery raid as observers, the documents show that the first Special Operations monitors actually went there more than a month earlier, and that their findings were reported to Washington, D.C., and to the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

The documents were provided to The New York Times by the National Security News Agency, a nonprofit research group based in Washington, D.C., that has often unearthed internal information embarrassing to the Pentagon.

In a report to the Joint Chiefs and to the FBI in Washington, D.C., that was dated March 2, 1993, commanders of the Special Operations Command reported that they had carried out "observation of operations in Waco, Tex."

The one-page document was heavily edited by military censors but appears to outline the deteriorating situation found by the monitors at the site near Waco, where the Davidians had barricaded themselves in their compound.

The siege began Feb. 28, when agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms conducted a failed raid on the compound, resulting in a firefight in which four federal officers and two of the cult members were killed.

The report is stamped "secret specat," or special category, which would have limited its distribution to a select group of government officials with security clearances.

Clinton confident in Reno, less enthusiastic about Freeh

The Associated Press

THURMONT, Md. - Amid serious questions over the role of federal law-enforcement agencies in the Waco siege, President Clinton said yesterday he has confidence in Attorney General Janet Reno, but stopped short of saying the same for FBI Director Louis Freeh.

Summoning reporters to the presidential retreat at Camp David, Md., to speak about Mideast developments, Clinton was asked if he had confidence in Reno and Freeh.

"Well I certainly have in the attorney general. You know she told us what happened. She told us she asked the right questions and didn't get the right answers," Clinton said.

As for Freeh, while not casting blame, Clinton remained reserved.

"I think that with regard to the director there is going to be an independent investigation, which she supports and which he has said he supports," Clinton said. "I don't think it serves any purpose to assign blame until the investigation is concluded and the evidence is in."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Federal Judge Demands Waco Evidence

By SHERRI CHUNN

.c The Associated Press

WACO, Texas (Sept. 3) - A federal judge ordered the Justice Department on Thursday to turn over all evidence from the FBI raid on the Branch Davidian compound at Waco, saying it is needed in a wrongful death suit filed here.

Judge Walter Smith threatened to cite the Justice Department with contempt if it does not comply with his order, which comes on the heels of a belated FBI admission that incendiary tear gas canisters were used in the waning hours of the Texas siege.

``The court's purpose is to secure the evidence so that neither the parties to the pending civil litigation, the media or the public will perceive that the government may have the opportunity to conceal, alter or fail to reveal evidence,'' Smith wrote.

Smith rebuffed the Justice Department's complaint that gathering, copying and transferring the evidence would be ``an unwarranted and substantial burden.''

In his order, Smith expressed hope that gathering the evidence in one place will deflect suspicions of ``a massive cover-up.'' The Justice Department is considering an appeal of the order.

But the Texas Department of Public Safety, which has in storage tons of evidence such as munitions, weapons and rubble from the raid, applauded the order.

Earlier this summer, the DPS had asked Smith to take control of the evidence it was holding for the Justice Department, saying it thought it was being used by the federal government to keep evidence from public scrutiny.

Smith said U.S. Attorney Bill Blagg must appear before him Oct. 1 to explain why the government should not be held in contempt if it doesn't comply with his order. Blagg did not return calls made by The Associated Press on Friday.

Branch Davidian leader David Koresh and about 80 of followers died in the 1993 raid and subsequent fire after a 51-day standoff with federal law enforcement officers at their Mount Carmel compound.

Lawyers representing the families of several victims have filed a wrongful death suit, charging the government with negligence. The trial is scheduled to begin next month.

Though it had denied it for years, the FBI recently acknowledged it fired incendiary tear-gas rounds at the compound hours before the fire. Attorney General Janet Reno announced she is seeking an outsider to head an independent inquiry.

Ms. Reno acknowledged that she had been misled about the nature of weapons used the day of the Mount Carmel fire, but said all the evidence she has seen supports the view that federal agents did not start the fire.

Mike Caddell, a lawyer representing the Davidians in the wrongful death lawsuit, said ``it's clear that the Justice Department and the FBI are not trustworthy custodians of the evidence.''

AP-NY-09-03-99 1734EDT

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Reno Denies Rift With FBI Chief

Will Name Investigator for Waco

By MICHELLE MITTELSTADT

.c The Associated Press

WASHINGTON (Sept. 3) - Attorney General Janet Reno denied that the escalating Waco controversy has strained her relations with FBI Director Louis Freeh. Even so, she said Friday that she is looking outside the FBI and Justice Department to find ``the perfect person'' to head an inquiry into the government's 1993 standoff with the Branch Davidians.

A week after Reno acknowledged that her credibility was damaged by the belated FBI admission that incendiary tear gas canisters were used in the waning hours of the Texas siege, and with new tensions simmering over the FBI's release this week of previously undisclosed evidence, she insisted her relationship with Freeh remains good.

``In any situation where you have got to conduct criminal justice investigations and handle matters in the fish bowl that we exist in here in Washington, it is oftentimes difficult. But I have a relationship with Louis Freeh and with the people around him that I think is excellent,'' Reno said at her weekly news conference.

``As we seek the truth, it's very important that people don't play one off against another,'' she said later.

Reno said she will appoint a person who ``has no conflicts (and) would be well received'' to head an independent investigation into why it took the FBI six years to acknowledge its use of the incendiary tear-gas canisters.

While she and senior Justice officials would not identify leading candidates, speculation focused on a former Republican senator with solid Washington credentials: John Danforth of Missouri. A fellow Republican, former New Hampshire Sen. Warren Rudman, also was rumored to rank high on a list of candidates. Neither returned calls seeking comment.

``I have been eager to identify the appropriate outside investigator, and I hope to name that person shortly,'' Reno said, adding that she is proceeding carefully because she wants to assure that the investigation ``has the confidence and faith of the American people.''

Asked what qualities she was looking for, Reno said: ``The perfect person.''

Decisions on the scope of the inquiry, and which agencies will provide investigative resources, will flow from the appointment of an outside investigator, Reno said.

The White House, Freeh and members of Congress have urged an independent inquiry. A White House spokesman said President Clinton was ``deeply concerned that the attorney general appears to have been misled and may have been lied to.''

Congressional committees are readying their own hearings for the fall, with the House Government Reform Committee already issuing subpoenas. And the Senate Judiciary Committee's chairman, Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, wrote to Reno on Friday seeking documents and other information regarding use of the incendiary tear gas, and setting a Sept. 10 deadline.

In Waco, U.S. District Judge Walter Smith ordered the government Thursday to surrender all evidence on the siege or be cited for contempt of court. Smith is scheduled next month to start hearing a wrongful death lawsuit filed by surviving members of the Davidian sect and relatives of those who died.

Cult leader David Koresh and some 80 followers died during a fire that broke out after noon on April 19, 1993, at the end of a 51-day standoff with the FBI. The siege began Feb. 28, 1993, with a deadly shootout as federal agents tried to arrest Koresh on weapons charges.

Justice and the FBI have been roundly criticized since the FBI's disclosure last week that a ``very limited number'' of military tear gas rounds were fired hours earlier at a concrete outpost adjacent to the Davidians' wooden compound.

The FBI's about-face came after six years of denials that incendiary gas containers, expressly prohibited by Reno, were used. That revelation was followed by discovery of aerial infrared videotapes spanning the first hours of the early-morning assault. The FBI, in sworn affidavits, had previously insisted that no infrared videotape existed prior to 10:42 a.m.

Upon learning of the tapes' existence, Reno dispatched federal marshals Wednesday to take custody of the evidence unearthed in the offices of the FBI's Hostage Rescue Team in Quantico, Va. The HRT was in charge of operations during the siege.

Reno denied that Justice's use of marshals to confiscate the evidence marked a public rebuke to the FBI, which some of her aides have contended. ``I think it was everyone trying to figure out what the best way to do it was, and some people making some assumptions that weren't correct,'' she said.

The video released Thursday, which runs from the assault's 6 a.m. start to 8 a.m., captured a radio transmission in which an FBI field commander granted permission for an agent to fire military tear-gas rounds at the bunker.

A second tape, released Friday, runs from 7:57 a.m. to just before 9:30 a.m. and includes transmissions of agents saying the incendiary military canisters fired from a Bradley fighting vehicle didn't get into the bunker. ``The military gas did not penetrate that bunker. ... It bounced off,'' a male voice says at 8:08 a.m.

While confirming that she had ordered agents not to use incendiary devices during the operation, Reno said all evidence she has seen supports the view that federal agents did not start the fire, which began at 12:07 p.m.

``The larger issue here is: The facts that we know now indicate that the FBI did not set that fire,'' Reno said. ``That fire was set by David Koresh and the people in that building.''

AP-NY-09-03-99 1723EDT

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Transcript of Waco Tape

.c The Associated Press

Transcript of radio traffic intercepted by FBI surveillance aircraft on April 19, 1993, above the Branch Davidian compound near Waco, Texas, reflecting the request for and approval of military tear-gas canisters.

Stephen P. McGavin, Supervisory Special Agent, Hostage Rescue Team (HR2): (unintelligible) supplying Charlie 1 (unintelligible) with relative safety utilizing the vehicle for cover and attempt to get (unintelligible) penetrate the construction project.

Richard M. Rogers, Assistant Special Agent in Charge, Hostage Rescue Team (HR1): You're talking about the block over top the construction?

McGavin: Say again, HR 1.

Rogers: Are you saying he can penetrate the block covering over the construction on the green side?

McGavin: Ten-four. He thinks he can get into position with relative safety utilizing the track for cover and attempt to penetrate it with military rounds.

Rogers: Roger. Of course, if there's water underneath that's just going to extinguish them, but you can try it.

McGavin: Ten-four. Copy. He can try it?

Rogers: Yeah, that's affirmative.

AP-NY-09-03-99 0157EDT

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

White House expresses support for Reno

Spokesman says Clinton backs independent inquiry on Waco

09/03/99

By Catalina Camia / The Dallas Morning News

WASHINGTON - President Clinton stands by Attorney General Janet Reno and wants an independent inquiry into new disclosures about the FBI's handling of the Branch Davidian siege, a White House spokesman said Thursday.

"The president's deeply concerned that the attorney general appears to have been misled and may have been lied to," said deputy White House press secretary Jake Siewert. "The president has confidence that the attorney general, the Department of Justice, will get to the bottom of this."

Mr. Siewert said other administration officials also had endorsed Ms. Reno's decision to seek an independent review of the FBI's admission that it used pyrotechnic devices in the final day of the siege near Waco.

Mr. Clinton, who is vacationing in upstate New York, has not commented publicly about the latest developments.

Ms. Reno has come under attack from lawmakers, including Sen. Phil Gramm, R-Texas, and Rep. Pete Sessions, R-Dallas, who are among those who have called for her to resign.

The attorney general repeatedly has accepted full responsibility for the FBI's showdown with the Texas sect. But the FBI said last week that it used pyrotechnic devices on April 19, 1993, the last day of its 51-day standoff with the Branch Davidians.

On Wednesday, Ms. Reno took the unprecedented step of sending federal marshals to seize a previously undisclosed FBI videotape with audio of FBI officials authorizing the use of military tear-gas rounds.

The tear-gas canisters were lobbed at a concrete bunker 40 yards from the Branch Davidians' home. The FBI has said that the canisters did not cause the fire that destroyed the compound.

Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said Ms. Reno "did the right thing" in ordering marshals to take custody of the FBI's videotape.

"She clearly is troubled by the fact that relevant information was kept from her before, and she is determined not to let it happen again," Mr. Leahy said.

In an interview with Salt Lake City's KSL-TV, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, did not criticize Ms. Reno directly but said she "has not been the best attorney general in the world."

"Justice [Department] basically fumbled the ball and didn't tell the attorney general," Mr. Hatch said. "I can't remember everything my staff does; I just can't. . . . I don't expect her to remember every detail."

Other lawmakers said the videotape heightened their frustration with the Reno-led Justice Department.

"The fact that the FBI had a videotape from the siege which documents FBI officials giving approval for the use of incendiary devices is troubling," said Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, a senior member of the Senate Judiciary Committee. "For six years, the FBI has been dishonest with Congress and the American people."

Rep. Larry Combest, R-Lubbock, a past chairman of the House Select Intelligence Committee, stopped short of joining calls for Ms. Reno's resignation.

"This new information about Waco completely tarnishes Ms. Reno's credibility," Mr. Combest said in a prepared statement. "Only a nonpartisan, independent investigation into the dispute at Waco will resolve the many doubts that have continued to linger."

Rep. Martin Frost of Dallas, the House's third-ranking Democratic leader, cautioned his Republican colleagues not to politicize another round of investigations into the Branch Davidian siege.

"They don't serve the country by turning this into a political dogfight," Mr. Frost said. "People would like to know what happened, and calling for her head does not serve any purpose."

Julian Epstein, chief Democratic counsel to the House Judiciary Committee, said on CNN that Democrats would support the selection of a Republican "whose credibility is unquestioned" to head an outside investigation.

"It was a screw-up, not a cover-up," Mr. Epstein said.

He supported either of two former Republican senators, John Danforth of Missouri and Warren Rudman of New Hampshire, who have been mentioned as possible investigators.

Staff writer G. Robert Hillman contributed to this report.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Reno Will Name Investigator for Waco

By MICHELLE MITTELSTADT

.c The Associated Press

WASHINGTON (Sept. 3) - Attorney General Janet Reno today denied that recent revelations about the FBI's use of tear gas during the 1993 Branch Davidian siege had strained her relations with FBI Director Louis Freeh. This is no time to ''play one off against the other,'' she said.

At her weekly news conference, Reno said she will find a person who is free of ''conflicts of interest and will be well-received'' to head an independent investigation into why it took the FBI six years to acknowledge its use of the pyrotechnic tear-gas canisters.

''What I hope will happen is that we will be able to agree on a mandate that gives them full authority to pursue any unanswered question,'' the attorney general said, declining to identify the candidate she is seeking to head the probe.

Reno and Freeh themselves have been under siege since the FBI's disclosure last week that a ''very limited number'' of incendiary tear-gas rounds were fired at a concrete outpost adjacent to the Davidians' compound on the final day of the 51-day standoff. That admission, and the FBI's production this week of previously undisclosed videotape evidence, came after six years of denials.

The assault on the complex near Waco, Texas, ended with cult leader David Koresh and some 80 followers dead - some by fire, others by gunshot. Reno accepted full responsibility for the assault and federal officials have insisted that the fire was started by Koresh and his followers.

While confirming that she had ordered agents not to use incendiary devices during the tear-gas operation, Reno said all the evidence she has seen supports the view that federal agents did not start the fire.

''If the truth shows what I believe to be the case - that we tried to set up something that would bring the people out and give them a chance to come out in a safe and orderly way - and that it was their determination and their judgment and their actions that brought that fire upon them, then I would use the experience we have here and figure out what we can do for the future,'' she said.

Asked whether she would resign: ''If the truth shows I've done something wrong, then I will accept the consequences.''

Reno said she hoped to identify the lead investigator as soon as possible, but didn't say when that would be.

''It has taken some time because I want to do it the right way,'' she said.

Reno also told reporters she is proceeding carefully because she wants to assure that the investigation ''has the confidence and faith of the American people.''

Reno said she and Freeh often confer on difficult issues and sometimes disagree.

''Yeah, sometimes I call him and say, 'Why did you do this?' or he will call and say, 'If I were you, I'd do that.' That's the type of relationship we have,'' she said.

President Clinton is among those calling for an independent investigation of the Waco case. Clinton ''is deeply concerned that the attorney general appears to have been misled and may have been lied to'' about what went on at Waco, White House spokesman Jake Siewert said Thursday.

The FBI's admission last week that combustible tear gas was used provoked a furor on and off Capitol Hill.

In addition to the Reno-ordered probe, congressional hearings will be convened this fall and the House Judiciary Committee chairman, Rep. Henry Hyde, R-Ill, is pushing for a congressional commission in hopes that would avoid the bitter partisanship exhibited during earlier Waco hearings on Capitol Hill.

The infrared videotape made public Thursday, recorded from an FBI plane, runs from just before 6 a.m. to 8 a.m. on the final morning of the 51-day siege - covering the period during which the FBI assault began.

That footage, which FBI officials said was recently discovered at the FBI Hostage Rescue Team's offices in Quantico, Va., was taken into custody Wednesday by federal marshals at Justice's instruction. The Hostage Rescue Team was in charge of operations during the siege.

Reno denied today that Justice's use of marshals to confiscate the evidence marked a public rebuke to the FBI - a contention her own aides had made. ''I think it was everyone trying to figure out what the best way to do it was, and some people making some assumptions that weren't correct,'' she said.

A second videotape, which runs from 8 a.m. to 10:42 a.m., surfaced Thursday; and FBI officials were taking steps to release it publicly as well.

Bureau officials had previously insisted in sworn affidavits that they didn't have any infrared video footage before 10:42 a.m. - hours after the tear-gas assault began at 5:55 a.m. FBI spokesman Tron Brekke said the apparent discrepancy is ''a legitimate point for inquiry.''

The early morning tape captured a radio transmission in which an FBI field commander granted permission for an agent to lob military incendiary tear-gas rounds at a concrete bunker 40 yards from the Davidians' compound.

''He can try it?'' asked the rescue team's supervisory special agent, Stephen P. McGavin, after saying that an agent could ''with relative safety'' use a vehicle as cover and fire military tear gas canisters into the bunker.

''Yeah, that's affirmative,'' answered Richard M. Rogers, the rescue team's assistant special agent in charge.

Brekke said bureau officials decided to release the video and a transcript because the action ''clearly demonstrates that we are interested in the facts concerning Waco to come out.''

''It's in our interest,'' he added. ''Our credibility's been hurt.''

The FBI said the conversation took place at 7:49 a.m. - nearly two hours after the tear-gas assault began but hours before flames began racing through the Davidians' wooden home at 12:07 p.m.

AP-NY-09-03-99 1135EDT

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Marshals confiscate FBI siege video

Order to fire pyrotechnics, images of use found on tape

09/02/99

By Lee Hancock and Catalina Camia / The Dallas Morning News

U.S. marshals were dispatched to FBI headquarters in Washington on Wednesday to seize previously undisclosed videotapes with images of pyrotechnic tear gas rounds being fired at the Branch Davidian compound. The tape also contains the voice of an FBI commander authorizing their use.

The seizure, which federal officials conceded was highly unusual and embarrassing to the FBI, was made within hours after senior bureau officials notified the Justice Department that the tapes had been discovered at the headquarters of the FBI's hostage rescue team.

Just last week, FBI and Justice Department officials admitted for the first time that they had used pyrotechnic tear gas devices on the day the Branch Davidian compound burned in 1993 with David Koresh and more than 80 followers inside.

"The FBI located important items relative to the use of military CS [tear gas] rounds at Waco and brought them to the attention of the Justice Department and Congress," said FBI Deputy Director John Collingwood.

"We are anxious to identify and preserve for outside review and congressional oversight anything that may bear on the firing of those rounds," he said. "We are as anxious to secure and provide this information to the marshals as they are to have them."

Federal officials familiar with the tape said they were among a box of items forwarded to FBI headquarters from hostage rescue team offices at the FBI academy in Quantico, Va.

"When the revelation came about about shooting these two military gas rounds, [FBI Director Louis] Freeh told the hostage rescue team to turn the place inside out and ship back to headquarters anything that might have any bearing on everything," one federal official said late Wednesday. "We were going through the stuff today and found this."

An airplane equipped with an infrared camera was assigned to circle the Branch Davidian compound on April 19, 1993, as members of the hostage rescue team used tanks to insert tear gas into the Davidian compound.

Previous denial

FBI officials had previously insisted in sworn affidavits that they had no infrared videotape before 10:42 a.m., four hours into the gas assault. In a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit brought by Tucson, Ariz., lawyer David T. Hardy, FBI officials also told a federal judge under oath that the bureau had no recorded radio traffic of the entire six-hour tear gas assault.

But Wednesday, officials played a videotape recovered from hostage rescue team headquarters and discovered it contained infrared footage shot between 6 a.m, when the assault began, and about 8 a.m, federal officials said.

"The audio part of it captures radio traffic in the background. Part of the radio traffic is the request for and authorization to fire the two military gas rounds," a federal official said.

"What's clear is that this is a field command-post decision, a spontaneous decision," the official said.

The order

After agents firing nonpyrotechnic tear gas rounds reported they weren't penetrating a pit adjacent to the compound, the official said, a commander responded that they could try military gas rounds. All tear gas rounds used by the U.S. military are considered pyrotechnic, or capable of sparking fires.

"Everybody here recognizes how unfortunate this is and how bad this looks," one FBI official said. "I think what's important to us is we worked hard to find it, and we immediately preserved it and provided it as quickly as we could to the Justice Department."

One official said some FBI leaders recognized the voice authorizing the use of the devices as Richard Rogers, who was then commander of the hostage rescue team.

Mr. Rogers, who is retired from the bureau, could not be reached for comment Wednesday night.

"It's extremely unfortunate that it took six years to locate this tape, but it's very good that it appears to be dispositive of the issue of who authorized this and how the rounds are fired," one official said.

There was no indication on the tape that any effort was made to secure permission from superiors in Washington. Attorney General Janet Reno has said she made it clear to the FBI during the siege that no pyrotechnic devices should be used in the final assault.

Although conceding that pyrotechnic gas rounds were used April 19, officials still say that their use did not spark the fire. Investigators have concluded that the blaze was set inside the compound by sect members.

New subpoenas

On Capitol Hill, the chairman of the House Government Reform Committee, Dan Burton, R-Ind., said Wednesday that he was issuing a new wave of subpoenas seeking information on the FBI's use of pyrotechnic devices at Waco and the involvement of military personnel in the standoff.

Along with subpoenas for the White House, the Justice Department, the Department of Defense and the CIA, the committee is seeking information from a former CIA employee who has publicly talked about possible military involvement in the FBI assault.

Mr. Burton said the committee has also called in experts to help analyze previously disclosed infrared video shot by the FBI on April 19 and another videotape shot by the Texas Department of Public Safety.

A documentary on the standoff scheduled for release this month by a Fort Collins, Colo., company includes the infrared and DPS footage. A former Defense Department expert alleges in the film, Waco: A New Revelation, that flashes caught on the videotapes are gunfire directed at the Branch Davidians from FBI helicopters and government personnel.

Government officials have vehemently denied that, stating that FBI agents did not fire a single shot during the 51-day siege. The film alleges that gunshots were coming from members of the Army's secret Delta force anti-terrorism unit who were deployed alongside members of the FBI's hostage rescue team.

Judge's move

Mr. Burton said he was pleased that a federal judge in Waco had recently moved to take control of all government evidence relating to the 1993 standoff. On Tuesday, the Justice Department filed a motion asking U.S. District Judge Walter Smith to reconsider, arguing that such a turnover might handicap the wave of new investigations.

But Mr. Burton said he supported having a neutral caretaker for the entire body of information on Waco. He noted that his committee has long feuded with Ms. Reno's Justice Department over access to documents and information for other high-profile investigations.

Lawyers for surviving Branch Davidians also have complained that they have been denied access to evidence that might help their pending wrongful death lawsuit against the government.

Judge Smith is expected to rule quickly on the Justice Department's motion, which argued that the judge lacked authority for ordering the turnover.

Some legal observers say that Judge Smith, a no-nonsense jurist who has heard all of the legal actions arising from the Davidian standoff, is not likely to back down. They note that he has a low reversal rate, and his previous order taking control of the evidence made pointed references to intense public interest in the long-controversial incident.

That would leave the Justice Department with two options: either outright refusal to comply with the order and a probable contempt citation, or a quick filing for review by the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals.

Such reviews, sought through a legal maneuver called writ of mandamus, argue that a federal judge has overstepped his or her authority. They are rarely filed and rarely granted, but appellate courts have the power to order lower court judges to rescind actions determined to beyond their judicial authority.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

More FBI-Waco Evidence Is Found

By MICHELLE MITTELSTADT

.c The Associated Press

WASHINGTON (Sept. 2) - More previously undisclosed video footage of the FBI's 1993 tear-gas assault on the Branch Davidian cult surfaced Thursday, and Attorney General Janet Reno asked an outsider to head an independent inquiry into the siege.

The FBI, meanwhile, made public an aerial infrared videotape that runs from just before 6 a.m. to 8 a.m. on April 19, 1993 - covering the period during which the FBI assault on the Davidian compound began and capturing radio traffic related to the use of combustible tear gas canisters.

That footage, which FBI officials said was discovered at the FBI Hostage Rescue Team's offices in Quantico, Va., this week, was seized by federal marshals Wednesday at the direction of senior Justice officials. The Hostage Rescue Team was in charge of operations during the 51-day siege and the final tear-gas assault.

A transcript of the radio traffic, released by the FBI, includes a conversation in which an FBI field commander granted permission for an agent to lob military incendiary tear-gas canisters at a concrete bunker 40 yards from the Davidians' wooden compound near Waco, Texas.

''He can try it?'' asked HRT supervisory special agent Stephen P. McGavin, after describing an agent's desire to use military canisters to inject tear gas into the bunker.

''Yeah, that's affirmative,'' answered Richard M. Rogers, the HRT's assistant special agent in charge.

The FBI said the conversation took place at 7:49 a.m. - nearly two hours after the tear-gas assault began but hours before flames began racing through the Davidians' wooden home at 12:07 p.m.

The FBI and Reno, who have been heavily criticized over the Waco assault, have said there was no evidence to suggest the blaze was set by the combustible canisters. Cult leader David Koresh and some 80 followers died during the inferno, some from gunshot wounds, others from the fire.

The bureau's admission last week that the combustible tear gas was used, reversing six years of statements to the contrary, provoked a furor on and off Capitol Hill. Congressional hearings will be convened this fall, and Reno also ordered an investigation to ''get to the bottom'' of why her orders to use only non-burning tear gas were ignored.

After days of leaning in favor of an independent inquiry, the Justice Department announced Thursday that Reno had ordered an outside investigation. The White House, FBI Director Louis Freeh and congressional Democrats and Republicans had suggested Reno order an independent inquiry.

President Clinton ''is deeply concerned that the attorney general appears to have been misled and may have been lied to'' about what went on at Waco, White House spokesman Jake Siewert said Thursday.

Marlin would not elaborate on the investigation, but a Justice source said an offer had been tendered to an outsider who does not work for the FBI or Justice Department.

Among those said to be on an informal list circulated at the Justice Department in recent days were two former Republican senators, Warren Rudman of New Hampshire and Jack Danforth of Missouri, and former Iran-Contra prosecutor Dan Webb.

Beyond the footage turned over to federal marshals Wednesday and made public Thursday, another aerial infrared tape has surfaced, House Government Reform Committee spokesman Mark Corallo said. The latest footage, covering the 8 a.m. to 10:42 a.m. period, was turned over to federal marshals.

The newly uncovered infrared tapes were turned up as part of Freeh's order that all files be searched for relevant information in advance of the investigation, bureau officials said. Infrared tapes produce glowing thermal images caused by the heat given off by objects.

FBI spokesman Tron Brekke said the bureau hoped to release the second videotape Thursday.

Bureau officials had previously insisted in sworn affidavits that they didn't have any infrared video footage before 10:42 a.m. - hours after the tear-gas assault began at 5:55 a.m.

Brekke said the apparent discrepancy is ''a legitimate point for inquiry.''

FBI officials decided to release the early-morning video because ''it clearly demonstrates that we are interested in the facts concerning Waco to come out,'' Brekke said. ''It's in our interest. Our credibility's been hurt and I think it's in the interest of the public and the media to know.''

Congressional critics said the fact that Justice dispatched marshals to seize evidence from the FBI - which Justice officials characterized as a public rebuke - further underlined the need for an independent probe.

''We've got a cowboy culture at the top of the organization that can easily impress you that their opinion is that they aren't responsible to anybody,'' said Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, who heads a Senate Judiciary subcommittee with FBI oversight.

AP-NY-09-02-99 1903EDT

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

AUGUST 31, 1999 RENO AND FREEH AGREE ON NEW INDEPENDENT PROBE OF WACO

Attorney General Janet Reno and FBI Director Louis Freeh have jointly agreed on calling for of an "outside investigation" into their agencies' failure to disclose the use of incendiary devices during Waco, the DRUDGE REPORT has learned.

Reno is set to make the announcement by the end of the week.

The move comes after the situation turned critical when a Waco federal prosecutor warned Reno that lawyers within her department had long withheld evidence that the FBI fired pyrotechnic tear gas within hours before the compound burned... MORE...

JUSTICE DEPT FIGHTS JUDGE OVER CONTROL OF EVIDENCE

Meanwhile, the DALLAS MORNING NEWS is reporting in hot Wednesday editions: U.S. Justice Department lawyers on Tuesday challenged a federal judge's authority to take control over evidence in the Branch Davidian case, setting up a high-stakes legal showdown.

Judge Smith's ruling came as a result of a motion filed by the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) which had been housing the evidence. The motion argues that the DPS believed the Justice Department was using them in order to keep the evidence from being available to the public.

In a 19-page motion, Justice lashed out at U.S. District Judge Walter Smith:

"It should be plain... that separation of powers prevents a federal court from acting as an independent investigator..."

The Justice Department argued: The judge's move "threatens a wholesale intrusion" into the Executive Branch and an "unwarranted and substantial burden" on the entire federal government.

MORE...

"The Justice Department is pretending it now wants an independent investigation, and at the same time they are doing this: hiding the evidence," observed one insider.

MORE...

DALLAS MORNING NEWS reporter quotes DPS commission Chairman James Francis Jr.:

"I think it's very unfortunate that the Justice Department would try to prevent the federal court in Waco from gaining access to all of the evidence in light of everything that's happened in the last week... From what I can understand of the Justice Department's motion today, they're still attempting to prevent the evidence from being judicially reviewed. And I think that is most unfortunate."

[Editor's note: Francis is a political appointee of Texas Gov. George Bush. He is also a top fund-raiser for Bush's presidential campaign. Francis told NEWSWEEK that his involvement in the developing Waco situation was pure coincidence. "I'm trying not to be political," he told the magazine, adding he hasn't even talked to Bush about new Waco revelations.]

DALLAS MORNING NEWS reporter Hancock also follows up on Tuesday's blockbuster -- that a federal prosecutor is in possession of documents that point to a Justice Department cover-up of Waco.

Bill Johnston, the longstanding federal prosecutor in Waco, gives further detail on the three page document in his possession:

"I have evidence that these notes were in the possession of the torts branch. I know that the lawsuit [a wrongful death suit filed on behalf of the victims of Waco] began to focus on these issues of whether pyrotechnics were used several years ago, and the plaintiff's attorneys, who were alleging their use, specifically requested any documents the government had like this. I know that the plaintiffs never got the document once its full importance was known. And I now wonder whether the attorney general had knowledge of these. I'll bet Ms. Reno would have liked to have known long ago what this document contained."

by Matt Drudge

_________________________________________________

Marshals Impound FBI Waco Evidence

President Wants Independent Inquiry

By MICHELLE MITTELSTADT

.c The Associated Press

WASHINGTON (Sept. 2) - Previously undisclosed evidence in the FBI's 1993 assault on the Branch Davidian cult near Waco, Texas, has been impounded by federal marshals as Justice Department officials begin seeking an outsider to conduct a new investigation.

President Clinton wants an independent inquiry, White House spokesman Jake Siewert said today. ''The president is deeply concerned that the attorney general appears to have been misled and may have been lied to'' about what went on at Waco, Siewert said.

The marshals took custody of an infrared videotape recorded during the early morning of April 19, 1993, when FBI agents lobbed incendiary tear-gas canisters at a concrete bunker adjacent to the Davidians' compound, an FBI source said Wednesday, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Hours after the incendiary canisters were fired, the wooden compound 50 yards away erupted in flames. Cult leader David Koresh and some 80 followers died during the inferno, some from gunshot wounds, others from the fire.

The FBI and Attorney General Janet Reno, who have been heavily criticized over the Waco tragedy, have said there was no evidence to suggest the blaze was set by the combustible canisters.

Senior Justice officials directed the marshals to seize the evidence Wednesday afternoon after being informed by the FBI that new information had been discovered in the files of the FBI's hostage rescue team at Quantico, Va., Justice and FBI officials said.

An audio track on the infrared tape picked up the voice of an agent seeking and receiving permission from a commander to fire incendiary tear-gas grenades at the bunker, an FBI source confirmed today, adding that nothing on the videotape conflicts with the FBI's position that the tear gas did not ignite the blaze.

Reno has decided upon an independent inquiry - as recommended by the White House, the head of the FBI and several lawmakers - instead of one run from within her department, the New York Times and The Washington Post reported.

An informal list of several potential outside candidates to head the probe was in circulation, and some of them have been contacted, a Justice source said Wednesday. Reno was out of the country on official business through today.

Lawmakers said the fact that Justice dispatched marshals to seize evidence from the FBI - which Justice officials characterized as a public rebuke - further underlined the need for an independent probe.

''It's just further evidence that the leadership of the FBI is giving the whole organization a needless black eye,'' Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, who heads a Senate Judiciary subcommittee with FBI oversight, said in an interview. ''We've got a cowboy culture at the top of the organization that can easily impress you that their opinion is that they aren't responsible to anybody.''

Rep. Bob Barr, R-Ga., said: ''The spectacle created ... by the Department of Justice seizing evidence from one of its own agencies is further proof there is no substitute for a credible independent inquiry. The department has proven more than amply in the six years since the Waco incident that it is utterly incapable of policing itself.''

Department sources said Reno and her top aides were angered at the latest twist in the newly resurgent Waco controversy. Just a week ago, the FBI was forced to retreat from six years of denials that it had used incendiary tear gas during the final hours of the 51-day siege, which had begun in a bloody shootout when federal agents tried to arrest Koresh on weapons charges.

That belated admission about the incendiary tear gas has prompted an outcry on Capitol Hill, where congressional Republicans are readying hearings for the fall. A frustrated Reno also ordered an inquiry to determine why combustible tear gas was used against her orders.

Byron Sage, a retired FBI supervisor who was the agency's chief negotiator with Koresh during the standoff, said today Reno's orders were that incendiary gas not be used against the wooden compound for fear it would cause a fire. ''Those instructions were followed,'' Sage said on ABC's ''Good Morning America.''

Even with the latest disclosures, Sage said, ''The facts have not changed as far as what happened on the 19th of April or on the 51-day effort prior to that. The military (incendiary) rounds that are in question were not directed toward the wooden structure - that's a central issue that needs to be remembered.''

The newly uncovered Forward-Looking Infrared, or FLIR, tapes were turned up as part of FBI Director Louis Freeh's order that all files be searched for relevant information in advance of the investigation, the FBI source said. After the evidence was found, it was transferred to FBI headquarters in Washington, where the marshals took possession.

The Hostage Rescue Team was in charge of operations during the siege and the final tear-gas assault.

''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,'' Justice spokesman Myron Marlin said.

The Justice officials ''immediately directed the United States Marshals Service to take possession and inventory the materials,'' Marlin added.

The FBI concurred, bureau spokesman John Collingwood said.

''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.''

Freeh, who wants to head off any perception of conflict of interest, earlier this week indicated support for an inquiry to be conducted without FBI or Justice Department involvement. Freeh took office more than four months after the 1993 fire.

AP-NY-09-02-99 1340EDT

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Why Reno Sent the U.S. Marshals Over to the FBI

The attorney general wants to make it clear that she's furious over a Waco tape. But will she escape the fallout?

Janet Reno wants you to know she is peeved. It’s not exactly every day that the attorney general sends U.S. Marshals around to seize evidence being held at FBI headquarters. And by doing just that on Wednesday Reno signaled her anger that the bureau had kept her in the dark over the existence of tapes proving that federal agents had fired potentially incendiary CS gas canisters into the Branch Davidian compound at Waco. The tapes, which reportedly contain the voices of agents asking their field commanders for — and being granted — permission to fire the ordnance into the compound several hours before the outbreak of the blaze that left 80 people dead, have been held by the FBI for six years. Of course, the dramatic seizure of the tapes may have been purely theatrical, since it was the FBI that drew Ms. Reno’s attention to their existence last week following the revelation that — counter to FBI denials — such ordnance had been used at Waco.

Reno’s public slap-down of the FBI is most likely an attempt to inoculate the Justice Department from the growing political fallout over the government’s misrepresentation of events at Waco. The high-profile nature of the move is meant to emphasize that Justice hadn’t been properly briefed by the FBI and thus was not culpable for the six-year delay. But it won't mean the end of the Justice Department's troubles. Even though the attorney general is reportedly in the process of establishing an independent investigation, she’ll have plenty of competition from probes by the Senate Judiciary Committee, the House Government Reform and Oversight Committee and a congressional über-inquiry proposed by House Judiciary Committee chairman Henry Hyde. In addition, the Texas Rangers are about to complete their own inquiry, which may also challenge aspects of the federal government’s official story. Six years after the tragedy, the fires of Waco are burning again — and this time, Washington may get burned.

-- TONY KARON

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

How Reno's Court Action Helps Fuel Waco Fires

A motion challenging a Texas judge's right to make Waco evidence available amplifies cries of 'foul'

Janet Reno can't seem to stop stoking the fires of the Waco conspiracy theory. On one hand, she is reported to be pushing for an independent inquiry into the debacle; on the other, she appears to be trying to stop the facts from coming out. While the attorney general was reported Wednesday to be searching for a qualified outsider to lead an investigation, her department also filed a motion Tuesday challenging U.S. District Judge Walter Smith’s right to claim custody of all evidence relating to the siege collected at the Branch Davidian compound. Judge Smith, whose district is in Texas, ruled that he would take control of the evidence following a motion brought by the Texas Public Safety Commission to make evidence gathered at the massacre site available to civil litigants, the media and members of the public.

"Texas Public Safety Commissioner Jim Francis wanted to end the catch-22 situation where anyone bringing a civil claim against the government over Waco was bounced back and forth between the Texas Rangers and the Justice Department, with neither apparently able to authorize access to the material," says TIME reporter Hilary Hylton. "He also made clear that he was concerned about aspects of the evidence that were ‘problematic’ for the official version of events as told by the FBI." With conspiracy theorists crying cover-up and Congressman Dan Burton (R-Ind.) threatening to go ballistic on Capitol Hill, Justice’s attempt to keep a lid on the evidence may simply fuel the clamor. "A lot of different parties want to take a look at this material, and any perceived foot-dragging or reluctance by Reno to make it available will simply deepen suspicion in some quarters," says Hylton. Then again, six years of evasiveness has done a pretty good job of that already.

-- TONY KARON

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Marshals confiscate FBI siege video

Order to fire pyrotechnics, images of use found on tape

09/02/99

By Lee Hancock and Catalina Camia / The Dallas Morning News

U.S. marshals were dispatched to FBI headquarters in Washington on Wednesday to seize previously undisclosed videotapes with images of pyrotechnic tear gas rounds being fired at the Branch Davidian compound. The tape also contains the voice of an FBI commander authorizing their use.

The seizure, which federal officials conceded was highly unusual and embarrassing to the FBI, was made within hours after senior bureau officials notified the Justice Department that the tapes had been discovered at the headquarters of the FBI's hostage rescue team.

Just last week, FBI and Justice Department officials admitted for the first time that they had used pyrotechnic tear gas devices on the day the Branch Davidian compound burned in 1993 with David Koresh and more than 80 followers inside.

"The FBI located important items relative to the use of military CS [tear gas] rounds at Waco and brought them to the attention of the Justice Department and Congress," said FBI Deputy Director John Collingwood.

"We are anxious to identify and preserve for outside review and congressional oversight anything that may bear on the firing of those rounds," he said. "We are as anxious to secure and provide this information to the marshals as they are to have them."

Federal officials familiar with the tape said they were among a box of items forwarded to FBI headquarters from hostage rescue team offices at the FBI academy in Quantico, Va.

"When the revelation came about about shooting these two military gas rounds, [FBI Director Louis] Freeh told the hostage rescue team to turn the place inside out and ship back to headquarters anything that might have any bearing on everything," one federal official said late Wednesday. "We were going through the stuff today and found this."

An airplane equipped with an infrared camera was assigned to circle the Branch Davidian compound on April 19, 1993, as members of the hostage rescue team used tanks to insert tear gas into the Davidian compound.

Previous denial

FBI officials had previously insisted in sworn affidavits that they had no infrared videotape before 10:42 a.m., four hours into the gas assault. In a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit brought by Tucson, Ariz., lawyer David T. Hardy, FBI officials also told a federal judge under oath that the bureau had no recorded radio traffic of the entire six-hour tear gas assault.

But Wednesday, officials played a videotape recovered from hostage rescue team headquarters and discovered it contained infrared footage shot between 6 a.m, when the assault began, and about 8 a.m, federal officials said.

"The audio part of it captures radio traffic in the background. Part of the radio traffic is the request for and authorization to fire the two military gas rounds," a federal official said.

"What's clear is that this is a field command-post decision, a spontaneous decision," the official said.

The order

After agents firing nonpyrotechnic tear gas rounds reported they weren't penetrating a pit adjacent to the compound, the official said, a commander responded that they could try military gas rounds. All tear gas rounds used by the U.S. military are considered pyrotechnic, or capable of sparking fires.

"Everybody here recognizes how unfortunate this is and how bad this looks," one FBI official said. "I think what's important to us is we worked hard to find it, and we immediately preserved it and provided it as quickly as we could to the Justice Department."

One official said some FBI leaders recognized the voice authorizing the use of the devices as Richard Rogers, who was then commander of the hostage rescue team.

Mr. Rogers, who is retired from the bureau, could not be reached for comment Wednesday night.

"It's extremely unfortunate that it took six years to locate this tape, but it's very good that it appears to be dispositive of the issue of who authorized this and how the rounds are fired," one official said.

There was no indication on the tape that any effort was made to secure permission from superiors in Washington. Attorney General Janet Reno has said she made it clear to the FBI during the siege that no pyrotechnic devices should be used in the final assault.

Although conceding that pyrotechnic gas rounds were used April 19, officials still say that their use did not spark the fire. Investigators have concluded that the blaze was set inside the compound by sect members.

New subpoenas

On Capitol Hill, the chairman of the House Government Reform Committee, Dan Burton, R-Ind., said Wednesday that he was issuing a new wave of subpoenas seeking information on the FBI's use of pyrotechnic devices at Waco and the involvement of military personnel in the standoff.

Along with subpoenas for the White House, the Justice Department, the Department of Defense and the CIA, the committee is seeking information from a former CIA employee who has publicly talked about possible military involvement in the FBI assault.

Mr. Burton said the committee has also called in experts to help analyze previously disclosed infrared video shot by the FBI on April 19 and another videotape shot by the Texas Department of Public Safety.

A documentary on the standoff scheduled for release this month by a Fort Collins, Colo., company includes the infrared and DPS footage. A former Defense Department expert alleges in the film, Waco: A New Revelation, that flashes caught on the videotapes are gunfire directed at the Branch Davidians from FBI helicopters and government personnel.

Government officials have vehemently denied that, stating that FBI agents did not fire a single shot during the 51-day siege. The film alleges that gunshots were coming from members of the Army's secret Delta force anti-terrorism unit who were deployed alongside members of the FBI's hostage rescue team.

Judge's move

Mr. Burton said he was pleased that a federal judge in Waco had recently moved to take control of all government evidence relating to the 1993 standoff. On Tuesday, the Justice Department filed a motion asking U.S. District Judge Walter Smith to reconsider, arguing that such a turnover might handicap the wave of new investigations.

But Mr. Burton said he supported having a neutral caretaker for the entire body of information on Waco. He noted that his committee has long feuded with Ms. Reno's Justice Department over access to documents and information for other high-profile investigations.

Lawyers for surviving Branch Davidians also have complained that they have been denied access to evidence that might help their pending wrongful death lawsuit against the government.

Judge Smith is expected to rule quickly on the Justice Department's motion, which argued that the judge lacked authority for ordering the turnover.

Some legal observers say that Judge Smith, a no-nonsense jurist who has heard all of the legal actions arising from the Davidian standoff, is not likely to back down. They note that he has a low reversal rate, and his previous order taking control of the evidence made pointed references to intense public interest in the long-controversial incident.

That would leave the Justice Department with two options: either outright refusal to comply with the order and a probable contempt citation, or a quick filing for review by the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals.

Such reviews, sought through a legal maneuver called writ of mandamus, argue that a federal judge has overstepped his or her authority. They are rarely filed and rarely granted, but appellate courts have the power to order lower court judges to rescind actions determined to beyond their judicial authority.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Texas lawmakers say Reno should leave job

09/02/99

By Lee Hancock and Catalina Camia / The Dallas Morning News

Two Texas lawmakers said Wednesday that Attorney General Janet Reno should resign to answer for conflicting statements about government actions in the 1993 Branch Davidian siege.

Federal officials, meanwhile, said that at least two former Republican senators are among the candidates that Ms. Reno and the Justice Department are considering to lead an independent inquiry of the incident.

Sen. Phil Gramm, R-Texas, said it was "embarrassing" to watch Ms. Reno and other Clinton administration officials explain the FBI's recent admission that pyrotechnic devices were used in the April 19, 1993, showdown with the religious sect. The compound burned that day after the FBI used tanks and tear gas to try to force its occupants out. Sect leader David Koresh and more than 80 followers died in the blaze, which independent arson investigators concluded was set by compound occupants.

"If the attorney general cannot manage to find and tell the truth about a matter as important as the Waco incident, she should step aside and give someone else a chance," Mr. Gramm told reporters in Irving after the opening of an anti-drug-trafficking facility.

Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, who accompanied Mr. Gramm, did not echo the call for Ms. Reno to step down. Ms. Hutchison said that she and Mr. Gramm supported an investigation removed from Justice Department and FBI control because both agencies need to be held accountable for their actions in the tragedy.

"We need a full, independent investigation to get to the facts and determine if our laws or principles were violated," Ms. Hutchison said.

Rep. Pete Sessions, R-Dallas, a former member of the House Government Reform Committee, which has subpoenaed federal records on the issue, said through a spokesman that he also believes Ms. Reno should leave.

Ms. Reno has repeatedly accepted full responsibility for the Branch Davidian showdown. For six years, however, she and other top Justice Department and FBI officials have insisted that no pyrotechnic devices were used in the final assault on the sect's headquarters.

Ms. Reno, saying she was upset that her credibility is at stake, said last week that the FBI had assured her that no pyrotechnic devices had been used. A Justice Department spokesman said that efforts to set up the inquiry and find someone to lead it are under way. The spokesman said officials also have no timetable for announcing who will lead the probe.

In Washington, a senior federal law enforcement official who spoke on the condition of anonymity said the attorney general was having a difficult time selecting an outside investigator to direct a new inquiry. The official suggested that any outsider taking the job would have to have not only credibility and expertise, but also a considerable amount of time.

Among those mentioned as possible investigators were former Sens. John Danforth, R-Mo., and Warren Rudman, R-N.H., and Chicago lawyer Dan Webb, a former U.S. attorney.

It was unclear, however, whether any of the three possible candidates had the time or desire to take on the job.

Mr. Danforth, contacted at home in St. Louis, would not confirm or deny that he has been approached by the Justice Department.

"I can't say one way or another," said Mr. Danforth, a former state attorney general. "I have nothing to say."

Other federal officials conceded that the selection process has been complicated by the enormity of the task and the need to find someone without current ties to the Justice Department or connections with the tragedy.

Staff writer G. Robert Hillman in Washington contributed to this report.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

U.S. fights Waco evidence order

Justice Department challenges judge's authority to control materials

09/01/99

By Lee Hancock / The Dallas Morning News

WACO - U.S. Justice Department lawyers on Tuesday challenged a federal judge's authority to take control of evidence in the Branch Davidian case, setting up a high-stakes legal showdown.

An Aug. 9 order in which U.S. District Judge Walter Smith demanded custody of all documents and other evidence is without any legal basis under federal or civil court rules, Justice Department lawyers argued in a 19-page motion. The judge's move "threatens a wholesale intrusion" into the executive branch and an "unwarranted and substantial burden" on the entire federal government.

"It should be plain . . . that separation of powers prevents a federal court from acting as an independent investigator," the motion said.

The argument is the latest development in an escalating skirmish over who will control and investigate the vast array of evidence, documents, photographs and other materials tied to the Branch Davidian standoff.

The government's filing came one day after a Waco federal prosecutor warned Attorney General Janet Reno in a letter that lawyers within her department had long withheld evidence that the FBI fired pyrotechnic tear gas within hours before the compound burned. For years, government officials had insisted otherwise.

On Tuesday, the federal prosecutor, Bill Johnston, told The Dallas Morning News that he felt compelled to go public with his warning after being given a 5-year-old document that discusses the use of "military gas" by the FBI on April 19, 1993.

He said he was concerned because the document, a three-page set of notes detailing an interview with members of the FBI's hostage rescue team, included handwritten notations suggesting that it be kept from anyone outside the department's legal staff. He said both the language in those nondisclosure notations and typewritten identification lines on the top of each page indicated that they were sent from the department's civil torts section, which is defending a massive wrongful-death lawsuit arising from the standoff.

Lawyers for the Branch Davidians have alleged that the government's negligence and deliberate actions caused the 1993 tragedy. For several years, their pleadings have charged that unidentified projectiles and shell casings found in the compound rubble include pyrotechnic tear gas grenades and incendiary devices.

Branch Davidian leader David Koresh and more than 80 followers died in an April 19 fire that erupted six hours after FBI agents began a tear-gas assault to try to force an end to a 51-day standoff.

Federal officials had long denied federal agents used anything capable of sparking a fire on that day. But they conceded last week that at least two pyrotechnic tear gas rounds were fired after a former FBI official told The Newsthat their use in Waco was "common knowledge" among members of the bureau's hostage rescue team.

Mr. Johnston, 40, said he decided to speak publicly after learning that federal officials in Washington were discussing the 1993 document with reporters. He noted that he had been expressly ordered not to divulge the document's contents to anyone.

'Military gas rounds'

Mr. Johnston said the document suggested that he was present for the 1993 interview in which agents described using "military gas rounds," but he recalled nothing about the interview or the issue.

He said civil justice department lawyers involved in the wrongful death lawsuit became furious with him after learning he was present when a filmmaker was allowed to view Branch Davidian evidence at the Texas Department of Public Safety.

Mr. Johnston is also assisting an investigation by the Texas Rangers to identify evidence questioned by the filmmaker, Michael McNulty, including a shell casing recently identified as part of a M651 pyrotechnic grenade fired by the FBI.

Mr. Johnston said he believed the document was unearthed and disseminated by the civil lawyers last week after Ms. Reno was forced to admit that pyrotechnic tear gas was used at Waco. That admission came one day after reports that Texas Rangers were sharing their investigation results with congressional investigators.

"It may have been meant as a shot across the bow, some attempt to warn me to stop stirring this up," Mr. Johnston said.

The Rangers were asked to investigate the criminal violations arising from the standoff and were then asked to keep key evidence from the case after eight Branch Davidians were convicted on charges ranging from manslaughter to weapons violations.

The Texas Department of Public Safety filed a motion in July asking Judge Smith to take custody of that evidence. DPS officials said that they wanted the evidence taken off their hands, in part, because they felt that the Justice Department was using them to avoid having to allow public access under federal public records laws.

In response, the judge issued his sweeping Aug. 9 order calling on every agency of the federal government to turn over anything even remotely tied to the Waco incident to his district clerk's office.

Questioning order

In Tuesday's motion, Justice Department lawyers argued the order is invalid, in part, because it was issued in the criminal case arising from the Branch Davidian siege - a case which they contend is no longer pending in Judge Smith's court.

Much of the evidence covered by the order is exempt from disclosure to plaintiffs in the pending lawsuit because it is the work product of the department's attorneys, the motion argued. Producing it would cripple the government's efforts to prepare for the civil trial, now scheduled to begin in mid-October, and producing other information could even stall the independent and congressional inquiries recently launched over the use of pyrotechnic tear gas, the motion argued.

The motion asked the judge to narrow his order to encompass only the evidence being held by DPS.

On Tuesday, DPS Commission Chairman James B. Francis Jr. said he was disappointed that in the Justice Department's action.

"From what I can understand of the Justice's Department's motion today, they're still attempting to prevent the evidence from being judicially reviewed," Mr. Francis said. "And I think that is most unfortunate."

Justice Department officials declined to comment on the motion or Mr. Johnston's letter to Ms. Reno.

But Mr. Johnston's supervisor, U.S. Attorney Bill Blagg of San Antonio, said he was surprised that the Waco prosecutor had chosen to send such a complaint and make it public.

Mr. Blagg said the indication in the document that Mr. Johnston was present when an agent discussed using "military rounds" was "a very serious matter" because federal criminal rules require prosecutors to give defense attorneys any evidence that might help a defendant before trial.

"I cannot think of a worse thing to be accused of as a U.S. attorney than knowing of favorable evidence and failing to disclose it, and I can't think of a worse thing than the attorney general not knowing for six years what really happened," he said.

Learning the truth

Mr. Johnston said Tuesday that he is prepared to do whatever possible to help the Justice Department, the Congress and the public learn the entire truth of what happened.

"If there is an issue regarding whether I should've understood the significance of the term 'military gas,' then it is a fair question," he said. "Whatever the truth is, I am not afraid of that."

Also Tuesday, an FBI spokesman said that Director Louis Freeh would not object to the appointment of an outside investigator to study the bureau's role in the Branch Davidian siege.

FBI spokesman Tron Brekke said Mr. Freeh and the bureau believed the FBI could conduct its own investigation. But he added that the director was concerned about perceptions that the bureau cannot police itself.

The FBI is interested in repairing the damage to its reputation, Mr. Brekke said. "If that can be done by an outside investigation, then so be it," he said.

Mr. Brekke said the director has not recommended to Ms. Reno how an outside panel should be formed or who might serve on it.

Meanwhile, a growing number of congressional leaders voiced support for an investigation independent of both the Justice Department and Congress. The House Government Reform committee has already issued subpoenas seeking information from Mr. Johnston and the Texas Rangers, and its chairman, Dan Burton, R-Ind., has vowed to begin hearings in September.

But a spokesman for House Judiciary Committee Chairman Henry Hyde, R-Ill., said Mr. Hyde is considering creating a special commission to review the FBI's admission that pyrotechnic devices were fired.

"The truth may be better served by a body that is removed somewhat from the political swamps," said Sam Stratman, a spokesman for Mr. Hyde.

Mr. Burton said his committee will move ahead with its inquiry and is planning within the next few days to issue new subpoenas.

He voiced concern that officials within the Justice Department may now be targeting Mr. Johnston because of his efforts to help the Texas Rangers and bring out the truth about the government's use of pyrotechnic tear gas at Waco.

"I think he should be commended," Mr. Burton said. "Because he has given us information . . . they're going to try to make him a scapegoat."

Staff writer Catalina Camia in Washington contributed to this report.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Waco attorney warns Reno evidence possibly withheld

Notes about file on pyrotechnics use raised his concerns

08/31/99

By Lee Hancock / The Dallas Morning News

Copyright, 1999, The Dallas Morning News

A Waco federal prosecutor wrote Attorney General Janet Reno on Monday to warn that "individuals or components within the Department of Justice" may have long withheld evidence from her and the public about the FBI's use of pyrotechnic grenades on the day the Branch Davidian compound burned.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Johnston said he felt compelled to warn Ms. Reno after he was given a 5-year-old document that discusses the use of "military gas" by the FBI on April 19, 1993. He said he was concerned because the document, a three-page set of notes detailing an interview with members of the FBI's hostage rescue team, included handwritten notations suggesting that it be kept from anyone outside the department's legal staff.

"There are handwritten notes on the documents discussing whether or not they should be disclosed, and, obviously, they have not been," said Mr. Johnston, the federal prosecutor involved longest in the Branch Davidian investigation.

"There was discussion about whether they should be turned over," he said. "Obviously, the decision was made somewhere in Washington that they were not to be."

Asked about the matter late Monday, Justice Department spokesman Myron Marlin said: "I wouldn't comment except to say that the attorney general received assurances that pyrotechnic tear-gas devices would not be used and were not used. And she has pledged to get to the bottom of this."

Mr. Johnston said he was presented with a copy of the document last week after officials divulged that the FBI had, in fact, used pyrotechnic tear gas on April 19.

A former senior FBI official told The Dallas Morning News that he had learned that two M651 CS tear-gas grenades had been fired at an area adjacent to the compound by members of the FBI's hostage rescue team. The official has maintained that use of the grenades had nothing to do with the fire that consumed the compound.

The issue has sparked a House committee investigation and also prompted angry congressional demands for an independent investigation of the FBI because Ms. Reno and other senior FBI and Justice Department officials have long maintained that nothing capable of sparking a fire was used by the government on April 19.

The compound burned that day with Branch Davidian leader David Koresh and more than 80 followers inside. The fire erupted about six hours after the FBI began using tanks and tear gas to try to force an end to a 51-day standoff.

Subpoenas issued

On Monday, the House Government Reform Committee issued subpoenas for Mr. Johnston and the Texas Rangers ordering them to present all their records concerning the use of pyrotechnic tear gas by the FBI.

The subpoenas ordered the prosecutor and the Rangers to appear on Sept. 7 in Washington.

Mr. Johnston has been assisting the Rangers since late June in an ongoing inquiry to identify questioned evidence that has been in the possession of the Texas Department of Public Safety since the Branch Davidian standoff.

The use of pyrotechnic devices on April 19 is a key issue in a pending wrongful-death lawsuit filed by surviving Branch Davidians and families of those who died.

The lawsuit contends that the government's negligence or deliberate actions caused the 1993 tragedy.

"One of the key issues in this case is who started the fire," said Joe Phillips of Houston, one of the lead lawyers for the Branch Davidians.

"Here the government is sitting on a piece of evidence that would guarantee that we could get the issue heard by a jury.

"If the lawyers in this case knew about that information and, in the face of our evidence showing pyrotechnics were used, just sat on this and continued to insist to the judge that no pyrotechnics were used, that's fraud on the court," Mr. Phillips said. "That's something that we were entitled to and should have been given access to long ago."

'About to choke'

Tim Evans, a Fort Worth attorney who defended one of the Branch Davidians in the 1994 criminal trial arising from the Waco standoff, expressed outrage Monday that the document seen by Mr. Johnston was never disclosed by federal prosecutors.

"The credibility of the federal agents was extremely important to the government's case in many issues, not just this. This succession of lies would have destroyed their credibility," Mr. Evans said. "Their lies have infected this case like maggots. Yet incredibly they still want us to pick out the maggots and swallow the rest of their story. I think America is about to choke."

Mr. Johnston said he has been ordered not to discuss the specific wording of the document or the handwritten notes. The notes apparently were added after the document was prepared.

The document was written by a paralegal working for the U.S. attorney's office in preparation for the 1994 federal prosecution of surviving Branch Davidians.

The paralegal was interviewing members of the FBI's hostage rescue team, which was involved in the final assault on the Branch Davidian compound.

Mr. Johnston said the document indicates that he may have been present during the interviews. He said he did not recall the interviews and said the term "military gas" did not register with him.

"If that document says I was there, then I was there. While I don't recall it, I can say the term 'military gas round' meant little or nothing to me, because I am unfamiliar with military ordnance," he said.

"I'll bet that the attorney general would like to have known about these documents long before now, and my letter is an attempt to bring these and other facts to her attention."

Federal officials in Washington who spoke on condition of anonymity confirmed Monday that the 1993 notes surfaced last week along with a 1996 FBI legal memo.

The officials said the memo was written by the FBI's general counsel's office after civil Justice Department lawyers notified them about the 1993 notes and also asked about allegations being raised by the Branch Davidians' lawyers about the use of pyrotechnic devices by the FBI.

FBI officials questioned members of the hostage rescue team and then prepared a memo stating that two military gas grenades had been launched about 6 a.m on April 19, six hours before the compound burned, one federal official said.

Matter of wording

The officials said that no one involved in preparing the memo realized that the term "military gas" appeared to be shorthand for pyrotechnic tear-gas grenades. Ordnance experts say all CS tear-gas grenades used by the U.S. military are pyrotechnic devices.

The federal officials said that the notes referring to the use of military gas were among thousands of Justice Department documents subpoenaed for 1995 House hearings on the Branch Davidian standoff. One federal official noted that the military jargon used in the note was probably unfamiliar to and overlooked by congressional investigators.

Another federal official familiar with the document said it may have been marked with nondisclosure warnings because of an agreement made with Congress prior to the 1995 hearing.

"Its release would violate the privacy act, because it included the names of specific individuals," the federal officials said.

A spokesman for the House Government Reform Committee said Monday that the panel, which held the 1995 hearing, knew nothing about the documents in question.

"We intend to get them, and we will get to the bottom of this," said committee spokesman Mark Corallo.

Mr. Johnston acknowledged that his letter to Ms. Reno may open him to criticism but said he felt he needed to ensure that the attorney general was personally aware of the documents.

"There's been significance given to these documents in the last few years because of the civil suit. Whether or not these documents have been or should have been given to plaintiffs and criminal defense attorneys is an issue that the department is going to have to answer," he said.

"I am very concerned," Mr. Johnston said. "I would rather not discuss the details of my letter to the AG, but I can certainly tell you that I'm very concerned that information which should've been made known to her and to the public has not been."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Reno may seek outsider to lead review of siege

FBI role in Davidian raid to be investigated

08/28/99

By G. Robert Hillman and Lee Hancock / The Dallas Morning News

Attorney General Janet Reno is considering the appointment of an outside investigator to direct the review of the FBI's role in the fiery end to the 1993 standoff with the Branch Davidians, a Justice Department official said Friday.

A team of FBI agents was still being assembled at the request of FBI Director Louis Freeh, but its work will await the appointment of a team leader, said bureau spokesman Tron Brekke.

Even when all investigators are finally in place, Mr. Brekke said, they still will need considerable preparation to review evidence and conduct key interviews.

"It's all under consideration," he said.

Ms. Reno has pledged a thorough investigation of a new acknowledgment by the FBI that it may have fired a pair of pyrotechnic tear-gas devices in the early morning of the FBI's final assault on the sect compound on April 19, 1993.

The FBI, however, maintains that the devices were aimed at an underground bunker, away from the main wooden building in the sect compound, and did not start the fire that burned it to the ground.

Repeatedly over the last six years, Ms. Reno and other Justice Department officials had denied the use of any pyrotechnic devices on the last day of the 51-day siege.

On Thursday though, the attorney general vowed to root out the facts and present them to Congress and the American public.

She said she was upset and frustrated by the new revelations, but would pursue them - and all other questions that might arise - with renewed vigor.

One option under serious consideration Friday was the appointment of an outsider to direct the new review. "That's a possibility," said the Justice Department official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The official said he expected Ms. Reno to settle on a choice within several days, so that the inquiry could begin in earnest.

House hearing

Meanwhile, Rep. Dan Burton, R-Ind., chairman of the House Government Reform and Oversight Committee, said he already had decided to summon Ms. Reno to a hearing by his committee.

"Janet Reno and the Justice Department have lost all credibility in the eyes of the Congress and the American people," Mr. Burton said. "A thorough investigation is absolutely essential."

He said two committee investigators had been in Texas to confer with the Texas Rangers and examine new evidence in the case, and he expected to open hearings this autumn.

"We will not stand for the Justice Department withholding any evidence from Congress for any reason," he said.

The House inquiry also will include an examination of the role that Delta Force commandos might have played in the final day of the standoff, said Mark Corallo, a spokesman for the House committee.

Military allegations

A former CIA employee told The Dallas Morning News on Thursday that he had heard from several members of the secret U.S. military unit that they had been present and actively involved in the final FBI tear gas assault.

The Defense Department has flatly denied that, stating that three members of military units he would not identify were present but only watched as the assault took place.

"We intend to look into the allegations of special operations personnel participating in the assault," Mr. Corallo said.

Under federal law, the U.S. military may not engage in domestic law enforcement duties, unless specifically authorized by the president.

On Friday, White House press secretary Joe Lockhart said President Clinton "was not asked to sign a waiver, nor were we aware of any activity that would have required a waiver" in connection with the Branch Davidian siege.

Mr. Lockhart said the president was concerned by the new revelations, but he remained confident that Ms. Reno and Mr. Freeh were "well-placed and capable of getting to the bottom of this."

Nevertheless, some members of Congress questioned whether the Justice Department and the FBI could thoroughly investigate themselves.

"While I appreciate their call for an inquiry, this is the same Department of Justice that assured us six years ago that no incendiary devices were used," said Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Therefore, he said, his committee would conduct its own review and expect to hold hearings as well.

Credibility questions

"There must be an independent inquiry of this matter, because the credibility of this Justice Department is at an all-time low," he said.

On Thursday, Ms. Reno conceded that her credibility was at stake and planned to confer with Mr. Freeh on exactly how to proceed. Mr. Freeh returned from vacation Friday.

"We'll have to wait and see," said Justice Department spokesman Myron Marlin.

On Capitol Hill, Rep. Chet Edwards, D-Waco, said a new, exhaustive review of the FBI siege near Waco, in which David Koresh and more than 80 followers died, was urgently needed to avoid "endless years of speculation and cynicism."

"If the FBI misled Congress, or if the military was involved in any way that broke the posse comitatus laws," he said, "I would consider those to be very serious violations."

Subpoenas prepared

Shortly after the announcement of the House committee's plans, staff members began preparing subpoenas for the Texas Rangers and for a Waco federal prosecutor who has assisted them in investigating evidence from the standoff.

The subpoenas seek "all records relating to the use of pyrotechnic tear gas rounds at the Waco siege," said Kevin Binger, staff director for the committee.

The Rangers are also being asked for the final report on an investigation currently under way at the direction of the chairman of the state Department of Public Safety, he said.

The Rangers began studying evidence from the case this summer, after an independent researcher was allowed to view it and suggested some of it might call the government's account of the Waco siege into question.

The Rangers have had custody of the key evidence from the standoff since they were assigned to investigate the Branch Davidian tragedy in 1993. A federal judge in Waco last month ordered the federal government to turn over anything in any way related to the Davidian incident for safe keeping. Some of that evidence could be key to an upcoming wrongful death lawsuit pending against the government by surviving Davidians and relatives of those who died.

One law enforcement official familiar with the Rangers inquiry said that one shell casing in Ranger custody was from a pyrotechnic CS tear gas grenade fired on April 19 by the FBI.

Waco federal prosecutor Bill Johnston said Friday that he began assisting in the Rangers inquiry last month.

"When they decided to look into this again, and to look particularly at the projectile evidence, they asked me to help them," the prosecutor said. "I've met with them on a number of occasions to answer any questions that they have and offer what guidance I can to them."

His role places him in the awkward position of helping to uncover evidence that contradicted his own department's long-held contention that no pyrotechnic devices were used April 19.

Told of the impending subpoenas, Mr. Johnston said he and the Rangers both welcomed the chance to help officials in Washington sort out what happened.

"I am confident that the Rangers can help Congress and the Justice Department get to the bottom of this. I know that they join me in expressing a readiness to help in any way," he said.

Mr. Johnston said he notified Justice Department officials Thursday that the Rangers were willing to work with them but had not received a response as of Friday afternoon.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Reno says she received assurances about siege

She says she didn't want pyrotechnic devices used

08/27/99

By G. Robert Hillman / The Dallas Morning News

WASHINGTON - Attorney General Janet Reno, declaring her credibility at stake, said Thursday that the FBI had assured her that no pyrotechnic devices would be used in its final assault on the Branch Davidian compound in 1993.

"I did not want those used. I asked for and received assurances that they were not incendiary," she said, recalling her discussions the week before the final assault near Waco in which more than 80 Branch Davidians died when their compound burned to the ground.

Now that the FBI has admitted that it may have used such devices, Ms. Reno said she is determined to "get to the bottom" of the discrepancy.

"I'm very, very upset," she said at her weekly news conference at the Justice Department.

Ms. Reno, who has repeatedly accepted full responsibility for the FBI's handling of the 51-day siege near Waco, pledged a thorough new investigation.

"I want to pursue it, to get to the bottom, and then make the facts available to everyone," she said.

For six years, however, Ms. Reno and other top officials of the Justice Department and the FBI have insisted that no pyrotechnic devices were used in the final assault for fear of igniting a fire in the flimsy, wooden structure that was the headquarters of the sect.

David Koresh and more than 80 of his followers died in a fire that engulfed the building after federal agents rammed it with tanks and tried to fill it with tear gas. Several surviving Branch Davidians are pursuing a wrongful-death lawsuit, charging the tragedy was caused by government wrongdoing and negligence.

On Thursday, Ms. Reno said she was "very, very troubled" by the new evidence pointing to the use of pyrotechnics by the FBI. But she added, "At this time, all available indications are that the devices were not directed at the main wooden compound, were discharged several hours before the fire started and were not the cause of the fire."

FBI discussions

In the week before the final assault on April 19, 1993, the attorney general said she had continuing discussions about the kind of tear gas that would be used by the FBI - "whether it was incendiary and whether the devices were."

She said she had been "concerned about the possibility of fire started by such devices" and was assured that no pyrotechnics would be used.

"You try your best to get to the truth, and you sometimes make mistakes," she said.

"Anybody that says they never make mistakes, they never rely on information that proves to be inaccurate - I'd like to meet them."

At the FBI, spokesman John Collingwood confirmed that the attorney general had been concerned about the possibility of a fire erupting in the main wooden building in the Branch Davidian compound. But, he said, investigators conducting the new review would have to "determine exactly what happened."

Ms. Reno said she would be conferring by telephone with FBI Director Louis Freeh, who is on vacation, to determine exactly how the new federal review will be carried out. One option under consideration is the hiring of an outside investigator, perhaps a team of investigators.

"In something like this, you have got to constantly pursue every issue and not give up and not get frustrated until you get to the bottom line, which is the truth," she said.

Ms. Reno said the recent turn of events hasn't been "very good for my credibility." But she vowed to continue as attorney general through the last months of the Clinton administration.

"I take it day by day," she said. "I am here."

Nevertheless, the attorney general was described by a Justice Department official as angry and shaken by the new revelations.

"There is such disbelief that this is out there," said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

The official said some of the new information may have been available to officials in the FBI's legal office as long as three years ago. But the official could provide few other details.

Wide-ranging probe

Ms. Reno pledged a wide-ranging inquiry that could include new assertions that members of the U.S. Army's elite Delta Force anti-terrorism unit may have participated in the final FBI assault, which would have required presidential approval.

"We will pursue any issue that is in question," the attorney general said.

Some members of Congress who have followed the FBI siege near Waco for the last six years said they were also surprised - and troubled - by the latest news.

"It now appears that new information could potentially shed light on this sad chapter in American history, and I am hopeful that we can find that out and put this issue to rest once and for all," said Rep. Bill McCollum, R-Fla., who was co-chairman of a special joint House committee that investigated the siege.

The chairman of the House Government Reform and Oversight Committee - Rep. Dan Burton, R-Ind. - already has pledged a full-scale investigation. A similar inquiry is expected in the Senate. And Ms. Reno has promised to cooperate.

"I welcome it," she said.

Rep. Chet Edwards, D-Waco, also wants more answers.

"There are two questions that need to be answered," he said. "One, did anyone at the FBI mislead Congress about the use of pyrotechnic devices? Two, did these devices have anything to do with starting the fires at the compound?

"Congress should find the answers to those two questions," he said. "Until then, I will refrain from drawing any conclusions."

Clinton reaction

On Martha's Vineyard, Mass., where President Clinton is vacationing, White House press secretary Joe Lockhart said the president has been following the new developments and "stands with the attorney general in her determination to get all the facts in this case and to make them available to Congress and the public as soon as possible."

The new federal investigations into the FBI standoff with the Branch Davidians follow statements to The Dallas Morning News by former FBI official Danny O. Coulson that agents fired a pair of pyrotechnic tear-gas grenades on the final morning of the siege.

At first, Justice Department officials dismissed Mr. Coulson's statements. But, on Wednesday, the FBI issued a one-page statement acknowledging that it "may have used a very limited number of military-type CS gas canisters."

The FBI said the canisters were used in an attempt to "penetrate the roof of an underground bunker away from the main Branch Davidian compound." But the Justice Department official said Thursday that the canisters bounced off the roof and fell into a nearby field.

Bob Ricks, who was the FBI's chief spokesman in Texas during the 51-day standoff, said he did not know until last week that pyrotechnic devices may have been used by the FBI.

"There was a plan that was approved that went all the way to the attorney general," said Mr. Ricks, now the Oklahoma state public safety director.

"There's just some things that you shouldn't do," he said. "I think it's a divergence from the plan."

Staff writers Lee Hancock and Robert Dodge contributed to this report.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

More questions for FBI

DPS official says Army force present at Waco siege

08/26/99

By Lee Hancock / The Dallas Morning News

©1999, The Dallas Morning News

A congressional committee chairman vowed a "thorough investigation" Wednesday as the FBI began its own inquiry and formally conceded that its agents "may have fired" pyrotechnic devices on the last day of the 1993 Branch Davidian siege.

In Texas, the chairman of the Department of Public Safety said that federal authorities also need to investigate and explain why members of the U.S. Army's secret Delta Force anti-terrorist unit were present the day the compound burned.

"Everyone involved knows they were there. If there is an issue, it was what was their role at the time," said James B. Francis Jr. of Dallas. "Some of the evidence that I have reviewed and been made aware of is very problematical as to the role of Delta Force at the siege."

A Department of Defense document released under the federal Freedom of Information Act confirmed that members of a classified Army Special Forces unit were in the area when the FBI's hostage rescue team used tanks to assault the compound with tear gas.

The document, written by one of two U.S. Army officers who met with Attorney General Janet Reno to help the FBI persuade her to approve their tear gas assault, stated that three Special Forces personnel observed "the assault . . . and were cautioned not to video the operation."

A Justice Department spokesman said late Wednesday that he could not comment on the matter. FBI officials could not be reached for comment.

Mr. Francis said Wednesday evening that Ms. Reno and FBI Director Louis Freeh need to expand their new inquiry on the FBI's use of military pyrotechnic tear gas to address "what the Delta Force did on April 19 and whether their role was advisory or operational."

The Special Forces document, dated May 1993, states that the military personnel sent did not give any technical advice and were warned about the legal restrictions prohibiting U.S. military personnel from engaging in civilian law-enforcement operations.

The four-page document was provided to The Dallas Morning News by a Tucson, Ariz., lawyer who has filed federal lawsuits and lengthy Freedom of Information Act requests to gather information on the siege.

Defense Department officials blacked out the names of the soldiers and their unit before releasing the document because they said that information was a military secret.

Not surprised

Danny O. Coulson, a former FBI official who served as founding commander of the bureau's hostage rescue team, said Wednesday night that he had no independent recollection of the Army Delta operators' presence but would not be surprised if they were there.

"There's a possibility they may have come as observers, and they may have put on FBI raid jackets so they could keep their cover," he said. "There was a Delta team at the Atlanta prison riot. There was a military commando team at the prison riot in Oakdale, La. They were used primarily for breaching operations and as observers and advisers."

He said the deployment of the special operations units in both 1987 prison riots required a formal presidential waiver of the federal Posse Comitatus Act, which prohibits the use of military personnel in domestic incidents.

Mr. Coulson, who was deputy assistant FBI director during the siege and helped supervise operations from Washington, was the FBI's tactical commander at the Atlanta prison riot.

"I would be surprised if they did anything wrong," he said. "They come, frankly, to learn. They come to watch us and learn in case they have to operate in a similar environment or if, for some reason, they have to operate here in the United States."

The FBI's hostage rescue team has regularly trained with Delta Force in the past, Mr. Coulson and other officials have said.

Delayed admission

The bureau's acknowledgment that the FBI used military tear gas capable of sparking fires came after two days of wrangling between FBI and Justice Department officials.

Officials said Justice Department lawyers delayed the statement for several days because of concerns about how such an admission might affect a wrongful-death suit filed against the government by surviving Branch Davidians.

The FBI's statement also came only days after Justice Department officials flatly denied statements made by Mr. Coulson to The News that FBI agents fired two pyrotechnic tear-gas grenades on April 19, 1993, the day that the Branch Davidian compound burned with more than 80 sect members inside.

Mr. Coulson's statement to The News marked the first time a current or former federal law enforcement official publicly acknowledged the use of pyrotechnic devices as FBI agents launched a tear-gas assault the final morning of the siege.

He said the two devices were used with permission of FBI commanders and played no role in the fire that erupted hours later.

Late Wednesday afternoon, FBI headquarters released a statement acknowledging that "the FBI may have used a very limited number of military-type tear-gas canisters on the morning of April 19."

While re-emphasizing the government's long-held assertion that law enforcement had nothing to do with the compound fire, Mr. Freeh and Ms. Reno ordered a full review of how and why the devices were used.

FBI officials said Mr. Freeh had ordered the bureau's inspection division to interview every FBI employee who was at the compound on April 19, and he also called House governmental affairs committee Chairman Dan Burton, R-Ind., to pledge a full report.

Mr. Burton, whose committee co-sponsored lengthy 1995 hearings into the incident, issued a statement Wednesday announcing that his committee investigators had already begun an inquiry.

"I'm deeply concerned by these inconsistencies," Mr. Burton said, referring to the Justice Department's denial that pyrotechnic devices were used. "This new information requires a thorough investigation of whether the Justice Department has misled the American people and the Congress about what happened at Waco."

Briefing from Rangers

Committee investigators received a lengthy briefing in Austin on Tuesday from the Texas Rangers, who began an investigation to try to identify the nature of a number of projectiles collected from the compound ruins.

The Rangers were brought in to investigate when the Branch Davidian incident began in 1993, and they have been custodians of the key physical evidence collected by state and federal investigators.

On Wednesday, officials in Texas acknowledged that Mr. Burton's investigators have asked the Rangers to submit a formal report to Congress.

Mr. Francis said Wednesday night that his agency's "goal is to tender the evidence to the court, and our only wish is for the truth and the facts to be fully aired and let the chips fall where they may."

A House Government Reform Committee member who was among federal law enforcement's harshest critics during the 1995 hearings said Wednesday that the FBI's admission calls into question all of the government's statements about its actions in the siege.

"If federal officials have been lying about these elements of the siege, their testimony on other matters should also be examined," said Rep. Bob Barr, R-Ga. "New evidence indicates the government fired into the compound and that military forces may have been involved in the assault."

The use of pyrotechnics by the FBI and the allegation that U.S. soldiers participated in a violent assault on the compound are major charges in a wrongful-death lawsuit filed against the federal government by surviving Branch Davidians. The lawsuit alleges that the tragedy was the direct result of government wrongdoing and negligence, which the government has denied.

Collecting evidence

Earlier this month, DPS officials became so concerned about what their evidence vaults might hold that they asked federal Judge Walter Smith of Waco to take control of all the evidence in the case to ensure its safekeeping and proper evaluation.

Judge Smith issued an unprecedented order Aug. 8 instructing every agency of the U.S. government to turn over every document, photograph and piece of physical evidence in any way related to the incident.

Officials in Texas said the Rangers' investigation then confirmed that a shell casing in DPS custody had come from an M651 CS pyrotechnic grenade and the device had been fired by the FBI on April 19. Officials said the Rangers' inquiry should be completed within the next few weeks.

On Monday, officials with the Department of Justice responded to Mr. Coulson's statement with a flat denial that the FBI had used any pyrotechnic devices. But a department spokesman withdrew that denial Tuesday, saying the matter was under review.

FBI and Justice Department officials privately acknowledged late Tuesday that they had learned that members of the hostage rescue team had used the devices early on April 19, hours before the compound burned.

In the statement finally released Wednesday evening, FBI officials said that a preliminary inquiry had determined that the devices may have been fired at the roof of an "underground bunker" and away from the Davidian compound.

"Although some questions about the use of military tear gas rounds remain unanswered at this time, all available indications are that those rounds were not directed at the main wooden compound, they did not land near the wooden compound, and they were discharged several hours before the fire started," FBI officials said.

Staff writers Robert Dodge, Richard Whittle and G. Robert Hillman in Washington contributed to this report.

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FBI to acknowledge use of pyrotechnic devices

New account on Branch Davidian fire expected

08/25/99

By Lee Hancock / The Dallas Morning News

°1999, The Dallas Morning News

AUSTIN - The FBI is preparing to acknowledge in a formal statement that its agents fired pyrotechnic tear gas grenades on the last day of the Branch Davidian siege, senior federal law enforcement officials said Tuesday.

The statement would represent a reversal from the federal government's adamant, long-held position that the FBI used no device capable of sparking a fire on the day the Branch Davidian compound burned near Waco.

Earlier this week, former senior FBI official Danny Coulson told The Dallas Morning News that pyrotechnic grenades had been used on April 19, 1993, the day that the compound burned with David Koresh and more than 80 followers inside.

Mr. Coulson's statement was the first time that a former or current federal law enforcement official publicly acknowledged the use of pyrotechnic devices on April 19. The government has long fended off accusations that FBI agents touched off the fire on that day, but Mr. Coulson said the pyrotechnic grenades were not responsible.

Earlier Tuesday, Texas Department of Public Safety Commission Chairman James B. Francis said the Texas Rangers have "overwhelming evidence" supporting Mr. Coulson's statement about the use of pyrotechnic devices.

"There are written reports by Rangers, there is photographic evidence, there is physical evidence, all three of which are problematic," said Mr. Francis.

Later, officials with the U.S. Justice Department began backing away from their long-held assertion that the FBI used no pyrotechnic devices when it launched a tear gas assault to end the 51-day standoff with the Branch Davidians.

"We've seen the reports, and we're trying to get to the bottom of them," said Justice Department spokesman Myron Marlin, declining to comment further.

Senior federal law enforcement officials in Washington said Tuesday night that the FBI was drafting a statement that would confirm that two pyrotechnic devices were used. A spokesperson at FBI headquarters initially told reporters that a statement would be released Tuesday afternoon but later said it had been postponed until Wednesday.

Mr. Coulson, a former assistant deputy director of the FBI and founding commander of the hostage rescue team, told The News this week that he recently learned that two M-651 CS tear gas grenades were fired hours before the compound burned.

Rangers' inquiry

The issue is a major focus of an ongoing inquiry by the Texas Rangers. It is also a key allegation in a federal wrongful death lawsuit in which surviving Branch Davidians and families of the dead have alleged that government wrongdoing and negligence caused the tragedy.

The issue also was a factor in a decision by the state DPS to persuade a federal judge in Waco to take control of all the evidence in the case. U.S. District Judge Walter Smith issued a sweeping order on Aug. 8 requiring federal authorities to turn over all physical evidence, documents, recordings and photographs connected to the Branch Davidian tragedy.

A law enforcement official familiar with the Rangers inquiry said Tuesday that the agency has positively identified a shell casing recovered from near the compound as part of an M-651 CS canister, a 40 mm U.S. military device that releases tear gas with a burning explosive capable of sparking fires.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the Rangers also have strong evidence that it was used by the FBI on April 19. The official said the shell casing's markings and distinctive shape are unique to the M-651.

"There is no question of what it is and where it came from," the official said.

That information was among findings shared Tuesday afternoon with two congressional investigators, who flew to Austin for a private briefing on the Rangers inquiry.

"We look forward to getting to the bottom of it," said one investigator, speaking on condition of anonymity. He declined further comment.

Attorney General Janet Reno and other senior Justice Department and FBI officials have repeatedly told congressional committees, federal courts and the public that the federal government used nothing capable of starting a fire on April 19.

But federal law enforcement officials in Washington confirmed Tuesday that FBI agents did use the two grenades on the 19th. They were fired into a construction pit that contained a tunnel entrance leading to the compound. The sources said the devices were fired at 6:07 a.m., just after tanks began spraying tear gas into the compound. The M-651s were used because nonpyrotechnic gas rounds known as "Ferrets" were not adequately penetrating the area, the source said.

Details unclear

Federal authorities said they are still trying to determine who gave permission for members of the FBI's Hostage Rescue Team to use the devices and why their use was not revealed before now.

"Maybe this didn't come up because it was at 6 in the morning six hours before the compound burned, and maybe it was because it was fired away from the compound," the law enforcement official said.

The issue is especially sensitive because of the pending wrongful death lawsuit, which is scheduled to go to trial in Waco in mid-October.

But federal officials said they do not believe the use of the devices will change official conclusions that the Branch Davidians started the deadly fire that ended the standoff.

"I don't think this changes the bottom line, which is the Davidians started the fire. Law enforcement did not," the official said.

An investigation by a panel of independent arson experts concluded that the April 19 fire began simultaneously just after noon in three separate places inside the compound.

FBI bugs intercepted Branch Davidians discussing spreading fuel and planning a blaze for hours before the compound burned. Arson investigators also found evidence that accelerants, ranging from gasoline to charcoal lighter fluid and camp stove fuel had been poured in the compound.

Court and congressional records indicate the arson investigators' conclusion that the FBI's tear gas played no role in the fire was partially based on the FBI's assurance that it used no pyrotechnic devices on April 19.

Troubled by denials

Earlier Tuesday, Mr. Francis said he was troubled that Justice Department officials had initially denied Mr. Coulson's statements about the use of pyrotechnic tear gas.

"I would suggest that Janet Reno get a full briefing of the facts. She's not getting the facts," he said. "I can't understand for the life of me why a senior FBI official's statement was flatly contradicted by the Department of Justice without even checking the facts."

Mr. Francis said the Texas Rangers will soon wrap up their inquiry and are still discussing what to do with it.

"We're in a very awkward spot," he said.

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ARCHIVED NEWS FROM THE DALLAS NEWS ONLINE

 The standoff
 Federal roles
 Davidians, Koresh
 Aftermath
 Trials

COMMENTARY

9-2-99

Dear Dee,

Many reasons for the destruction of the bible belt. Because it has destroyed Gods free will w/legaslative morality their right wing activities is a pattern of life they have destroyed every civilization on Earth w/this traditional belief, their hypnotic belief structure and collective mind dates back to Cain their Blood Lineage.

Their actions and deeds Destroyed and killed American People, WACO who believed in Life Liberty And The Pursuit Of Happiness under the Constitution and the Bill of rights.

Who``s to say under what name these acts were performed under The American People that is the real ??????  And one that needs to be addressed that only God or your own self should judge oneself as stated , Judge Not Lest Ye Be Judged it seems that control of the film is of major importance and were back to Free Will, Since the destruction of Jupiters sattilites by cosmic means which has put tares in the film and the veil has openings more than anything it is probably why the desperation to control the masses .  Watch for false gods representing faith and rightousness. my feelings on the matter that there is safty in my self listen to my HEART, for my heart and your heart are truely pure. And does this have really anything to do w/Karesh`s revealing the proficy of the seven seals ???????????? World Domination who could call such a deed as to kill inocent CHILDREN , WOMEN and the MEN who acted to protect and display their right by LAW........

What of the Oklahoma City Bombing more defensive women and children there this story will like all conspiracies will never be told WHY ??????????  Timothy McVeigh may be scape goat, maybe killer but ???????????????

P.S.If you'd like to place this on your web site I`d like that.

Thank you again for your time , LET GO, AND LET GOD. M. MAYANN M.

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