Time: Sun Jul 20 03:01:13 1997 by primenet.com (8.8.5/8.8.5) with ESMTP id CAA12694 for [address in tool bar]; Sun, 20 Jul 1997 02:56:55 -0700 (MST) by usr07.primenet.com (8.8.5/8.8.5) with SMTP id CAA24691; Sun, 20 Jul 1997 02:56:21 -0700 (MST) Date: Sun, 20 Jul 1997 02:55:54 -0700 To: (Recipient list suppressed) From: Paul Andrew Mitchell [address in tool bar] Subject: SLS: Howe Accuses FBI in OKC Bombing (fwd) <snip> > >International News >Electronic Telegraph >Sunday 20 July 1997 >Issue 786 > >Informant accuses FBI over Oklahoma bomb > >By Ivo Dawnay in Washington > >GAPING cracks are opening in the US Justice Department's claim that the >1995 Oklahoma City bombing was the exclusive work of the convicted bomber >Timothy McVeigh and his alleged co-conspirator, Terry Nichols, who is still >awaiting trial. > >A month after McVeigh, a 29-year-old former soldier, was unanimously >sentenced to die by a Denver jury, most Americans would prefer to forget >the horrendous deaths of 168 men, women and children in what was the worst >act of domestic terrorism in the country's history. > >However, in Oklahoma itself, especially among many of the victims' >families, the clamour is growing for further inquiries into a wider >conspiracy. Many believe that the authorities are suppressing the truth. > >In a case due to open next week in Tulsa, jurors will hear fresh evidence >that US security agencies had ample forewarning of an attack on a federal >target, possibly Oklahoma City's Murrah building. The testimony will come >from Carol Howe, 28, daughter of a wealthy Tulsan, who acted for >two-and-a-half years as an undercover informant for the Bureau of Alcohol, >Tobacco and Firearms (ATF). In the McVeigh trial it was disallowed as >irrelevant by Judge Richard Matsch. > >Now Howe, an avowed white separatist, is facing charges, including >conspiracy to make threats and possession of a bomb, that her defenders >claim were brought to intimidate her. > >Those who believe her claims had expected that the charges might >subsequently be dropped in return for her silence. However, Howe's version >of events - while still all but unreported in the mainstream media - is now >on the public record in appeal documents submitted by McVeigh's lawyer, >Stephen Jones. > >Her story, backed up by plentiful documentary evidence, is simple. A victim >of an assault by three black youths, she drifted towards the white racist >movement where she met Denis Mahon, a leader of the so-called White Aryan >Resistance group, linked to an Oklahoma commune of extremists called Elohim >City. > >After allegedly being sexually assaulted by Mahon, she filed an Emergency >Protective Order against him, thereby alerting the interest of the ATF. >Approached by ATF agent Angela Finley, she agreed to act as an informant. >Her numerous reports included warnings that some at the commune planned to >bomb a federal building. > >According to Mr Jones's appeal submission, Agent Finley's handwritten notes >confirm a report from Howe that Mahon had bomb-making expertise. He had >told her he had exploded a 500lb ammonium nitrate bomb in Michigan five >years earlier. > >Howe also reported that Mahon, together with another Elohim resident, the >German-born "head of security" Andreas Strassmeir, had taken three trips to >"case" Oklahoma City. > >Prosecution attorneys have cast doubt on Howe's credibility. They point to >her undisputed white separatist sympathies and that she once sought >psychiatric help. > >Nevertheless, there is plenty of evidence that Howe's reports were taken >extremely seriously by the ATF. Mr Jones's defence appeal also points out >that she was immediately rehired by the ATF in the wake of the Oklahoma >bomb and sent back to Elohim City to gather more information. She continued >to be on the payroll until December last year. > >Charges were brought against her last March after she and her fiance, Jim >Viefhaus, were said to have recorded an alleged bomb threat on a telephone >"newsline" and to have been in possession of a bomb. Her defence is >expected to claim that the taped threat was the work of Viefhaus, which she >had opposed, and that the bomb equipment was part of her "cover". > >What is most worrying for prosecuting attorneys is that Howe claims little >knowledge of Tim McVeigh. Instead she identified from descriptions several >other Elohim figures, including Mahon, Strassmeir and a bank robber, >Michael Brescia, as likely bombers. But to date, although the FBI is said >to have spoken to more than 20,000 individuals in America's most extensive >criminal inquiry, Mahon has yet to be interviewed. Strassmeir, another >suspect named by Howe, has been only cursorily interviewed in Germany by >telephone. > >That has prompted further speculation that the murky world of Elohim City >was a nest of undercover agents and agents provocateurs, many of whom were >working for the authorities - possibly on different inquiries. > >A theory shared by believers in a wider conspiracy is that the government >is covering up a bungled "sting" operation that may have involved a >squabble over jurisdiction between the FBI and the ATF. > >At least one civil suit brought by victims' families centres on claims that >it was a failure by federal agencies to act swiftly that led to the >bombing. Evidence to support that case emerged at pre-trial hearings into >the Howe case on June 30. Local reporters claimed "near pandemonium" in the >Tulsa courtroom when an FBI agent revealed that a leading figure in Elohim >City was an FBI informant. > >The revelation, made under cross-examination, was that "the Reverend" >Robert Millar, the community's rabble-rousing spiritual leader, had >collaborated closely with federal agents. > >Meanwhile last week new hearings by a grand jury in Oklahoma City convened >to look into the possibility of a wider conspiracy, heard damaging >testimony from two eyewitnesses. > >They claimed to have seen McVeigh on the morning of the bombing accompanied >by as many as three other possible suspects. Their evidence was not heard >in the McVeigh trial as they were not called by either the prosecution or >the defence. > >That Stephen Jones failed to call them is understandable as they would have >implicated his client in the crime. That the prosecution failed to do so >only reinforces the view that there was an as yet unexplained desire on the >part of the US attorneys' office to keep the number of suspects to a >minimum. > <snip> ======================================================================== Paul Andrew Mitchell : Counselor at Law, federal witness B.A., Political Science, UCLA; M.S., Public Administration, U.C. Irvine tel: (520) 320-1514: machine; fax: (520) 320-1256: 24-hour/day-night email: [address in tool bar] : using Eudora Pro 3.0.3 on 586 CPU website: http://www.supremelaw.com : visit the Supreme Law Library now ship to: c/o 2509 N. Campbell, #1776 : this is free speech, at its best Tucson, Arizona state : state zone, not the federal zone Postal Zone 85719/tdc : USPS delays first class w/o this As agents of the Most High, we came here to establish justice. We shall not leave, until our mission is accomplished and justice reigns eternal. ======================================================================== [This text formatted on-screen in Courier 11, non-proportional spacing.]
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