ALREPORT

Augrrst l5J99S Volume XI, Nuinber 8

Anyone who has worked in a bureaucracy knows how
: afl-consuming apublic scandal can be. Lacking any real'
worktodq andfeadng only publicexilosure, press atEntion
catseswholed!paftnents toslip into chaos and effectively
toshutdowp
That dosctibix the current status of the ATF, the FBI,
' .1
'
and the Justice Department, and many other agencies
.in
. :
govbrnment that are watching the fun. A series of mishaps
: , (not to mention murders) has undermined their credibility
anddrmed e*h agency into a vipet's nest of rccriminations.
.
' '
' The "Good
Ol' Boyi'Roundup-'. attended by agents of
,theFBl;theIRS, AfF, andotheragencies hos led to serious
,
r
probtems for the agencies. Agents wero shown on a video
. :' engagi4ginactivitiesthatTtreasurySecretary
Robert Rubin
:.
r.
'describ!d,as'la$ectly
nacisd and anti-Ssmitic behavior'"
'
:Thouble is, it is supposed io be the militios and right-
,
ryinganti-goicrninentgpupswhodorncistsndsnti-Semitic
'
",thinBs.However,Ican'tttmemberseoing
a Hollywood ptu
'
duction about"hate" in the fedcral govemment. This is why
,
: lthis
videil,:filmed Uy ail actual militia member, has caused
.
suchra stir. Therp is no bvidence the militias ffe haters; but
.. lnow We've,g$ b video that shou,s govenurnnt agenb doing
'
'
things thc govbd'rgrent itSelf has defined as hate crimes.
.'
."that video is
.on!y
the beginning of the federal
govemlnent'S tnoublss right now. It has capped weelcs of
'
Glasnostonthe twoincidens'that have galvanized tlr big-
,
ilast-
anti-govomment movbment this counky has seen since
,,.: the.WhislrcY Rebellion.
.
Thematterof Ruby Ridge, amurderous affairwhich has
beconie a iallyingpoint for everyone oppressed by tlre feds,
is aconhal cquse ofthe uproar. the crlse offers'an inside
lookathow ilri federal governnrent operates: thmughthleats,
.
coercion, killiirg, and lYing.
llreytiediolaep iiundir wraps, butJustice Depaitment's
secrctstudy on theRandy Weaver case-has surfacedthariks
Are the Federal Chickens
ComingHome ToRoost?
to a heroic leaker. It is 542 pages long, and was sent anony'
mously onto the lntemet, becoming impossible to suppt!.ss.
The study demonstrated that key documents wer!de-
stroyed showing how Weaver's wife and young son werc
killed in 1992. The FBI and Justice are replete with intemal
recriminations and accusations.
FBI agent Michael Kahoe has been suspended pending
this investigation. He was responsible for the very first
Weaverrcview, and may have shredded documents. Sources
ar!now saying that if these charges are proved tnte, this
would indicate a coverup by the higheist-ranking FBI officials.
Testimony at the Randy Weaver aial showed that the
FBI fint removed ull evidence. Once an investigation en-
sued, they 'teplnced" all the materials in the cabin pretend-
ing that they had never touched it, and some of it was
made-up. This was one of the main reasons the defendants
won witlrout calling a single wihess.
This investigation is important because it will show that
the FBI is more illegal than the people it is investigating.
All pariotic Americans were outagedttratl-arry Potts, who
gas in charge of both Waco and Ruby Ridge, was prr>
moted to second in charge at the FBI. kior to Congres-
sional hearings, however, the Clinton administrdtion booted
him back down again.
These high profile cases where the FBI is caught in
wrongdoing are crucial to the funle of the country. They
ideaof beingheld
tt
can cripple these government activities and diminish the
governiient's respectaUitity in ttre eyes of tlre public' The fiuth
is tFatFBI, ATF, and DEA abuses ar!toonumerous to count,
:and
the vast majgrity never rcach the newspapeis'
At the samernoment of thesb Weavei disclosulps, another
ahocious incident is coming unraveled: Waco' Thanks to an
amazing amount of constituent
pr!ssure-prossure that has
oily inCreased since the OHahoma City bombing despite me-
dia.smears-4ongrcss
is holding hearings and demanding
:
docuinenh from the Justice Department and the ATF A
joint
House committee demanded additional papers from the White
.
Houie on
justhow the raid was approved.
fne Wtritp House responded that they wouldn't give the
DaDc$ on
grcund
that "sorrrc of them go to the core of the
i<inds of thilgs the institutional
pttsidency must protect" and
are'qtotally innocuous."ifrirmm'
Why does that not sound like
aplauisible rcason?
.
Here's what the White House fears. Clinton was briefed on
,
:'the raid on April 18, 1993, the day before it occuned' His
papers- should have complete notes on what occuned at the
. meetings, which'may in tum give some indication about the
: 'reasons
the raid was approved in the fnst'
There s still a great deat of mystery surrounding why the
Branch DavidiAns were targeted in the fint place' There are
' thouiandsofnbn'riminsfieamreligious
groups in this country.
. 'Some arc left Wing, $me att dght, ard somo 8rB apolitical.
'
I
Many of ttrem have an insitutipnalsupply of food and weapons'
'
:
:Thc
goVemmei$ ge.nerally leaves tliem alone.
:,
1 .,
What did the Branch Davidians do to bring them to the at-
"
Entionof tlrefeds, Edwhy
didthey aiouse so much snirnosity
r
,
.with
the Justice'Department? What was the role of the secre.
:'
,
tive and powefirl
lCult
Awnreness Network' in identi$ing
i,lhs
group andcontacting itsfriends atthe Justice Deparnnent?
.r . YVherc did Janet Reno
Eetthe
idsa that children were being
;,
':
,
abused hside
the compound? Why did sho continue to say so
,
'. after shb had beentconected? Who was advising her within
.
'
ttro deptutmentaud w\at are the institutional affrliations of her
advisors outside of the dspnrtmsut?
ftdre are hundreds olottror questions. For example: Did
,:, ,
the agCiiG tnow thai theeS gas they
Pumped
so massively
:
'into'the house.waq highly flammable? Is this what caused the
firc? Did they also knoru that it was deadly for children?
:
Tho Washingon Establishmsnt is against these hearings'
. Trey
'don't
want any suggestion, ever, thirt the govemment is
some.0ring less than wonderful to become
public. D.C' also
.,
'
hales the idea of being held accountable for its astions.
If the new freshmen-who are primuily responsible for
thephgarings{o nothilS else in ftisCongress beside hold
thcsc hearings, tliey will have
justified their terms, 'The entire
goum*tnt-*ill not come crashing down. but if they do their
job,
they will likel! expos!a consliracy at the highest levels
of government
The Republican leaden[rip of the House and Senate are al-
ready being offered deals to back away from the uglier aspects
of the Waco and Weaver arocities. But with their own party
members and voten breathing down the backs of their necks,
they may be in no position to accept'
Meanwhile, the bureaucrats in the federal govemment con-
tinue to hold memorial Services for the victims of the Okla-
homa bombing. Nothing is yet scheduled for the far more'
numerous victims of the govemment'
Against all odds, the facts about Waco and Weaver are
making il into public, and complains against the govemment
are being heard. The psychological change this causes cannot
be overlooked. People have begun to look more carefully at
other police functions of the govemment-in particular the
brutat tactics it uses to collect revenue-and ask even more
questions.
A Dollar Coin?
I'm often asked whether I favor replacing the dollar bill
with a dollar coin. As much ss I don't like paper money, it's
probably better than a tin dollar spraypainted gold'
The govemment says it can save $400 million per year with
the new coin. Since when did lWashington care about such
amounts? There's more going on here. Before the govemme. nt
undertskes a much larger switch of ttre cunency, the Fed and
the Treasury want to see how well a switch from one form of
curcncy to another goes.
Though you will never read this in the news stories, that's
why the dollar coin continues to be an issue. After the Susan
B. Anthony fiasco, when ttrc govemment issued a form of
money thafnobody really waned, theburcaucrats are shy about
'
any formof new money. ff they intendtoexchangeourpr!sent
stockof nrcney with bills which are colorcd andcan be traced'
tlny have to make sure they won't be rejected by ttre market
But the move has set somi powerful business intorests
against the govemmeft:fin Amedcan Banking
Association
opposes ttrelaeaon solid grounds.It is moreexpensive
to ship
doitar coins than dollar bills. The change would simply shift
thoug
D(
then
cents
Wher
he sa
.
_TT
insta
monl
som(
bank
TI
Mex
But I
up tc
serio
port(
ide*
ahea
D
have
. itwc
baik
thist
in
hi
o
asci
of ,4
- ,
, , l i
' tion
_
banl
Naf
.-"--t;o
the l
hunt
is th
Mor
T
tlts l
than
fton
theY
Con
T
InV
eosts form tbe goverflment to the private sector.
Cur!ntly, Sinators are shifting around todecide
$e
fate of
the dollarcoin issue,Kitultimately pasqes Coqgress, it will be
witli a vbiy loirg phase-in period of four years or rflore;My
prediction:tiElollar