The Oklahoma City Bombing And The Politics Of Terror Part 20

Was the FBI attempting to influence a key witness? A reporter who worked the case later told me, "They were very hooked in with the FBI... the Ryder security was obtained through the FBI... and they're in constant touch with the FBI for briefings, or they were. And I got that from the PR guy who's the Vice President of Ryder in Miami... A Newsweek reporter that I work with got Elliott on the phone, and somebody clicked down the phone as he was talking to her. Elliott was saying 'let me just finish, let me just finish,' and all of the sudden, the phone went dead."[720]

Such a symbiotic relations.h.i.+p between the FBI and Ryder shouldn't be surprising. According to one bombing researcher, Ryder's CEO, Anthony Mitch.e.l.l, is a member of the Trilateral Commission - the New World Order folks. She also uncovered the fact that both the FBI and the ATF have leasing contracts with the company.[721]

To rent his Ryder truck, "McVeigh" allegedly used his pre-paid phone card, obtained in November of 1993 through the Spotlight under the name "Daryl Bridges," to call Elliott's and make the reservation. Vicki Beemer told the FBI she recalled speaking to a man named "Kling." Records supposedly indicate the call was made on April 14, from a Junction City, Kansas bus station.[722]

Yet the FBI had no way of proving that the call placed to the Ryder agency under the name "Kling" was actually made by McVeigh, or even that the Spotlight card was used for the call. OPUS Telecom, which runs the system used for the pre-paid card, maintains no records indicating exactly who placed a specific call.[723]

As an example of the uncertainties promulgated by the FBI, they originally a.s.serted the call was made at 8:44 a.m. from a pay phone at Fort Riley. They later decided it was made at 9:53 a.m. from a pay phone in Junction City. However, Beemer, who took the call, said it came at 10:30 a.m.

At the time the FBI alleged McVeigh made the 9:53 a.m. call, he was at a phone booth down the street from a Firestone store, where he had been negotiating a deal on a 1977 Mercury. The store manager who sold McVeigh the car, Thomas Manning, testified that his customer excused himself, then came back 10 or 15 minutes later. The FBI contends that McVeigh used this period to make two calls, one to Terry Nichols' house, and one to Elliott's. Yet, as the Rocky Mountain News noted: An early version of the FBI reconstruction showed two calls within two minutes from phones 25 miles apart, which implied involvement by someone other than McVeigh and Nichols, since neither was then in the second location.

But the location of that call later was rea.s.signed to a place fitting the government's case.[724]

How convenient.

Moreover, as the defense pointed out, Manning hadn't bothered to mention the fact that McVeigh left the Firestone store for over a year-and-a-half, despite being interviewed by defense attorneys and FBI agents 11 different times.[725]

Additionally, while rental receipts and employee testimony indicates "Kling" rented his truck on the 17th, a Ryder truck was seen days earlier by James Sargeant and other eyewitnesses. Sargeant reported seeing several unidentified men crawling in and out of the cargo area for three days, backed up to the lake so that no one ash.o.r.e could see inside. "I really began to wonder about why someone would be wasting their money on a rental truck out there... no one was ever fis.h.i.+ng, either."[726]

Barbara Whittenberg, owner of the Sante Fe Trail Diner in Herrington, recalled seeing a Ryder truck, along with McVeigh, Nichols, and John Doe 2, on Sat.u.r.day, April 15. The men had stopped by the restaurant for breakfast at 6:00 a.m., and Whittenberg reported seeing a large Ryder truck at Geary State Fis.h.i.+ng Lake later that afternoon.[727]

Lea McGown, owner of the Dreamland Motel in Junction City, and her son Eric, both recall seeing McVeigh pull into the motel with his truck on the afternoon of Easter Sunday, April 16, as did residents Renda Truong, Connie Hood, David King, and King's mother, Hetta. The truck appeared to be an older, privately owned Ryder truck. McGown had just returned from Manhattan, Kansas, where he and his mother were having lunch. The time was approximately 4:00 p.m. Truong testified she had seen it after Easter Sunday dinner, which would have been around dusk.

Yet under examination by the prosecution during McVeigh's trial, Eric McGown would not testify as to the exact date he saw the truck. Yet his FBI 302 said: "He thinks the man came there with a truck on April 16, 1995, and that the Ryder truck sat at the motel all day on April 17, 1995."[728]

His mother, like both Hood and Truong, was certain it was the 16th. As she stated in her FBI 302: She is certain that the Ryder truck she saw parked at the DREAMLAND MOTEL and in which she observed TIM MCVEIGH sitting on one occasion was driven into the motel grounds on Sunday, April 16, 1995.

She recalls that the Ryder truck that was parked at the DREAMLAND MOTEL on April 16, 1995, through April 18, 1995, did not have the word Ryder on the back doors as do other Ryder trucks she has seen. She recalls the back doors of the Ryder truck in which she saw TIM MCVEIGH were a plain faded yellow color, with no printing visible on them.[729]

Hetta King was also sure it was Sunday the 16th. "There's no question in my mind - it was Easter Sunday," King testified.

The reader will recall that this is the exact same day that Phyliss Kingsley and Linda Kuhlman saw the convoy, including "McVeigh," John Doe 2 and 3, and the Ryder truck at the Hi Way Grill just south of Oklahoma City. It was approximately 6:00 p.m.

The two locations are hundreds of miles apart - too far apart to drive in two hours.

This is also the same day the FBI alleged Nichols drove from Kansas to Oklahoma City to pick up McVeigh, who had left his Mercury Marquis near the YMCA as the "get-away" vehicle. Yet a witness at the Dreamland recalled seeing McVeigh's yellow Mercury at the motel the next day.

Interesting that "McVeigh" and his car could be in two places at once.

Real estate agent Georgia Rucker and her son also saw a Ryder truck at Geary Lake days before "Kling" rented his. Then on Tuesday morning, as Rucker again drove by lake, she not only saw a Ryder truck, but two other vehicles as well. She thought this was "very suspicious."[730]

On Monday, April 17, Connie Hood saw the Ryder truck again. This time, there were several men "fiddling with the back of the truck." Hood thinks one of those men was Michael Fortier; she recalls he had scraggly hair and a beard. Those who recall the photo of Fortier taken after the bombing may recall that Fortier had just shaved off his beard, leaving a clearly visible demarcation line.

While these are all blatant discrepancies in the FBI's official timeline, the Bureau was apparently interested in McGown's testimony because the Dreamland is the only place where McVeigh, or someone purporting to be McVeigh, signed his real name.

What is curious is that the FBI has consistently promoted the idea that there was only one Ryder truck involved. Yet the statements of McGown, Bricktown warehouse worker David Snider, and others indicate that there were two Ryder trucks involved. When a Newsweek reporter spoke to the security guard at Elliott's, he said "Think about two trucks."[731]

This fact was reiterated by grand juror Hoppy Heidelberg. "A small number of people testified during the grand jury hearings about two trucks," said Heidelberg. "McVeigh picked his truck up on Monday. John Doe 2 had his truck the weekend before. The fact that there were two trucks I'm very comfortable with."[732]

If McVeigh had rented his truck on April 17, as the FBI contends, why did witnesses report seeing a Ryder truck at Geary State Fis.h.i.+ng Lake as early as April 10? It was at this lake, on April 18, the FBI originally a.s.serted, that the two suspects built their magic ANFO bomb. FBI agents reported finding diesel fuel and strands of detonator cord on the ground.[733]

Yet at the time witnesses first saw the truck at the lake, neither McVeigh or Nichols were in Kansas. As the Denver Post reported: Nichols was returning from a gun show in Michigan, and McVeigh was holed up in a residence hotel in Kingman, Arizona. The government's key witness, Michael Fortier, also was not in Kansas.[734]

Interestingly, shortly before the start of McVeigh's trial, the prosecution dropped its contention that the bomb was built at Geary Lake. It's possible they did so because had the defense brought up the witness sightings on the 10th, it would have conflicted, not only with the prosecution's carefully constructed timeline, but the fact that there were additional suspects.[735]

As will be seen, this is not the first time the government excluded witnesses who's testimony didn't fit with their carefully crafted version of events.

Nevertheless, it was this truck, rented by "Kling" on April 17, authorities insisted, that was loaded with ammonium nitrate and guided by the lone bomber to its final and fateful destination at the Alfred P. Murrah Building.

To build their magic ANFO bomb, the FBI reports McVeigh and Nichols began searching for racing fuel and detonator cord in September of '94. Using the calling card McVeigh and Nichols had obtained under the pseudonym of "Daryl Bridges," ostensibly inspired by the film "Blown Away" staring Jeff Bridges, McVeigh allegedly made over 22 calls to various companies who supply chemicals, racing fuel, and even one of the country's largest explosives manufacturers.

His first call was to Paulsen's Military Supply, just outside of Madison, Wisconsin, looking for detonators. According to authorities, McVeigh left Paulsen's business card in the patrol car upon his arrest, that read, "Dave" (presumably David Paulsen, Ed Paulsen's son, who McVeigh had met at a gun show), with the notation, "More five pound sticks of TNT by May 1."[736]

A salesman at Fatigues and Things, a military store in Junction City, said McVeigh and another man bought a book ent.i.tled Improvised Munitions two weeks before the bombing. The other man was not Terry Nichols.

Prosecutors also called an old friend of McVeigh's, David Darlak, who allegedly received a call from him in an attempt to obtain racing fuel.

Another friend was Greg Pfaff, whom McVeigh had met at gun shows. Pfaff testified that McVeigh had called him seeking to buy det cord. McVeigh was so eager to obtain the cord, Pfaff said, that he offered to drive to Virginia.

Another of the calls reflected on the mens' calling card was to Mid-American Chemical. Linda Juhl, an employee of the company, remembered receiving a call in the Fall of 1994 from a fellow in Kansas who wanted to purchase Anhydrous Hydrazine, a rocket fuel which can be used to boost the power of an ANFO bomb.

The FBI also reported that two individuals, one named "Terry Tuttle," visited Thumb Hobbies, Etc. in Mariette, Michigan in mid-December, 1993, looking to buy 100 percent nitromethane model airplane fuel. According to Sanilac County Sheriff Virgil Stickler, the store clerk inquired about ordering it, then told the customers several weeks later that he could not or would not do so. The clerk said that "Tuttle" replied that it was okay, that they had found another source.[737]

Another incident not made public until the County Grand Jury investigation was the recollection of Gary Antene, who saw McVeigh and John Doe 2 at Danny's Hobby Shop in Oklahoma City the Sat.u.r.day before the bombing. The two men asked him if Danny's carried 100 percent nitromethane fuel.

"I explained that no one in the RC (remote-controlled) airplane hobby used 100 percent nitromethane as a fuel, that at most we generally used nothing over 20 percent," said Antene.

Antene reported the incident to the FBI a couple of times, but was not called to testify at McVeigh's trial, probably because his account didn't fit into the FBI's "official" timeline.[738]

On October 20, the FBI alleged that McVeigh checked into a motel in Pauls Valley, Oklahoma. The next day, he drove 170 miles to the Chief Auto Parts Nationals drag race in Ennis, Texas. Timothy Chambers, an employee of VP Racing Fuels, testified at McVeigh's trial that he and co-worker Brad Horton sold a man resembling McVeigh three 54 gallon drums of Nitromethane racing fuel for $2,775. The man said the fuel was for him and his friends who race Harleys once a year in Oklahoma City. Chambers testified it didn't make sense for a few motorcycle racers to buy that much fuel, and had never seen anyone pay cash for that large a purchase.[739]

Interestingly, the FBI didn't announce this new lead until one month before the start of McVeigh's trial, as other evidence, including that from the FBI's crime lab, began falling apart. The Rocky Mountain News reported that Glynn Tipton had alerted the ATF to the strange purchase as far back as October of 1994.[740]

Yet this "new" evidence would coalesce perfectly with the government's emerging case, now that many Americans were convinced that a simple ANFO bomb hadn't destroyed the Murrah Building. A bomb built with volatile, highly-explosive racing fuel would make the prosecution's case much more convincing.

The startling discovery of McVeigh's racing fuel purchases, like the new revelations of Thomas Manning, or those of Eldon Elliott, were reminiscent of the sudden discoveries by Lockerbie investigators of Libyan terrorists. The 1988 bombing had originally been attributed to Iran, contracted through former Syrian army officer Ahmed Jibril of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command (PFLP-GC), in retaliation for the American downing of an Iranian pa.s.senger liner a year and-a-half earlier. Now that George Bush needed the cooperation of the Syrians for his Gulf War coalition, the blame needed to be s.h.i.+fted to someone else.

Then, ten months after the bombing, Lockerbie investigators discovered new evidence. The owner of a clothing store on Malta suddenly remembered to whom he had sold some baby clothes that had been found in the bomb suitcase onboard the plane. In fact, not only had he recalled the customer, he remembered the precise date of the purchase, and recalled the man clearly enough for artists to render a sketch. He was Abu Talb, a PFLP-GC member who was known to have visited Malta shortly before the bombing.[741]

At least that's what the FBI wanted the public to believe. In fact, owner Tony Gauci and his brother Paul made 18 different statements to authorities, most of which were vague and contradictory. They then signed statements eventhough they couldn't read English. Nevertheless, investigators quickly placed 24-hour guards around the shopkeepers bearing this valuable "new evidence," just as the FBI had done with Eldon Elliott.

Yet records show that the calls to chemical companies continued in October of '94 from Kingman, around the same time that the suspects allegedly drove there to hide stolen explosives, and around the same time they allegedly began purchasing ammonium nitrate. The indictment states that Nichols allegedly stole Dynamite and an explosive called Tovex from the Martin Marietta quarry in Marion, Kansas, not far from where Nichols had been working as a ranch hand.

Bud Radeke, a blaster and driller for Martin Marietta, testified at McVeigh's trial that 299 dynamite sticks, 544 blasting caps, detonator cord, and Tovex was stolen over the long Labor Day weekend. FBI agents discovered a drill bit in Nichols' home that they claim matched the hole drilled in one of the magazine's locks. The suspects had allegedly made the mistake of leaving one of the five locks they had drilled into behind.

Yet could the FBI actually tell from a hole drilled in a lock which particular bit had made the impression? The FBI hadn't discovered the bit in Nichols' tool kit until six months after the robbery. No doubt it had been used since, as Nichols, a handyman, had recently moved into his new house. The signature of the drill bit would undoubtedly have been altered.

How could the FBI be so sure it was the bit which had drilled the locks at the quarry?

Ed Hueske, a firearm and tool examiner at Weckerling Scientific Laboratory near Dallas said a drill bit can "leave marks that are characteristic of the nose of the bit," especially "if the bit is worn or damaged." A former forensic specialist with the Tulsa Police Department, Hueske added that such a test is "not routine," but is "theoretically possible."[742]

Yet if the bit was used afterwards on metal, or if it had been sharpened, it would change the striations of the markings. If it still contained bits of metal shavings from the lock, however, then a match could be made. But agents testified that no shavings were found.

Then how did the FBI match the bit? Frank s.h.i.+ller, a firearm and tool examiner at Forensic Consultant Services in Fort Worth, offered his opinion: "Some of that type of work has been done, but it's not a very frequent thing. I don't think it would be very productive."

s.h.i.+ller, who has 36 years experience in forensic science, has never even been asked to conduct such a test, nor has his boss, Max Courtney, with 27 years experience.

"It would be extremely difficult to match a drill," said s.h.i.+ller, "because of the random motion of the drill moving through its... moving up and down the hole. So it would be hard to track any imperfections or microscopic markings that might be present. That would be a pretty tough task."[743]

Even Hueske, who admitted the theoretical possibility of such a test, said that the two or three drill bit tests he's conducted over the years produced no results.

The quarry also had pre-mixed professional grade ANFO in stock. Why didn't Nichols steal that too, since, as the government alleges, it was the prime ingredient in the bomb? This certainly would have been easier and more discreet than buying large quant.i.ties of ammonium nitrate, diesel, and racing fuel, then attempting to mix it into a gigantic bomb. But for some reason, our prime suspects decided to leave the professional grade ANFO behind, and go to the trouble and expense of making their own.

The two men then allegedly drove to Kingman on October 4, where McVeigh rented a storage locker to hide the goods.[744] It was in Kingman that McVeigh allegedly showed his dangerous booty to his friends, Michael and Lori Fortier. Lori testified at trial that McVeigh asked her to wrap up the blasting caps as Christmas presents for the long ride back to Michigan.

A friend of Nichols and McVeigh, Kevin Nicholas, testified that he helped McVeigh unload his car upon returning to Decker. "I was just grabbing stuff and just throwing it in the back of my truck; and Tim said, "Don't handle them. I'll take care of them two Christmas-wrapped packages there."[745]

Phone records also show that McVeigh called military surplus dealer Dave Paulsen on December 17 from Kingman, and Nicholas testified that McVeigh drove to Chicago to see Paulsen in late December to sell him the blasting caps.

On September 30, 1994, according to the FBI, McVeigh and Nichols, who used the alias "Mike Havens," purchased forty 50-pound bags of ammonium nitrate at the Mid-Kansas Co-Op in Manhattan, Kansas. Then, on October 17, after renting a room in Salina under the name "Havens," Nichols rented storage locker No. 40 at Boots U-Store-It in Council Grove, under the alias "Joe Kyle." On October 18, the dynamic duo was back again at the Mid-Kansas Co-Op, stocking up on more fertilizer, buying another forty 50-pound bags to be stored at the locker in Council Grove.

Nichols attorney, Michael Tigar, attempted to explain his client's use of aliases by stating that Nichols wanted to hide his a.s.sets from Chase Manhattan bank, which had won a large credit card lawsuit against him. This explanation does not explain why Nichols used the alias while purchasing fertilizer.

Finally, there would be the ordinance found at Nichols' home and the farm of his brother James. The Decker, Michigan farm contained 28 fifty-pound bags of ammonium nitrate, non-electric blasting caps, a 55-gallon drum containing fuel-oil, and large fuel tanks which appeared to contain diesel fuel. As previously mentioned, neighbors Daniel s...o...b..r and Paul Isydorak told authorities that the Nichols brothers and McVeigh would experiment with the items to make small homemade bombs.

A search of Terry Nichols' home by the ATF and FBI allegedly turned up 33 firearms, an anti-tank launcher (which was inert), five 60-foot Primadet detonator cords, non-electric blasting caps, ammonium nitrate, a fuel meter (which was inoperable - a fact that was never mentioned), and four 55-gallon blue plastic drums. (Nichols' son Josh, who frequently played at his dad's house, believed the barrels were white with blue tops.) While some accounts indicate that the drums were of the type used in the bombing, the New York Times wrote on April 30, "...it is not clear that they match blue plastic fragments found at the blast site."[746] In fact, the FBI never stated that the fragments removed from bombing victims matched those from Nichols' home. Certainly the FBI, with the most sophisticated crime lab in the world, would have been able to determine whether the fragments were of the same type. Moreover, most of the fragments, if they had come from Nichols' home, would have been white, not blue.

Nichols' attorney, Michael Tigar, raised this issue while cross-examining an FBI agent during a pre-trial hearing. According to Tigar, the FBI's inventory list described the barrels simply as white without blue lids. The agent replied that the FBI doesn't list the lids separately. When Tigar asked the agent why they had inventoried a collection of 5-gallon buckets with the lids listed separately, he had no response.

Those blue fragments may very likely have been from the 80 or so blue trash barrels distributed throughout the building for the purposes of trash collection. As Richard Williams, a 51 year-old GSA manager testified at McVeigh's trial, "They were placed throughout the building for pickup during the week."

One month later, Nichols would write his cryptic letter to McVeigh, instructing him to extend the lease on unit number 37, which allegedly contained stolen coins and guns, and "liquidate 40," in case Nichols failed to return from his last trip to the Philippines. It was this letter that contained the infamous phrase, "You're on your own. Go for it!"

Was this a message inspiring McVeigh to bomb a federal building, or a note encouraging him to make a success of himself in the military surplus business? According to James Nichols, it was the later. Nichols claims his brother was about to make a large cash loan to McVeigh for this purpose, and the note was simply in case of his death. Terry, he said, was a very meticulous and thorough man who always made certain his affairs were in order.[747]

Nichols family friend Bob Papovich also claims the pair was selling fertilizer at gun shows as plant food, along with an odd a.s.sortment of other items sold at gun shows, repackaging it in smaller bags to increase their profit margin.

Yet two tons of fertilizer is an awful lot to sell at gun shows. Had McVeigh and Nichols actually purchased that much fertilizer? What is interesting is that employees of Mid-Kansas Co-op were never able to positively identify McVeigh or Nichols during the purported fertilizer buying trips. Although employee Frederick Schendler thought one of the men may have been Terry Nichols, he said during a pre-trial hearing that the second man wasn't McVeigh. He was driving a truck that didn't appear to be Nichols', with a red trailer attached. Papovich told me that Nichols owns no such truck.

Federal prosecutors were also counting on a receipt found in Nichols' home for the purchase of a ton of ammonium nitrate, allegedly containing McVeigh's thumbprint. Had Nichols foolishly kept a receipt for bombing materials that could be traced back to him? Was he as stupid as Mohammed Salemeh, the World Trade Center bomber who returned to the Ryder agency after the bombing in an attempt to retrieve his rental deposit? Or was McVeigh's fingerprint actually on the receipt after all?

FBI agent Louis Hupp testified at trial that he hadn't found McVeigh's fingerprints at Elliott's, in motel rooms where McVeigh stayed, or in the storage lockers where McVeigh allegedly stored the bomb-making materials.[748]

Ramsey: Agent Hupp, you identified - or handled many doc.u.ments with regard to fingerprints, didn't you, with regard to this case?

Hupp: Yes, ma'am.

Ramsey: Did you also test the Ryder rental truck reservation form?

Hupp: Yes, I did.

Ramsey: And did you find Timothy McVeigh's fingerprints on that?

Hupp: No, ma'am.

Ramsey: Did you find Timothy McVeigh's fingerprints on the Ryder rental truck form where he actually - where it was actually rented?

Hupp: No, ma'am....

Ramsey: Did you check the counter at Elliott's Body Shop for fingerprints? I don't recall if I asked you that or not.

Hupp: The countertop was removed by me and transported back to headquarters and was in fact processed for latent prints.

Ramsey: And did you find any fingerprints of Timothy McVeigh?

Hupp: No, ma'am.

Ramsey: And did you also check to see if there were any fingerprints on any of the storage units that have been discussed in this case?

Hupp: Yes, ma'am.

Ramsey: And did you find any fingerprints of Timothy McVeigh?

Hupp: No, ma'am.

Hupp also testified that he had not found McVeigh's prints on the rental paperwork, or the key belonging to the Ryder truck, found in a nearby alley. Yet Hupp explained, "There are many times a person doesn't leave prints. It's a chance impression."

What if the FBI had claimed it had discovered prints?

On November 22, 1963, after JFK's murder, the FBI took Oswald's Mannlicher-Carcanno rifle to their Was.h.i.+ngton, D.C. crime lab. The technicians concluded that Oswald's prints were not on the weapon. The FBI then returned the rifle to the Dallas Police Department. Shortly thereafter, the DPD excitedly announced that they had "discovered" Oswald's palm print.[749]

This "new evidence" forced even the Warren Commission's chief counsel, J. Lee Rankin, to conclude, "Because of the circ.u.mstances which now exist there is a serious question in the minds of the Commission as to whether the palm impression that has been obtained from the Dallas Police Department is a legitimate palm impression removed from the rifle barrel or whether it was obtained from some other source...."

In 1984, FBI Agent Vincent Drain, who handled the weapon, was questioned by JFK researcher Henry Hurt. Drain concluded that there never was such a print. "All I can figure is that [Oswald's print] was some kind of cus.h.i.+on because they were getting a lot of heat by Sunday night. You could take that print off Oswald's card and put it on the rife. Something like that happened."

In spite of this, the Warren Commission made no effort to resolve the issue, and presented Oswald's so-called palm print as fact.[750]

Yet the fertilizer receipt containing McVeigh's thumbprint wasn't the only ammunition in the FBI's a.r.s.enal of specious evidence. Prosecutors would rely heavily on an explosive component called PETN, allegedly found on McVeigh's clothing. A pair of earplugs found on McVeigh also reportedly tested positive for EGDN, a chemical found in dynamite. Finally, there was a piece of plywood from the Ryder truck which contained glazed ammonium nitrate crystals.

Yet once again, this evidence was highly questionable. It seemed the crystals had disappeared before independent experts for either the prosecution or defense could confirm its existence.

Interestingly, affidavits of Frederick Whitehurst, a Special Agent in the FBI's lab division, announced to an incredulous public in September of 1995 that the Bureau had been mishandling evidence and slanting results to favor prosecutors for years.[751]

As one FBI lab technician told the New York Times, "You get an inadvertent bonding of like-minded individuals supporting each other's false conclusions."

After federal agents searched the residence of Richard Jewell, a private security guard who was an early suspect in a bombing at the Atlanta Olympics... FBI scientists and other specialists warned that "you've got the wrong guy," an FBI laboratory official said. But their cautionary remarks, based on the absence of even trace amounts of explosive materials, went unheeded for months.[752]

In March of 1997, the Los Angeles Times reported the findings of the Justice Department Inspector General's office, which concluded that the lab made "scientifically unsound" conclusions that were "biased in favor of the prosecution" in the Oklahoma City bombing case.