The Oklahoma City Bombing And The Politics Of Terror Part 23

Fortier: Yes.

Jones: And his last name, sir?

Fortier: I think you're referring to Glynn Bringle.

Jones: Did you have a conversation with him by telephone on April the 30th?

Fortier: Yes.

Jones: And did you say, "I want to wait till after the trial and do book and movie rights. I can just make up something juicy"? And then did you laugh?

Fortier: I'm not sure if I laughed or not, but I did make that statement.

Jones: "Something that's worth The Enquirer, you know." You made those statements.

Fortier: Yes, sir.

The obvious inference was that the "Justice" Department had a hand in generating the Fortiers' testimony. As Jones pointed out during his closing argument, the terms of Fortier's plea agreement provided that any leniency would be contingent upon his performance in court.

Not true, according to the FBI, which spent over 175 hours soliciting statements from the Fortiers; and Joseph Hartzler, who met with his "star witness" between 7 and 10 times to "make sure he told the truth."[827]

In fact, during McVeigh's trial, Lori Fortier testified on cross-examination that she had arrived in Denver five days before she was scheduled for trial. She testified that she spent the better part of Friday, Sat.u.r.day, Sunday, and Monday practicing for her testimony with federal prosecutors.

Philadelphia prosecutors spent a lot of time with Veronica Jones to "make sure she told the truth" too - convincing her to implicate journalist Mumia Abu-Jamal, accused of shooting police officer Daniel Faulkner. Jones, who was facing unrelated felony charges at the time, originally told police she saw two other men flee the scene. After threats and promises from police, she changed her story, testifying to the government's version of events. Her felony charges were subsequently dropped.[828]

Fortier, whose speech and appearance were magically transformed for his day in court, reportedly received a reduced sentence of three years in exchange for his testimony. His wife Lori was granted complete immunity from prosecution for her's.

Jones also accused the FBI of hara.s.sing Jennifer McVeigh and her friends in the days after the bombing, hoping to obtain derogatory information about her brother. He said the FBI scared people "beyond belief with threats of prosecution" if they didn't talk.[829]

On the fifth day of Jennifer McVeigh's interrogation, the FBI ushered her into a room with huge blown up pictures of her and her brother (taken off her refrigerator door), and babies who died in the bombing. Interspersed between the photos were statutes from the U.S. Code pertaining to treason, with phrases such as "Treason is punishable by death," and "The penalty for treason is DEATH." (government's emphasis) Under cross-examination, Jennifer was asked if she was aware that treason is only punishable in times of war. Stunned by this revelation, she answered, "No."

The FBI also tricked Jennifer into testifying by promising her immunity from prosecution if she cooperated. During a break in the trial, a reporter asked prosecutor Vicky Behenna why Jennifer needed immunity. "She didn't," Behenna replied," but she wouldn't testify without it, so we gave it to her."[830]

The FBI also tricked Marife Nichols into signing a consent form before they searched her house. When she was asked if the agents advised her of her right to retain a lawyer or refuse to answer questions, the 23-year-old Filipino answered, "I don't remember. I don't think so." Marife said that when she asked whether she did need a lawyer, prosecutors and FBI agents discouraged her. "They told me, 'You're okay as long as you are telling the truth. You don't need a lawyer."[831]

James Nichols discovered they were raiding his house after he heard it on the news. "I heard on the radio they were raiding a house in Decker, Michigan. I said, 'Wow, that's awful close to home.' Well, within an hour I found out... Mine!"[832]

Nichols believes the ATF, which raided his house, set him up to be murdered, either as an act of revenge or to prevent him from testifying at trial. He told Dateline's Chris Hansen that after the agents entered his home, they asked him to retrieve a gun he kept in his bedroom. Nichols responded, "No, I won't go get it. I told you, send an agent or two in there to go do it." 'Aw, go ahead. Go and do it,' the agent responded, and they all turned their backs, real nonchalantly. I said, 'Whoa, wait a minute...' They'd 'a shot me, because they would have just said 'He pulled a gun on us.' The fate of Terry and Tim would have been signed, sealed and delivered... Dead people don't testify."[833]

For his part, Terry Nichols believed that he was not in custody after he walked into the Herrington, Kansas police station on April 21 to see why his name was being broadcast on television. Apparently, the agents were hoping they could get more out of Nichols by leading him to believe they had no intention of arresting him.

"Mr. Nichols was coerced, deceived, and subjected to psychological ploys designed to overcome his will and make him confess," his attorney stated in a legal brief. Defense attorneys also contend Nichols was falsely promised he could review agents' notes on his statements for accuracy, and was falsely told he or his wife could be present at searches.

Prosecutors countered that federal agents acted "with remarkable diligence and in a manner that honored the Const.i.tution."

Sure.

Frank Keating: Damage Control Inc.

"We are going to impose our agenda on the coverage by dealing with the issues and subjects we choose to deal with." - Richard M. Cohan, Senior Producer of CBS News "The business of the New York journalist is to destroy the truth, to lie outright, to pervert, to vilify, to fawn at the feet of Mammon, and to sell his race and his country for his daily bread." - John Swinton, CEO, New York Times, New York Press Club, April 12, 1953.

"The Central Intelligence Agency owns everyone of any significance in the major media." - William Colby, former CIA Director Eight months after the bombing, Oklahoma State Representative Charles Key, dissatisfied with the "official" investigation, attempted to form a state oversight committee. House Speaker Glen Johnson ridiculed Key's efforts, stating his satisfaction with the Justice Department's official fantasy tale. Anyone who subsequently attempted to challenge the government's official line was publicly discredited by Governor Keating, sneered at by Attorney General Drew Edmondson, and laughed at by the mainstream press.[834]

The local media provided a convenient platform for Governor Keating to dismiss critics of the government's handling of the case, including Edye Smith, Hoppy Heidelberg and Representative Key. In an attempt to discredit Heidelberg, Keating headed a carefully orchestrated chorus of media pundits, stating that Heidelberg was "off the reservation."

Keating also joined KWTV in attacking KFOR's coverage of the Middle Eastern connection, stating they lacked integrity.

He labeled Jim Levine, an attorney who represented several victims pro bono in an attempt to release money from the Governor and Mayor's Victims Relief Funds a "bottom-feeding" lawyer.[835]*

For his courageous efforts in uncovering the truth, Keating said Representative Key was "baying at the moon."[836]

Along with bombing victim Glenn Wilburn, Key attempted to impanel a County Grand Jury. Such a jury, operating outside the scope of the federal investigation, would not only have the power to investigate facts ignored by the federal grand jury, but have the power to level criminal obstruction of justice charges against anybody whom they believed might have impeded the investigation.

Given the allegations of wrongdoing in the federal investigation, such charges could conceivably be leveled against everybody from the ATF to the Justice Department.

In an interview in the McCurtain Gazette, Key explained, "Indisputable proof exists now that the federal grand jury was purposely s.h.i.+elded from witnesses who saw Timothy McVeigh with other suspects, both prior to and immediately after the bombing a.s.sault.... They may have a good motive for this, but thus far it escapes me - and, I might add, several members of the federal grand jury who witnessed this farce."

Keating's response, quoted in the Daily Oklahoman was: "I don't think a legislative committee would contribute one whit of intelligence to this process."[837]

The Daily Oklahoman and the Tulsa World, the state's two largest dailies, which should have led the pack in ferreting out the truth of this terrible tragedy, instead led the local media chorus with editorials such as this one in the Daily Oklahoman, ent.i.tled, "Drop It, Mr. Key."

The Daily Oklahoman has opposed Key's mission from the beginning.... State Rep. Charles Key's quest to prove that a government conspiracy played some role in the Murrah Building bombing is a weird and misguided exercise.... Oklahoma County District Attorney Bob Macy is correct in appealing a court ruling that allows Key a free hand to seek a county grand jury probe of his conspiracy theories....[838]

The Tulsa World chimed in with editorials such as "Making Tragedy Pay," which labeled Key as a "dedicated hustler" peddling "goofy theories" to rightwing-crank audiences." They also accused the representative of profit-making from the sale of his bombing videos, which barely paid for themselves. The fact that Key had recently lost his insurance business due to his tireless efforts investigating the bombing, and was living on his $33,000-a-year salary to support a wife and three children in a small, ramshackle house, was not mentioned by the yellow journalists of the Tulsa World.

The "truth seekers" of the local media weren't finished either. They eagerly focused on the efforts of Drew Edmondson, who accused Key of proposing a "wasteful witch hunt" and of engaging in "the worst kind of paranoid conspiracy pandering." (See Appendix) One article reported how Edmondson had convinced the State District Attorney's Council to oppose Key's investigative funding bill.

"This is unprecedented, as far as I know, for the Attorney General to go to such lengths with the District Attorneys Council and to use such intemperate language," the soft-spoken Key told The New American.

In fact, local radio polls revealed that an overwhelming majority of Oklahomans supported Key's efforts. While the Tulsa World and the Daily Oklahoman went to extremes to label Key as a "conspiracy nut," they never bothered mentioning that little fact.[839]*

Naturally, the CIA-connected Was.h.i.+ngton Post would have their say, comparing the "myth" of John Doe 2 to the Loch Ness Monster.

Lead prosecutor Joseph Hartzler added his voice to the ensemble, calling the leads "whacky theories."[840]

Key's grand jury pet.i.tion was quashed on November 6th, 1995 by District Judge Daniel Owens on the grounds that it would be "re-inventing the wheel."[841]

Key appealed. As his attorney, Mark Sanford stated, "Legally [Owens] didn't have the right to quash the pet.i.tion. But because he's a judge he has the power, whether it's legal or not."[842]

Beverly Palmer from Bob Macy's office argued at the appeals hearing in defense of Owens, claiming that the pet.i.tion was "insufficient on its face," and the request was duplicitous of the federal grand jury's efforts.

Yet, as Appeals Judge Ronald Stubblefield pointed out, nowhere did Judge Owens state why the pet.i.tion was insufficient. In fact Stubblefield was highly skeptical that Owens had any facts to advise him properly in his decision. "I question whether Judge Owens has the discretion" said Stubblefield. "He's just operating on what he knows about the bombing. Do you think it's right to make a judgment based on what he reads in the newspaper?"[843]

The same could be said about DA Bob Macy. At the time I interviewed him, he was collecting information on the case by reading Morris Dees' Gathering Storm, and The Turner Diaries. This was a year and-a-half after the bombing - a bombing that occurred right outside his window. He didn't know about John Doe 2. He had no idea about the Middle Eastern connection. He had done absolutely no investigation.

"I have not seen these things you are talking about right now," Macy told me. "When I see the evidence... I haven't been presented with the evidence." Macy subsequently claimed he wanted me to work with his so-called "task force" that was "investigating" the bombing, then never called me back.

His att.i.tude was adequately reflected by his a.s.sistant DA, Beverly Palmer. Visibly nervous, Palmer grasped at straws during the appeals hearing, arguing that the grand jury shouldn't be convened because of the need for "judicial economy," and that it contravened "public policy concerns."

"What policy concerns?" Judge Daniel Boudreau asked.[844]

In spite of the efforts of a group of good ole' boy politicians to sabotage justice, Judge Stubblefield remained firm: "The people have the right to circulate a pet.i.tion if the people find that things aren't going the way they ought to be," he said. "Is it not the right, by the sanctified right of the grand jury in Oklahoma, to inquire whether a crime is committed? Don't they have the right to investigate people who they think are involved? This is a highly protected right."

The Appeals Court upheld Key's right to pet.i.tion for a County Grand Jury by a unanimous vote.

Just two months before the hearing Macy claimed to this author that he intended to prosecute McVeigh and Nichols in a state trial on 161 counts of First Degree Murder. "I don't like taking a second seat to the [federal] prosecution," Macy stated. "The bombing killed 10 of my friends."

In a May 24, 1995 letter to Senator Orrin Hatch, one of the original drafters of the Anti-Terrorism Bill, Macy wrote: First, immediately following the trial or trials in Federal Court, I shall, working in conjunction with the United Sates Department of Justice and the federal law-enforcement agencies investigating the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Building, prosecute the cowards responsible for murdering innocent people in the area surrounding the Federal Building....

The State of Oklahoma has an overwhelming, compelling interest to seek and obtain the maximum penalty allowable by law for the senseless and cowardly killings. Not only is it in the interest of the State, it is my sworn duty to seek those sanctions, and I intend to fully carry out my responsibilities....

Every day of delay represents a victory for these cowardly cold-blooded killers and another day of defeat and suffering for the victims and all other Americans who cry out for justice.[845]

Macy also impressed upon the author his interest in getting at the truth: "I'm prepared to do what ever it takes to get to the truth," Macy exclaimed. "My sole intent is in learning the truth!"

Yet when asked if he intended to conduct an investigation independent of the Feds', he said, "Well... I don't want to be a party to anything that will interfere with the Feds' prosecution. I Don't want to open up a new can of worms." [846]

After Macy lost the appeals hearing, he met with Wilburn and Key, explaining that he actually wished to cooperate with their investigation. Three days later, the two men discovered that Macy had decided to contest the Appeals Court's decision.

When a furious Key confronted Macy, all that the courageous, truth-seeking DA told him was, "They won't let me." When Key demanded to know who "they" were, Macy just lowered his eyes to the floor and repeated, "They won't let me."[847]

Key later learned from a source at ABC News that Macy had received a conference call from Janet Reno's deputy Jamie Gorlick, and the government's lead prosecutor, Joseph Hartzler, along with Governor Keating, Oklahoma City Fire Chief Gary Marrs, and Judge Daniel Owens.

When the grand jury was finally impaneled, federal prosecutors quickly attempted to block the testimony of federal employees.

Key also accused [Chief a.s.sistant DA Pat] Morgan and others in Oklahoma County District Attorney Bob Macy's office of influencing and intimidating witnesses. "I am very upset about it," Key said. "Everyone should be outraged because of this."[848]

Interestingly, during a debate with Representative Key, Keating stated, "n.o.body could get away with a cover-up; it would not be tolerated by civilized Oklahoma City.... n.o.body's afraid of the truth."[849]

KFOR's Jayna Davis shed some light on the "truth-seeking" efforts of Bob Macy and the good ole' boy network of politicos from which he descends. Two years earlier, after an 8-year-old boy was raped, both Davis and the Public Defender demanded to know why Macy hadn't done anything. When Macy thought the camera was off, he whipped around and sternly admonished the reporter: "Lady, I don't know who you are or where you came from, but this isn't how we do business in Oklahoma!"[850]

Representative Key eventually took the case to the Oklahoma Supreme Court. In his opposing brief, Macy again argued that it would be "a waste of the taxpayers' time and money to convene an Oklahoma County Grand Jury when one was already in session or when a Federal Grand Jury had already heard all available evidence."

The Supreme Court did not agree with Macy. They unanimously upheld Key's right to impanel the grand jury, which was seated in June of '97, and is hearing evidence as of this writing.

Naturally, the Ministers of Truth at The Daily Oklahoman wasted little time, pumping out more bland editorial drivel to muddy the waters. The following piece, ent.i.tled "Conspiracy Theories," focuses on the fact that the County Grand Jury is only exacerbating the "agony" of some victims, who are apparently more concerned with some fairy tale notion of "closure" then in learning the truth: Whatever the cause, the delay adds to the agony of those bombing victims who believe the investigation is a waste of time.

The Oklahoman shares that belief, but we are optimistic the probe may satisfy many who are suspicious about events before the bombing. Yet, we wonder if the more conspiratorial-minded will ever be satisfied....

Conflicting conspiracy theories and an olio of circ.u.mstantial evidence abound here. Jurors in Denver sorted through testimony and found McVeigh guilty. Frustrating as it may be to some, there is little more to this crime than meets the eye. The rest is the stuff of fiction.[851]

By the Daily Oklahoman's account, the numerous credible witnesses who saw Timothy McVeigh with other suspects on the morning of the crime adds up to little more than "circ.u.mstantial evidence," while what prosecutors presented at trial - McVeigh's phone calls to chemical companies, his political views, and the completely irrelevant emotional tales from bombing victims - are not.[852]*

Given the local media's connections to the political good 'ole boy network via the Was.h.i.+ngton-connected Frank Keating, their position is hardly surprising. Famed Watergate journalist Carl Bernstein put some perspective on the matter when he revealed in a 1977 Rolling Stone article that over 400 U.S. journalists were employed by the CIA.

These ranged from freelancers who were paid for regular debriefings, to actual CIA officers who worked under deep cover. Nearly every major U.S. news organization has had spooks on the payroll, usually with the cooperation of top management.

The three most valuable a.s.sets the CIA could count on were William Paley's CBS, Arthur Sulzberger's New York Times and Henry Luce's Time/Life empire. All three bent over backwards promoting the picture of Oswald as a lone nut in the JFK a.s.sa.s.sination.[853]

The political good 'ole boy network wasn't finished trying to stop the courageous efforts of Representative Key. On May 7, 1997, Edmondson subpoenaed Key before a multi-county grand jury, alleging that he violated procedures in raising money for the bombing investigation. The Daily Oklahoman proudly proclaimed how it had played a critical role in bringing about the investigation of Key: The Attorney General's action is a result of an inquiry by The Oklahoman about Key's seven-page solicitation letter on the Internet. The letter asks for money to "secure copies of the voluminous (federal) government doc.u.ments and to pay independent investigators" and other expenses for the county grand jury investigation....

Bill Graves, an attorney who represented Key at the grand jury inquest, stated: "The law is pretty clear that you are not required to register before you hit the ten thousand dollar threshold, and Charles [Key] had not hit that limit so was not required to register. Edmondson knows that. They're just trying to slow Charles down or stop him through hara.s.sment."[854]

"This is all about stopping us and making us shut up, said Key. "If I would just quit the grand jury deal, this would all go away."[855]

Says V.Z Lawton, a HUD worker who survived the bombing, "You don't have to be that bright or look that hard to see the fraud and hypocrisy in these charges. For over a year and a half, they've been doing everything imaginable and employing the most absurd arguments to prevent Charles from impaneling a grand jury to investigate one of the worst crimes in our country's history. Now, after he's overcome all of their legal challenges in the courts and is close to getting a county grand jury investigation going, they drag him before a multi-county grand jury for what amounts to jaywalking, while the bombing and other genuine, serious crimes go uninvestigated."[856]

Lawton also brought to the attention of bombing investigators a February 5th, fax transmission to federal employees on the official letterhead of Attorney General Drew Edmondson. The letter sought signatures from survivors to go with letters that were to be sent to various news organizations. The cover sheet said it came from Richard M. Wintory, Chief Deputy Attorney General of the Criminal Division.

The letter, ent.i.tled, "A Plea to the Media from Oklahoma City: Don't O.J. Us!!!" purports to be a spontaneous response from victims asking the media not to "manipulate" and "exploit" them "for no purpose other than to enhance their ratings on the air and in publications."[857]

This obvious propaganda counteroffensive was in response to ABC 20/20's January, 1996 show about prior knowledge. It referred to the "so-called report" by ABC as "tabloid journalism" filled with "unsubstantiated and baseless claims that have been repeatedly debunked."

"We are appalled at the lack of interest in the truth and the underhanded method utilized by 20/20" stated the letter, which claimed that ABC had wrongfully implied that certain victims agreed with the "paranoid delusion" of the "ridiculous theory of government conspiracy in this crime." It added that "reporters are sometime tempted to forget the truth." Ultimately, it stated, "It is PEOPLE that matter in this life, either money nor possession nor a Pulitzer Prize."[858]

This cla.s.sic PSYOP piece launched by Edmondson (which he angrily denied in a letter to the author) was signed, "Many Survivors and Family Members, Oklahoma City Bombing."

Lawton and HUD employee Jane Graham were two survivors who angrily denounced the letter for the sham that it was. "Since the communication was loaded with lies and half truths, I certainly could not sign it," said Lawton, "and I felt like a state Attorney General could better spend his time supporting an effort to find the truth rather than this transparent effort at helping to hide it."

"I am angry," stated Graham in a typed response to the letter, "that the Attorney General's office would play on the emotions of this office at HUD under the guise of keeping us posted on how they are proceeding and planning the case, causing further emotional turmoil in this office between employees."[859]

During a June 13, 1997 television interview, Edmondson was asked why those witnesses who saw McVeigh with other suspects were never called to testify at McVeigh's trial. Edmondson replied that prosecutors usually don't present witnesses whose testimony isn't "credible" or conflicts with other witnesses.

Rodney Johnson, who saw McVeigh with another man in front of the Murrah Building moments before it exploded, called Edmondson's statement "misguided."

"I took those comments to be rather personal," said Johnson.[860]

Edmondson's blatant attempt at coercing the victims to pander to the official government line is similar to a letter from a group of victims suggesting pa.s.sage of the Anti-Terrorism Bill. The recipients were urged to call Edmondson if they were interested in partic.i.p.ating.

Of course, while Edmondson accused ABC 20/20 of "manipulating" and "exploiting" the bombing victims, it is obvious that Edmondson himself hasn't done anything to manipulate or exploit anyone.[861]

Interestingly, several months after the scandalous smear campaign against Representative Key, Governor Keating was accused by the Oklahoma Ethics Commission of 32 violations of using state-owned vehicles for political fund-raising, including the state's $2.9 million airplane. Conveniently forgetting his own shameful and dishonest smear attacks against Representative Key, Keating sanctimoniously whined about how the allegations were "irresponsible, silly and completely unjustified." No doubt the Ethics Commission was "off the reservation," and "baying at the moon."

In spite of his unsuccessful attempts to smear honest men like Representative Key, Keating and his crooked political cronies wasted no time in discrediting Edye Smith, calling her allegations "hysterical." Smith was the mother of two young boys who perished in the bombing - Chase and Colton. Smith immediately gained the attention of concerned citizens all across America. Hundreds of thousands of letters and checks began pouring in, and relief agencies used Chase's photo on a poster memorializing the disaster.

On May 23, the day the Federal Building was demolished, Edye Smith, in a live interview on CNN, stated, "There's a lot of questions that have been left un-answered. We're being told to keep our mouths shut, not to talk about it, don't ask those questions..."[862]

CNN's Gary Truchmann asked Smith to describe the nature of the questions: "We, along with hundreds of thousands of other people want to know, where was the ATF the morning of April 19th? All of their employees survived. They were supposed to be the target of this explosion and where were they...? Did they have a warning sign? I mean, did they think it might be a bad day to go in the office?[863]

"They had an option to not go to work that day," Smith continued, "and my kids didn't get that option, n.o.body else in the building got that option. And we're just asking questions, we're not making accusations. We just want to know why and they're telling us, 'Keep your mouth shut, don't talk about it.'"[864]

Truchmann quickly ended the interview.

Kathy Wilburn was the Grandmother of Chase and Colton. Wilburn was among the first to arrive at the scene of the bombing, and she and Smith, who both worked at the nearby I.R.S. office, had witnessed the carnage first-hand. Now, as she watched the building come down, an eerie silence filled her soul. Later that afternoon, Kathy Wilburn walked into the empty room where the little boys had lived, picked up their stuffed animals, and began to cry.

Wilburn's husband Glenn had been a vocal opponent of the government's investigation, and their explanation of the bombing did not sit well with him. The Grandfather felt the loss of the two boys keenly. Wilburn had taken it on his own to investigate the bombing, and the facts he was coming up with did not make him happy.

On the afternoon the building was demolished, Wilburn received a call from U.S. Attorney Patrick Ryan. Ryan wanted to meet with him and speak with the family.