NRA-ILA FAXLINE NRA Institute for Legislative Action 11250 Waples Mill Road * Fairfax, VA 22030 Phone: 1-800-392-8683 * Fax: 703-267-3918 7/24/95 NRA-ILA Special Report THE WACO HEARINGS: DAY FOUR Roger Altman, Former Deputy Secretary of the Treasury In a memorandum to Secretary Bentsen on April 15, 1993 regarding the use of an advanced form of tear gas on the compound in Waco, Altman stated the following: "This is the Attorney General's decision. You said, on Meet The Press, that nothing like this would occur without your knowledge. As I understand it, you will be formally notified if Janet Reno OK's it. "My rough guess is that she won't. The risks of a tragedy are there. And if the FBI waits indefinitely, Mr. Koresh eventually will concede." "Treasury Report 'Coverup'" Former BATF Deputy Director for Enforcement Dan Hartnett continued to assert on day four of the hearings that the Treasury Report on Waco contained "false statements, distortions and very significant omissions." In addition to Hartnett's criticism of the Treasury Report, he pointed out that his own "shooting review" report was returned to him with pages "missing." He stated "secrecy and safety" were always an element of the plan, but that nobody ever called and said abort if you lose the element of surprise. In fact, he points out that until after the raid he had never heard the term element of surprise used. Hartnett's accusations were supported by the testimony of Chuck Sarabyn, Former BATF Asst. Special Agent in Charge (ASAC) in Houston and Phillip Chojnacki, former Special Agent in Charge (SAC) in Houston. Both Sarabyn and Chojnacki stated that they never received an explicit order from BATF or Treasury officials to cancel the raid in the event that the element of surprise was lost. In fact, this dispute -- whether or not the agents received the order to abort in case surprise was lost -- is one of the primary elements that led to the dismissals of Sarabyn and Chojnacki from the BATF. Congressman Chabot pursued this issue when he questioned Daniel Black, of the BATF personnel office, who signed memos recommending their dismissal and later in October of 1994 signed voluntary settlement agreements reinstating Sarabyn and Chojnacki with back pay, benefits and payment of their attorneys' fees. Congressman Chabot questioned the motivation for re-hiring the agents. Chabot questioned Black, "Either the Treasury report that lays the blame on Sarabyn and Chojnacki is faulty or someone was trying to buy their silence by rehiring them. Mr. Black, which was it?" He answered that it was neither. Representative Zeliff questioned Hartnett on the issue of a cover up of the truth most directly in the following exchange: Rep. Zeliff: "Do you believe that these facts demonstrate an intent to cover up the truth by the Treasury report?" Hartnett: "Yes. Yes, Sir." Rep. Zeliff: "By Ron Noble specifically?" Hartnett: "Yes." Where's the Warrant? The panel was repeatedly asked why the raid was conducted in the way it was. Again and again, Congressmen challenged the wisdom of such an aggressive plan, why there were few contingency plans, and why all other methods of executing the warrants were discarded. The plan for the raid was so prioritized around dynamic entry that none of the agents testifying on this fourth day could say who was in possession of the warrant at the time of the raid. Even BATF agent John Henry Williams -- who was charged with approaching the front door of the center -- did not know the whereabouts of the warrant and only knew that his orders were to enter and secure the building. The tactics employed were further called into question, when Phillip Chojnacki -- in response to a question as to why BATF did not attempt to secure a "no-knock" warrant -- responded that the situation did not call for a "no-knock" warrant. Chojnacki: "Normally no-knock search warrants are for those kinds of situations that relate primarily to narcotics, where the evidence can be immediately destroyed. In our situation, it could be destroyed, but not in an immediate timeframe." "Showtime." In questioning Sharon Wheeler, BATF agent in charge of media relations, Congressman Bob Barr raised the issue of staging the raid as a media event. While Wheeler denied that the raid was orchestrated for PR purposes, she did admit that she notified local news media that BATF might have "something going on" and that a press conference was planned upon the successful execution of the warrants. Congressman Zeliff questioned Wheeler as to the origin and significance of the raid's nickname "Showtime." He concluded that the term was, at least, "a poor choice of words." Nonetheless, the premeditated staging of the sensational elements of the raid, advance press notification -- even the raid's nickname ("Showtime") -- seemed to paint a picture of an operation in which image- building considerations were weighed as heavily as law enforcement concerns. What Type of Guns? Central to the hearings -- and to the very raid itself -- was the question of illegal firearms in the Branch Davidian center, and this issue took center stage again on hearing day four. As widely reported, the National Rifle Association Institute for Legislative Action (NRA-ILA) retained Failure Analysis Associates June 14 to assist in development of data on the Waco tragedy. One of the scientific tasks the firm was given was to examine the Branch Davidian guns to determine type. On Monday, June 26, Dr. John Moalli, Managing Engineer with FaAA, arrived in Austin, Texas, to x-ray of fire-damaged guns and other materials retrieved from the compound. Said Dr. Moalli: "It was our understanding that we would be able to examine guns and other materials and conduct X-ray and other non-destructive analyses on which our scientific findings would be based." Equipped with a truck load of sophisticated analysis equipment, the engineers were denied access to the guns and other materials by Mr. Richard Scruggs, formerly personal assistant to Attorney General Janet Reno and currently Counsel for Intelligence Policy for the Department of Justice. Today, U.S. Rep. Louise Slaughter questioned FBI firearms expert James Cadigan. Rep. Slaughter: "A lot has been made of the fact that an outside group wanted to go down to Texas and X-ray those guns to make sure they'd really been altered. Now, you're the FBI gun expert. What do you know abut X-raying guns? Cadigan: "Well, in my particular opinion, that would -- X-raying the guns can certainly be done [but] it would be a waste of time." Rep. Slaughter: "Is that a normal procedure, X-ray guns?" Cadigan: "No, Ma'am." Rep. Slaughter: "How did you determine that guns had been altered?" Cadigan: "I examined each one of the firearms that was submitted to the laboratory. And as I mentioned this morning, it was 297 firearms in various states or various conditions. And of those that I determined were fully automatic, I looked at each one of the firearms and noted by observation under the microscope the parts that were necessary to make those firearms fire in the full automatic mode." Rep. Slaughter: "How many did you locate that had been converted?" Cadigan: "There were 48 that had been modified out of the 297." Media Blame Game Blacks Out Waco Civil Liberties Issues News Stresses Politics Over Substance of Hearings Media accounts of the Waco hearings ignored key civil liberties issues that arose repeatedly during the last week's hearings, according to a new study by the Center for Media and Public Affairs (CMPA). The study found that child abuse charges and political infighting dominated news of the first week of hearings (July 19-21), while PBS's MacNeil/Lehrer Newshour gave Waco more airtime than the "big three" network evening newscasts combined. Robert Lichter, the director of CMPA stated, "The problem with not covering the hearings live is the evening news is as superficial as ever. If we only get the soundbite version, nobody's going to learn anything. We're not going to have the debate that we need to clear the air." Lichter blamed the lack of live coverage on over-concern with advertising revenue. In the latest findings from CMPA, child abuse charges and political infighting dominated Waco news breaking today. In the wake of Kiri Jewell's and social worker Joyce Spark's testimony, charges of child abuse by David Koresh appeared in 21 stories, followed closely by charges that the hearings were politically motivated (20 stories). By contrast, the BATF's decision to stage its ill-fated raid appeared in only 6 stories, and questions of whether BATF established probable cause for its warrants came up 8 times. In short, none of the issues being investigated by the U.S. Congress have attracted nothing more than light coverage. EVEN LOWER MEMBER DISCOUNT ON TRANSCRIPTS!! Complete transcripts of the hearings are available to NRA members for an even LOWER DISCOUNT RATE of $9.95 a day!! Call Jack Graeme at the Federal News Service at 1-800-969-3677 to receive a daily transcript. Be sure to mention that you're an NRA member to secure the incredible discount rate. Hearing quotes excerpted from Federal News Service transcripts. =+=+=+=+ This information is provided as a service of the National Rifle Association Institute for Legislative Action, Fairfax, VA. 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