Official Charged With FBI Cover-UP

By Jerry Seper

Wednesday, October 23, 1996
Washington Times


A high-ranking FBI official was charged yesterday with illegally destroying an internal report on bureau actions in the 1992 siege of white separatist Randall Weaver, telling a subordinate to "make it appear" as if the report never existed.

E. Michael Kahoe, who formerly headed the FBI's violent-crimes section and was the agent in charge of the Jacksonville, Fla., office, was named in Washington on a one-count "felony information" accusing him of obstructing justice.

Mr. Kahoe was accused of ordering that an FBI after-action critique of the bureau's institution of "shoot-on-sight" orders during the Ruby Ridge, Idaho, siege be destroyed to make it unavailable in the trial of Mr. Weaver and Kevin Harris on charges of killing U.S. Deputy Marshal William F. Degan. An Idaho jury acquitted both men.

Mr. Weaver's wife, Vickie, and his 14-year-old son, Samuel, also died during the standoff.

Four other FBI executives, including former Deputy Director Larry A. Potts, remain under investigation by U.S. Attorney Michael Stiles in Philadelphia for the siege. They were suspended more than a year ago for the shoot-on-sight orders that resulted in Mrs. Weaver's death.

The filing of a criminal information, instead of an indictment, usually means the defendant has reached an agreement with prosecutors to plead guilty and become a cooperating witness.

FBI officials had no comment on the filing. Mr. Kahoe was not available.

During the August 1992 siege, FBI sniper Lon Horiuchi killed Mrs. Weaver and wounded Mr. Weaver and Mr. Harris, who was visiting the cabin. The siege began after Samuel Weaver and Mr. Degan were killed in a gunfight as marshals tried to arrest Randall Weaver for failing to appear in court on gun-sale charges.

No court date has been set for Mr. Kahoe. He could face a 10-year prison sentence and $250,000 fine if convicted.

The government, in its court filing, said Mr. Kahoe destroyed the after-action critique between January and April 1993 so it would not be available to lawyers in the Weaver-Harris trial. Prosecutors sought the document in an effort to prepare their case and would have been obliged to turn it over to defense lawyers. The filing said Mr. Kahoe ordered a subordinate at FBI headquarters "to destroy all copies of the Ruby Ridge after-action critique and to make it appear as if the Ruby Ridge after-action critique never existed.

FBI Director Louis J. Freeh suspended Mr. Kahoe, Mr. Potts and four other agents with pay in August 1995 pending the Stiles inquiry. Eight months earlier, Mr. Freeh ruled there was no evidence that crimes had been committed or that FBI officials had engaged in "intentional misconduct."

Mr. Freeh said Mr. Kahoe was suspended for his lack of candor after he admitted destroying the after-action critique of the siege. He received a letter of censure and a 15-day suspension for an "inaccurate and incomplete" analysis of the shooting. At the time of the standoff, Mr. Kahoe worked for Mr. Potts.

One of the suspended agents, Anthony A. Betz, was returned in June to his post as assistant agent in charge of the FBI field office in Baltimore. FBI officials said he remained neither a target nor a focus of the Stiles probe.

Mr. Potts, who oversaw the Ruby Ridge siege from the FBI's Washington headquarters, initially was demoted in July 1995 after members of Congress questioned his leadership in the siege.

Mrs. Weaver's death ignited a bitter fight inside the FBI over who approved the shoot-on-sight policy. The FBI has had a ban on lethal force except in self-defense. Two agents blamed in the killing have sworn that Mr. Potts approved the policy. Mr. Potts has denied the accusation.

Eugene F. Glenn, agent in charge of the FBI's Salt Lake City field office and commander at the Weaver site, said FBI executives mishandled a review of the case to protect Mr. Potts. In a May 3, 1995 letter to the Justice Department, Mr. Glenn--who was censured, suspended and ordered transferred for his role--said the FBI review was incomplete, inaccurate and designed to "create scapegoats and false impressions."

According to modified rules of engagement for the Weaver siege, FBI snipers "could and should" shoot any armed man. Mrs. Weaver was killed as she stood in the cabin's doorway holding her infant daughter. Mr. Freeh called it a "tragic accident."

Mr. Weaver was sought by authorities for failing to appear in court on charges of selling two sawed-off shotguns. The case was handled by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and went to the Marshals Service after Mr. Weaver was judged a fugitive. The FBI was called in after Mr. Degan's death.

Remaining under suspension with Mr. Potts are Danny O. Coulson, former deputy assistant director of the FBI's criminal division, who blamed field commanders for the new policy; George M. Baird, who worked on the internal FBI report; and Gale R. Evans, the No. 2 agent in Salt Lake City, who was at the siege.

The Stiles probe, according to sources, has focused on whether FBI executives lied and destroyed documents to cover up the bureau's actions in the siege. Investigators also have reviewed the conduct of agents at the scene.