Democrats Urge An Outside Look At Siege Of Waco

By Joyce Howard Price THE WASHINGTON TIMES

August 30, 1999

Sen. Charles E. Schumer and Rep. Sheila Jackson-Lee, both staunch supporters of Attorney General Janet Reno, yesterday called for an independent investigation of the 1993 government assault on the Branch Davidian compound near Waco, Texas. "The FBI had its chance to do this investigation on its own; they clearly muffed it," Mr. Schumer, New York Democrat, said on NBC's "Meet the Press." "The only way to clear the air is to have an outside investigation."

Mrs. Jackson-Lee, Texas Democrat and a member of the House Judiciary Committee, said she believes it would be useful to have an independent probe "in addition to the internal [Justice Department] review" that Miss Reno called for last week.

"We must bring Americans the truth about what happened in Waco six years ago," Mrs. Jackson-Lee said on CNN's "Late Edition."

The two Democrats are part of a growing bipartisan chorus in Congress for an independent probe of the April 19, 1993, siege at the Waco compound, which ended with a fire that killed 86 persons, including 24 children.

Sen. Arlen Specter, Pennsylvania Republican and a member of the Judiciary Committee, said Saturday it would be inappropriate to include FBI agents in the probe, as Miss Reno intends to do. Other Republicans expressed concern about her plan in television appearances yesterday. Several senior congressional Republicans, declaring a lack of faith in Miss Reno's explanations about the Waco incident, said yesterday they will move quickly to open House and Senate investigations.

Although it happened six years ago, the Waco incident became the hottest news story in Washington last week when the FBI admitted it had used incendiary devices on the day of the fire. Previously, the FBI had denied using flammable tear-gas canisters.

Miss Reno told the press she was never informed such devices were used, and she immediately ordered an official investigation into what happened at the Waco compound that day. The FBI insists the flammable tear-gas canisters did not cause the fire.

In announcing the internal probe, the attorney general said it would include 40 FBI agents. But many in Congress say the FBI should not be part of the investigation, given that agency's previous denials that it had used pyrotechnics during the siege.

"The credibility of the FBI's at stake, law enforcement as a whole. . . . You're talking about possible perjury charges," Rep. Asa Hutchinson, Arkansas Republican and a member of the House Judiciary Committee, said on CNN's "Late Edition."

"FBI agents should not be utilized in the investigation," Mr. Hutchinson said. Instead, he wants an independent probe. "It could be a joint committee of Congress, bicameral in nature, certainly it should be bipartisan. . . . It could also be done in terms of a blue-ribbon commission appointed by Congress."

While Miss Reno insists she was never told pyrotechnic tear-gas canisters would be used by the FBI in the Waco siege, Byron Sage, former FBI supervisory agent who was on the scene in Waco, said yesterday on "Fox News Sunday" it "would have been impossible for someone to use one of those devices without the knowledge and approval of a higher-up." Sen. Orrin G. Hatch, Utah Republican and chairman of the Judiciary Committee, told Fox "Janet Reno would have been the one responsible . . . who would have had to have authorized the use of those canisters." "There are a lot of people . . . concerned about whether this has been a big cover-up by the Justice Department and the FBI," he added.

Mr. Sage, who was the chief negotiator at the Waco siege, strongly denied the FBI tried to cover up the fact that it used flammatory devices in the Texas raid. The fact that such devices were used is part of the record, he said. "But it was buried in the magnitude of the evidence presented in relation to this case."

Mr. Sage also said the FBI is "absolutely correct" when it says it did not cause the huge conflagration that took so many lives. He said the flammable tear-gas canisters were fired at a construction pit 50 to 75 yards from the main compound, where the fire broke out, and hours earlier.

"According to my best information, the devices were deployed, bounced off a roof, and ended up in an adjacent field and, even then, didn't start a fire," Mr. Sage said on Fox.

Asked why agents would have fired tear gas at a site where no Branch Davidians were located, he said a tunnel connected the construction pit to the main compound. "The purpose was to attempt to take away that area as a possible staging area for a counter assault, or whatever might have been the situation," he said.

Rep. Dan Burton, chairman of the House Committee on Government Reform, said on NBC's "Meet the Press" that he would issue subpoenas this week to Justice and Defense Department officials to ask why information on the Waco operation is just now coming to light.

Asked if he believes there was a deliberate effort to conceal information about the pyrotechnic devices, the Indiana Republican said: "It wouldn't surprise me if Janet Reno tried to keep the lid on it. She's done that before." Pressed as to whether he trusts Miss Reno, Mr. Burton said, "I certainly do not."

The new investigations into the FBI raid including one announced by the Pentagon Friday will also try to determine if any laws were broken as a result of the presence of officers from the Army's Delta Force. At issue is whether the military personnel were observers or actual participants in the operation.

On Fox yesterday, Mr. Sage said two or three military officers were on hand "periodically" during the 51-day siege, including the day of the fire. "They were there strictly as observers and advisers," advising on matters such as "how to secure a perimeter...in the high plains of Texas," he said.