THE OKLAHOMA CITY BOMBING INVESTIGATION A Real Fertilizer Story by David Hoffman As Americans wait for the start of what is sure to be the most important criminal trial of the decade, those closest to the tragedy are uneasy. A dark cloud of suspicion looms over the inhabitants of this land of perennial thunderstorms as surely and as ominously as the cloud of media disinformation that has all but obscured the light of truth. As the victims of this tragedy grapple with the pain of a lost limb or loved one, another inexplicable anguish has been slowly seeping into their consciousness. It is the slowly creeping realization that the government which they had trusted to protect them has gone terribly wrong. This realization has touched not only a growing cadre of conspiracy theorists, but ordinary housewives, dedicated journalists, and astute politicians. It is a realization backed by an increasingly obvious barrage of government double-talk, lies and intimidation. "Anyone who thinks the government is involved in this thing well, that's complete lunacy." - Governor Frank Keating While the federal government has been accused of tampering with evidence, obstruction of justice, and even outright conspiracy in this case, nowhere has the government's malfeasance touched the lives of those involved more than in its intimidation of the victims and witnesses of this tragedy. As those with the determination and courage step forward to question the government's handling of the case, they have been silenced by the FBI, discredited by politicians from President Clinton to Governor Keating, and laughed at by the mainstream press. Edye 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..." 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 theyI? Did they have a warning sign? I mean, did they think it might be a bad day to go in the office?" "They had an option to not go to work that day," Smith continued, "and my kids didn't get that option, nobody 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.' " 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. He had also formed a loose alliance with others investigating the bombing, including State Representative Charles Key. 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. "They wanted to set our minds at ease that there wasn't anything sinister going on," said Wilburn. Two days later Smith and Wilburn were visited by an entourage of federal agents including Patrick Ryan, ATF Agents Chris Culyer and Luke Franey, an I.R.S. Criminal investigator, and a member of the victim's assistance team. "They all came in and sat down and said 'We want to answer your questions and make you feel good.' I said 'fine.' Then I looked them right in the eye and said, 'You guys had no indication that April 19th could be a dangerous day down there?' They both answered, 'no sir.'" "Well, two hours later I turned on the TV, and CNN is interviewing ATF Director John Magaw. The interview starts out, "Mr. Magaw, based on the significance of April 19th, did you take any precautions?'" "Well, if there was ever a point that I was hooked into this thing, and there was nothing that was gonna' stop me," recalls Wilburn, "that was it because by God, somebody lied that morning." Ryan's conciliatory meeting with the family did not last long. The federal prosecutor became nervous after Wilburn casually mentioned that he had talked to a family lawyer about the case. Ryan quickly got up and left. Two months later, Edye Smith and Kathy Wilburn had their Workers' Compensation checks cut off. Out of 462 federal employees affected by the blast, they were the only two employees who were mysteriously "denied." "We are now preparing to convince the U.S. House of Representatives to pass the Anti-Terrorism Bill as soon as possible" - Oklahoma bombing victims The federal prosecutor's patronizing attempts to ease the concerns of the victims soon manifested itself in a letter to victims' families. In the letter Ryan states: "...Remember that the many FBI agents and prosecutors working on this case have not forgotten you or your loved ones. Not a day goes by that we don't think about what this disaster has done to your family.. As you know, President Clinton and Attorney General Reno have pledged the full support of the Department of Justice and, indeed, the entire nation to insure the most complete and thorough investigation. You deserve nothing less. Although one can almost hear the dripping violins in the background, this account from the U.S. Attorney is not as sanguine as we are led to believe. Attached to Ryan's letter was an article from the Washington Post entitled "What About The Anti-Terrorism Bill." Also included is a letter from Oklahoma City D.A. Robert Macy to Senator Orin Hatch, a drafter of the bill, recommending support for the Habeas Corpus provision. In a letter from one group of victims' to others, an appeal is made for the new legislation, and victims are urged to call Oklahoma Attorney General Drew Edmonson if they are interested in participating. "We are now preparing to convince the U.S. House of Representatives to pass the Anti-Terrorism Bill as soon as possible," states the letter. It is uncertain whether the Anti-Terrorism Bill (which was signed into law as P.L. 104-132) could be construed as well-meaning. Ensconced in its cryptic language are provisions which would allow the President and the Justice Department to define which groups are subject to the increasingly broad definition of "terrorist." It would allow expanded use of wiretaps and allow illegally-seized evidence to be used in court. It would permit federal and local police agencies to trace financial information without obtaining evidence of a crime. It would allow "no-knock" searches. And it would allow the military to intervene in certain domestic situations deemed a national security threat. In short, it guts the First, Fourth, Fifth, and Seventh Amendments to the Constitution, lays the framework for an entrenched police state, and gives the federal government full power to target anybody who is deemed a threat to its authority. While separately none of these letters from the U.S. attorney or the D.A. could be construed as violating the Hatch Act (no relation to Orin Hatch) regarding influencing public opinion on pending legislation, taken together and in context, they come dangerously close. Habeas Corpus reform, the provision for repealing the limits on appeals of death row inmates, is a logical first step in garnering public support for larger and more insidious provisions of the Anti-Terrorism Bill. "There's not one person in this city who believes Timothy McVeigh blew up the federal building by himself." -Melissa Klinzing, New Director, KFOR-TV It is no secret that our constitutional protections have been steadily eroded for decades. Police and federal agencies routinely lie, plant evidence, search illegally, and murder innocent citizens. Such tactics were tried, tested and reached their culmination at Philadelphia's MOVE bombing, Ruby Ridge and Waco. Many people believe they are now being tested in Oklahoma. The Anti-Terrorism Bill would only serve to cement such flagrant criminal activity, paving the way for [even more] legally sanctioned abuses of citizens. President Clinton and Justice Department have been pushing such legislation heavily. "It's been six months since the Oklahoma City bombing," said Clinton during a press conference, "and they still haven't passed the bill." Given the implications of the Anti-Terrorism Bill and similar currently pending legislation, federal authorities have a vested interest in promoting the idea that Timothy McVeigh, the "crazed right-wing militant," was behind the deadly blast that killed 169 people. "There's not one person in this city who believes Timothy McVeigh blew up the federal building by himself," said Melissa Klinzing, News Director of KFOR, an NBC affiliate in Oklahoma City. Almost from the beginning, the mainstream press has focused all it's attention on McVeigh, painting him as a spurned ex-soldier who was angry for failing to make the Special Forces; an extremist right-wing 'Patriot" who hated the government with a passion for their atrocities at Waco. McVeigh, the angry mis- guided loner, it is alleged, conspired with anti-government tax protester Terry Nichols to teach the federal government a lesson in Oklahoma. Yet scant attention was focused on the other suspects. John Doe 2, the mysterious entity who had accompanied McVeigh in the truck used in the bombing. Witnesses also saw him with McVeigh in a store, at a bar, and at the truck rental shop before the bombing. Still others claim to have seen him speeding away from the scene. All in all, there are over a dozen witnesses who reported seeing John Doe 2. The search for John Doe 2 quickly became the biggest man-hunt in FBI history. "The FBI has conducted over 9,000 witness interviews and has followed every possible lead in an intensive effort to identify and bring to justice anyone who was involved in this disaster," stated Patrick Ryan in the letter to the victims. Yet while many eyewitnesses stepped forward to tell the FBI they had seen John Doe 2, not one was ever called before the Grand Jury. In August the FBI put out a story that John Doe 2 may have actually been Todd Bunting, a soldier at Fort Riley, Kansas, who had rented a truck at the same dealer McVeigh had. Yet the employees of the dealer had dismissed Bunting as the person that was seen with McVeigh, and the John Doe 2 lead was quickly dropped. John Doe 2 had been a red herring, a false lead, the FBI claimed. John Doe 2 hadn't really existed. "No one who saw McVeigh with other suspects, was ever allowed to testify before the Federal Grand Jury." -Former Grand Juror Hoppy Heidelberg When David Hall at KPOC-TV asked the FBI about the All Points Bulletin they had put out on the brown pick-up containing John Doe 2 immediately after the bombing, they denied any knowledge of it. But when Hall, who had a copy of the dispatch, played it back for them, the FBI suddenly had "no comment." "It's strange that the official version has focused on Nichols and McVeigh, and that the government is now busily engaged in denying all possibility that there could be anybody else," said Nichols' attorney Michael Tigar. Hoppy Heidelberg was one of the Grand Jurors charged with the task of evaluating the evidence. Heidelberg, who quoted often from the juror's handbook, was aware that the Grand Jury was charged with the task of determining the relevance of the evidence, and asking those questions pertinent to the case. So far, all the evidence presented by the government centered around Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols. Heidelberg wanted to know why prosecutors had not subpoenaed the many witnesses who had seen John Doe 2. "No one who saw McVeigh with other suspects, was ever allowed to testify before the Federal Grand Jury," said Heidelberg. But Patrick Ryan seemed to be controlling the Grand Jury. He did not like Heidelberg's tendency to go against the flow. In the letter to the victims, Ryan states: The United States has never maintained or even suggested, that no other person or persons were involved with McVeigh and Nichols in the commission of these crimes. As stated earlier, the question of involvement of others is the subject of intensive investigation by federal investigators and prosecutors who are totally devoted and committed to identifying and prosecuting all persons involved in the planning or commission of these crimes. Heidelberg was eventually dismissed by federal Judge David Russell for having the audacity to question the prosecution's evidence. The government's excuse for dismissing Heidelberg was an anonymous interview he gave with Media Bypass magazine. But Heidelberg claims the real reason was a letter he wrote to Judge Russell dated October 5th, in which Heidelberg states: The families of the victims deserve to know who was involved in the bombing, and there appears to be an attempt to protect the identity of certain suspects, namely John Doe 2I "I think they (the government) knows who John Doe 2 is, and they are protecting him," said Heidelberg in an interview in Jubilee Magazine. "This is because John Doe 2 is either a government agent or informant and they can't afford for that to get out." But Heidelberg's brush with the government didn't end there. After agreeing to an interview with Janya Davis at KFOR, he received a call from the U.S. Attorney telling him that a reporter was on her way and that he was not to talk to her, or he would be arrested. "They tried everything to shut me up," Heidelberg said. "they have said they were going to throw me in jail. When that didn't work, they got down on their hands and knees and begged. I meanI they have tried everything to keep me from talking to the press about this." "There's some reason they're covering this up. After awhile, they must think they can get away with anything. But they're not gonna get away with this." - State Representative Charles Key The government didn't stop at intimidating victims like Edye Smith and jurors like Hoppy Heidelberg. Manipulating evidence also seemed to be a major tool in their arsenal of deceit. Located just four miles from Oklahoma City, the seismic data monitor at the Omniplex had recorded the shock waves of the explosion on April 19th. The seismograph readings, including one from the University of Oklahoma 16 miles away in Norman, presented startling evidence--evidence that the explosion that ripped through the Alfred P. Murrah building may in fact have been several distinct blasts. The implications of this are ominous. At a meeting of the Oklahoma Geophysical Society in October, Seismologists Ray Brown and Tom Holzer gathered to discuss the findings. Pat Briley, a seismic programmer, attended the meeting, as did U.S. Attorney Patrick Ryan. As Briley describes it, less than a third of the way through the presentation, Ryan got up, walked to the back of the room, and began giving a private press conference. "I haven't heard these scientists present any evidence that there was more then one bomb," said Ryan, "and I don't think it will come up in the trial." "They hadn't even gotten half way through their presentation when Ryan said this," recounts Briley. "Patrick Ryan lied very heavily. This guy really lied." After the meeting, Briley politely asked Ryan to provide the scientists the original seismogram in the FBI's possession. Ryan got up, angrily accused Briley of working for the defense team, then stammered out of the room. While direct intimidation remains the pervue of agencies such as the FBI, both Ryan and Keating have had convenient platforms from which to blow smoke at their critics. Keating has made many appearances on Jerry Bohnen's talk radio, KTOK. KTOK is located at 50 Penn Place, in the same building that houses the FBI. KTOK and The Daily Oklahoman have provided Keating with a convenient platform to dismiss critics of the government's handling of the case, including Representative Charles Key and Edye Smith. In fact, Keating wasted no time in discrediting Smith, calling her allegations "hysterical." Yet it is interesting to note that out of thousands of checks that people mailed to the Red Cross and the Salvation Army for Smith, none were ever received. Those sent through Keating's office had been opened, checks and pages missing. Keating's answer: interning college students were responsible for the thefts. Perhaps former G-Man Keating was training the young lads for upcoming counter-intelligence operations. Such are not unusual tactics for a man who worked as an FBI agent during COINTELPRO (the FBI's Counter Intelligence Program of the mid-60's to mid 70's), where he infiltrated anti-government organizations like the Weathermen, the Black Panthers, and the SDS (Students For A Democratic Society), and stated he sees little difference between them and the militias. Keating also served as Assistant Attorney General under Edwin Meese. Meese was Attorney General during the 1985 fire-bombing of the MOVE headquarters. MOVE was a group of black housing activists who were living in a squatted building in Philadelphia. The satchel charge, dropped from a helicopter by Philadelphia's finest, resulted in the deaths of over 11 people, including five children, and destroyed an entire square block of the city. Instead of launching a proper investigation into the matter, Meese's response was "consider it an eviction notice." But Keating's involvement with the scions of truth and justice doesn't end there. Keating served in the Bush administration as Assistant Treasury Secretary during the Iran-Contra investigations. Gene Wheaton, an investigator who specializes in counter-terrorism, assassinations, and international narcotics and weapons trafficking, observes that it was George Bush who personally selected Keating as Assistant Secretary of the Treasury in 1986, where he supervised the Customs Service, The Secret Service, and the ATF. Keating has always been at the nexus bridging the agendas of good ole' boys like George Bush, with their elitist agendas, and the subsequent covert-operations sub-cultures which they spawned. In an article in the Portland Free Press entitled "Another Bush Boy", Wheaton writes: "The covert-operations 'lunatic fringe' in Washington, which took over key operations at the national security level, still controls them today, was Bush's 1981 agenda, and Keating is the next generation to carry it on." It was only three months after Keating's inauguration as Governor that the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah federal building occurred. Given his background and grooming, Keating was in a perfect position to direct "damage control." As Wheaton notes: Keating is an a perfect position to control the direction and scope of any state investigation which might not correspond to the official federal inquiry. It appears that Keating is doing just that. As Governor, Keating was in a position to halt the hurried demolition of the Murrah building, ordered by federal authorities under the guise of "safety." The demolition was ordered under the pseudo-psychological premise of providing "closure" to the festering wound hanging over the city. The demolition also effectively prevented any independent forensic investigation of the bomb site. "There's some reason they're covering this up," stated Oklahoma State Representative Charles Key. "After awhile, they must think they can get away with anything. But they're not gonna get away with this." Eight months after the demolition, Key, dissatisfied with the official investigation, attempted to form a state investigative oversight committee. House Speaker Glen Johnson and District Attorney Robert Macy successfully blocked Key's attempts, stating their satisfaction with the official investigation. Key also 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. "We get there and all of a sudden they've been told to shut up," -Melissa Klinzing, News director, KFOR-TV Given the allegations of wrongdoing in the federal investigation, such charges could conceivably be leveled against everybody from the ATF to the Justice Department. Key never got the chance. The motion was quashed by District Judge Daniel Owens on the grounds that it would be "re-inventing the wheel." Hence, the "original" wheel of justice continues to turn. That is, for everybody except the victims, journalists and the defense team. Grand Jury transcripts were sealed from the beginning. Journalists and defense lawyers have been barred from obtaining documents, hundreds of which have been sealed by federal judges. Lawyers for Media Group, a coalition of journalists, filed a motion to unseal the documents. In their brief, they state: "Already over 100 documents filed in the matter have been sealed and dual docket sheets (one for the public and one "not public") established. This has created an aura of secrecy about filed pleadings in a criminal trial that may be unprecedented..." On April 28th the tape of James Nichols' hearing was released by court order, and it was blank. Nothing whatsoever could be heard on the tape. It was the only record of the proceedings. This aura of secrecy quickly turned into obstruction of justice, as FBI agents routinely instructed witnesses not to talk to defense team investigators or reporters. KFOR Channel 4 has been taking the lead in investigating the case. Yet KFOR found it almost impossible to interview witnesses. "We get there and all of a sudden they've been told to shut up," said Melissa Klinzing, KFOR's News Director. Lea Moore, a woman who was badly injured in the blast, was contacted by a reporter from the L.A. Times. While he was enroute to interview her, she received a mysterious call from the FBI telling her not to speak to him. Moore, a diminutive woman in her fifties, was frightened. When the reporter showed up at her door fifteen minutes later, Moore didn't answer. Norma Smith, who worked at the Journal Record building across from the Murrah building saw, along with several others, the police bomb squad congregated in the parking lot at 7:30 on the morning of the blast. Shortly after Smith's story appeared in a local newspaper, her house was broken into--twice. Smith, frightened, took early retirement and moved out of state. She is currently too afraid to talk to anyone. The bomb squad, incidentally, denied ever being there. Journalists and investigators who have attempted to interview rescue workers, including firemen, police and other city officials are denied interviews. Most workers say they've been told not to talk by their superiors or the FBI. They are afraid for their jobs, their families. One witness who is not afraid to talk is Dr. Paul Heath. A Veteran's Administration official who worked in the Murrah building, Heath had spoken to McVeigh and two of his associates at his office several weeks before the blast, when they approached him "looking for jobs." Heath was interviewed by the FBI no less than ten times. "He [the FBI agent] confronted me saying he did not want me telling the story any longer," said Heath. "He said it was a false story, that I had made it up, that it was a figment of my imagination, and that if I pursued it, he would publicly discredit me." "I said to him, 'that is the most despicable, uncalled for attitude that I've ever seen, and I don't know why you said that to me, but I can tell you, you're not going to change my reality with it.'" Heath, already upset by what he witnessed the day of the bombing, is now uncertain what will happen to him. In a motion filed by McVeigh's attorney Stephen Jones, affidavits show that numerous witnesses were instructed by the FBI to "keep quiet" so the facts of the case "wouldn't get distorted." While the FBI has prevented defense lawyers and journalists from talking to key witnesses, at the same time the FBI has violated federal laws by leaking selected "facts" to the media in an attempt to promote their version of the case. The FBI even went so far as to convince several witnesses that their former statements were false, and to retract them in lieu of statements more favorable to the prosecution. A primary example is bombing suspect Michael Fortier, who originally told investigators: "I do not believe that Tim [McVeigh] blew up any building in Oklahoma. There's nothing for me to look back upon and say, yeah, that might have been, I should have seen it back then--there's nothing like that. I know my friend. Tim McVeigh is not the face of terror as reported on Time magazine..." But after the FBI raided his home, Fortier reversed his statement, saying that he and McVeigh has "cased" the federal building, ostensibly in response to an offer of a plea bargain. Mike Moroz, who worked at Johnny's Tire Shop on 10th and Hudson, gave McVeigh and John Doe 2 directions to the Murrah building on the morning of the 19th. After interviewing Moroz, the FBI told him that he had seen McVeigh drive in a different direction than Moroz had originally stated. The FBI then claimed to the press that Moroz had made a mistake and was confused. During an interview in the Daily Oklahoman, another witness said, "I've changed my mind about the phone call. I thought it was all invention. I am now persuaded that there was a phone call, and it probably was by McVeigh," he said. "Government sources convinced me." Connie Hood and David Keen recalled seeing John Doe 2 at the Dreamland Hotel in Timothy McVeigh's room on April 16. The man, who startled Hood, closely resembled the sketch of John Doe 2, she said, but with slightly fuller features. The FBI interviewed Hood and Keen numerous times, even going so far as to administer several polygraph tests. On the last test, the FBI agents "turned around and got in her face," recalls David Keen, "and said, 'You've never seen John Doe! He never existed!'" The experience of Keen and Hood is remiscent of the interrogation of numerous JFK assassination witnesses in Dallas on November 22, when FBI agents pointedly told witnesses that they did not see any shooters on the Grassy Knoll that day. "This big old dude (FBI agent) right out told me, 'You did not see that!'" recalls Hood. Sealing documents and silencing witnesses may be irrelevant where much of the mainstream press is concerned. The press is supposed to act as government watch dogs. But, as during the Waco debacle, the mainstream press has taken their cues from FBI public relations hounds in a manner more like obedient lap dogs, running eagerly after every bone thrown their way by the official purveyors of disinformation. Time Magazine immediately put McVeigh's face on their May 1st cover, calling their series "The Terror From Within." One piece purports to show "the paranoid life and times of accused bomber Timothy McVeigh and his right-wing associates." Another article attempts to illustrate as dangerous and wacky all mainstream militia groups. The New York Times ran several lengthy pieces on McVeigh. With titles like "Roots of Hatred" and "Unraveling a Frayed Life: An Angry Man with an Obsession for Guns," the Times attempts to reinforce the image of the misfit loner with a hatred of all that's good and decent. Nowhere did it mention that McVeigh's sister had claimed her brother had at one time been a government--possibly ATF--informant. And nowhere did the mainstream press remind us that in the World Trade Center bombing, the "Terror From Within" came from the FBI, who taught Sheik Omar Adbel Rahman's group how to make a bomb, gave them the materials for the bomb, taught them how to drive the Ryder truck used in the bombing (the FBI must have a contract with Ryder), then, with full knowledge of impending events, purposely and deliberately failed to prevent a bombing which killed 6 and injured 1000. Yet this poignant analogy of the real "Terror From Within" is lost on the mainstream press and even the left-wing press, who obediently regurgitate the image of the lone "right-wing nut," as obediently as they spew forth the image of "crazed Islamic terrorists" or "apocalyptic cultists." Hence the media, acting in concert with the government, dutifully feeds the public with whatever image serves their purposes at the time. In the case of the Oklahoma City bombing, that purpose has been to connect McVeigh and Nichols with the Patriot/Militia movement--to paint the movement itself as composed of fervent extremists bent on senseless violence. In huge lift quotes across the top of two pages, Time quotes supposed Michigan Militia member John Simpson: "Terry [Nichols] came to one of our meetings and wanted to talk about a tax revolt...AND ELIMINATING THE GOVERNMENT." (emphasis mine) Interestingly, the Ryder truck bomb has earned the nick-name the "Mannlicher-Carcano Bomb," after the cheap Italian-made rifle with a defective scope that was allegedly used to kill President Kennedy. District Attorney Jim Garrison joked during the Claw Shaw conspiracy trial that the government's nuclear physics lab could explain how a single bullet could travel through President Kennedy and Governor Connally five times while making several u- turns, then land in pristine condition on the President's gurney. In the Oklahoma bombing case, it seems the government is attempting to perform a similar feat of light and magic. The fact that a non-directional, low-velocity fertilizer bomb parked 20 to 30 feet from a modern, steel-reinforced super-structure could not have caused the pattern and degree of damage it did was not mentioned in the mainstream press. While several other unexploded bombs were pulled out of the wreckage, including one with a timing mechanism on it, none was ever mentioned. While news reports on the day of the blast show people being evacuated due to these bomb scares, this fact was quickly hushed up and later denied. Also deined was the fact that the ATF and DEA had illegally- stored explosives in ordinance lockers. The ATF's locker, located on the 9th floor, had it's floor blown out. Interestingly, the locker was directly above the area of maximum damage, known as "the pit." Yet ATF Special Agent in Charge Lester Martz denied that the locker was even damaged. It fact it was almost impossible to find anything in the mainstream press about the blatant inconsistencies in the government's story. Nor were the experts who came forward to inform the public of the simple physical inconsistencies inherent in the government's version of the bombing. Benjamin Partin, a retired Air Force general with 25 years experience in explosives and ballistic weapons design and testing who examined the destroyed building, was ignored altogether or dismissed as a right-wing kook. NBC's Dateline attempted to pooh-pooh any theory that the government's version of events was not on the up and up by interviewing two of the most outrageous conspiracy theorists they could find: Debra Von Trapp, who claims the bombing was a retaliation for the Japanese subway gassing, and a former nuclear physicist, who claimed the bomb was a miniature nuclear weapon, and even someone who cooks up details from Quija board. Thus, by proxy, Dateline effectively discredits all non-official proponents of events. As the case nears trial, America's attention will no doubt be focused on Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols in the same expos- tabloid fashion that riveted its attention on the O.J. Simpson trial. As in the Simpson trial, the relevant facts will remain obscured behind the colored smoke and lights of what will certainly be a circus trial. In the meantime the media will continue to focus on the personalities of the "official" suspects, heart-wrenching stories of the victims, and the wonderful panacea of legislation which will save us from the new "Terror From Within." Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA) is an avid proponent of the the "Terror From Within" theory. During the militia hearings, Specter asked Michigan Militia leader Norm Olson how he could say that he understood how someone could do such a thing (referring to the bombing). Although Specter took Olson's statement out of context, he should probably have asked himself that question. Specter's foregone conclusions obviously derive from a keen sense of intuition. As a young federal prosecutor during the Kennedy assassination, it was Arlen Specter who propounded the single "magic bullet" theory. Now, on the very same day as the bombing, Specter is seen propounding the single "magic bomb" theory on McNeil-Lerher. Now Specter, who is head of the Senate Intelligence Committee, is asking KFOR for all the evidence they have collected on John Doe 2. No doubt the good Senator's collecting this information for the next Warren Commission report. One American's foregone conclusion of the Oklahoma bombing may be more revealing however. It is from a letter sent to the hospitalized survivors by a 3rd grade boy. It reads: Hello, I hope you feel better from the explosion in Oklahoma. I wish it never happened. I felt sad when it happened. I felt bad for the people who died and the people who got hurt. That's only the beginning of what's going to happen to America. Hope you feel better. [David Hoffman is an investigative reporter writing a book on the Oklahoma City bombing. His book, *The Oklahoma City Bombing and the Politics of Terror*, will be published by Feral House, probably in late 1997] Published in the Jan. 27, 1997 Issue of The Washington Weekly Copyright (c) 1997 The Washington Weekly (http://www.federal.com)