{"id":11189,"date":"2018-01-05T11:08:06","date_gmt":"2018-01-05T16:08:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/?p=11189"},"modified":"2024-09-11T20:37:02","modified_gmt":"2024-09-12T00:37:02","slug":"usa-today-bundy-fbi-debacle-shows-feds-must-be-leashed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2018\/01\/05\/usa-today-bundy-fbi-debacle-shows-feds-must-be-leashed\/","title":{"rendered":"USA Today: Bundy-FBI Debacle Shows Feds Must be Leashed"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>USA Today, January 5, 2018<\/h2>\n<h1 class=\"asset-headline speakable-headline\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/opinion\/2018\/01\/05\/bundy-fbi-misconduct-another-example-why-feds-need-leashed-james-bovard-column\/1001603001\/\">Cliven Bundy-FBI debacle: Another example of why the feds need to be leashed<\/a><\/h1>\n<p>by James Bovard<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"lead-in\">The FBI&#8217;s sordid history of withholding and destroying key evidence deserves a reckoning.<\/h2>\n<p class=\"speakable-p-1 p-text\">The Justice Department was caught in another high-profile travesty last month that continues to reverberate through the western states. On Dec.\u00a020, federal judge Gloria Navarro declared a mistrial in the case against <a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/sections\/thetwo-way\/2017\/12\/20\/572426023\/judge-declares-mistrial-in-conspiracy-case-against-bundys\">Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy<\/a> and others after prosecutors were caught withholding massive amounts of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.oregonlive.com\/oregon-standoff\/2017\/12\/prosecutors_urge_judge_in_nv_s.html\">evidence undermining federal charges<\/a>. This is the latest in a long series of federal law enforcement debacles that have spurred vast distrust of Washington.<\/p>\n<p class=\"speakable-p-2 p-text\">Bundy, a 71-year old Nevadan rancher,\u00a0and his sons and supporters were involved in an armed standoff with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) beginning in 2014 stemming from decades of unpaid cattle grazing fees and restrictions. The Bundys have long claimed the feds were on a vendetta against them, and <a href=\"https:\/\/protect-us.mimecast.com\/s\/-9CECOYXNyhRKxo1uvx9r-?domain=reuters.com\">3,300 pages of documents<\/a> the Justice Department wrongfully concealed from their lawyers provides smoking guns that buttress their case.<\/p>\n<p>A <a href=\"http:\/\/www.oregonlive.com\/oregon-standoff\/2017\/12\/blm_investigator_alleges_misco.html\">whistleblowing memo<\/a> by BLM chief investigator Larry Wooten charges that BLM chose &#8220;the most intrusive, oppressive, large scale and militaristic trespass cattle (seizure)\u00a0possible&#8221; against Bundy.\u00a0He also cited a &#8220;widespread pattern of bad judgment, lack of discipline, incredible bias, unprofessionalism and misconduct, as well as likely policy, ethical and legal violations&#8221; by BLM officials in the case. BLM agents even &#8220;bragged about roughing up Dave Bundy, grinding his face into the ground and Dave Bundy having little bits of gravel stuck in his face&#8221; while he was videotaping federal agents. Wooten also stated that anti-Mormon prejudice pervaded BLM&#8217;s crackdown.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p-text\">The feds charged the Bundys with conspiracy in large part because the ranchers summoned militia to defend them after they claimed that FBI snipers had surrounded their ranch.\u00a0Justice Department lawyers scoffed at this claim in prior trials involving the standoff but newly-released documents confirm that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/news\/local\/arizona-investigations\/2017\/12\/20\/cliven-bundy-nevada-ranch-cattle-grazing-blm-standoff-trial\/965402001\/\">snipers were in place<\/a> prior to the Bundy\u2019s call for help.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p-text\">The feds also belatedly turned over multiple threat assessments which revealed that the Bundys were not violent or dangerous, including an FBI analysis that concluded that BLM\u00a0 was &#8220;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.oregonlive.com\/oregon-standoff\/2017\/12\/nevada_prosecutors_seek_new_tr.html\">trying to provoke a conflict<\/a>&#8221; with the Bundys. As an analysis in the left-leaning <em>Intercept<\/em> observed, federal missteps in this case \u201cfueled longstanding perceptions among the right-wing groups and militias that the federal government is an underhanded institution that will stop at nothing to <a href=\"https:\/\/theintercept.com\/2017\/12\/22\/cliven-bundy-case-ranch-standoff-fbi\/\">crush the little guy<\/a> and cover up its own misdeeds.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"p-text\">Judge Navarro will hold a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reviewjournal.com\/news\/bundy-blm\/mistrial-declared-in-bundy-trial-over-withheld-evidence\/\">hearing on Jan.\u00a08<\/a> on whether to dismiss all charges or require a new trial.\u00a0But federal prosecutors have insisted that, regardless of the latest disclosures, the judge should prohibit the Bundys from claiming the feds provoked the confrontation or that the <a href=\"http:\/\/media.oregonlive.com\/oregon-standoff\/other\/2017\/12\/19\/govtmotionliminedefenses1218.pdf\">Bundys acted in self-defense<\/a>.\u00a0Steven Myrhe, the lead federal attorney, declared: &#8220;The Court needs to <a href=\"http:\/\/www.oregonlive.com\/oregon-standoff\/2017\/12\/prosecutors_urge_judge_in_nv_s.html\">put a stop to these illegal theories<\/a> and defenses in order for the government to receive a fair trial. The government, too, is entitled to a fair trial.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"p-text\">But fair trials are the last thing that high-profile federal targets such as the Bundys are likely to receive.\u00a0 In the early 1990s, the federal government decided to take down <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/archive\/politics\/2001\/04\/30\/randy-weavers-return-from-ruby-ridge\/946b58c3-2d46-4df0-9b06-f5ca7c562d09\/?utm_term=.f941f4a31589\">Randy Weaver<\/a>, an outspoken white separatist living on a mountaintop in northern Idaho.\u00a0 After Weaver was entrapped by a federal agent, U.S. Marshals trespassed on Weaver&#8217;s land and killed his son. The Justice Department claimed that Weaver conspired to have an armed confrontation with the government. Bizarrely, the feds claimed that his <a href=\"https:\/\/www.scribd.com\/document\/17106356\/DOJ-Report-on-the-Internal-Investigation-of-the-Shooting-at-Ruby-Ridge\">moving from Iowa to near the Canadian border<\/a> in 1983 was part of that plot.\u00a0After a jury found <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/1993\/07\/09\/us\/rebuking-the-us-jury-acquits-2-in-marshal-s-killing-in-idaho-siege.html?pagewanted=all&amp;mcu\">Weaver not guilty<\/a> on all major charges, federal Judge <a href=\"https:\/\/protect-us.mimecast.com\/s\/5JN4BRhm0bRwt7?domain=nytimes.com\">Edward Lodge<\/a> issued a lengthy catalog of the Justice Department\u2019s and FBI\u2019s misconduct and fabrication of evidence in the case. A top FBI official was later sent to prison for <a href=\"http:\/\/articles.latimes.com\/1997\/oct\/11\/news\/mn-41736\">destroying key evidence<\/a> in the case.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p-text\">The Justice Department also did the conspiracy\/suppression of evidence two-step against the Branch Davidians in Waco. A grand jury indictment accused 11 Davidians who survived\u00a01993 federal assaults on their home of conspiring &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/protect-us.mimecast.com\/s\/mcGUC1wpXrhzYGKJsWcx9Q?domain=firstthings.com\">with malice aforethought<\/a>&#8221; to kill Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms agents. The ATF&#8217;s decision to launch a frontal attack on their home somehow proved that the residents sought an \u201carmed confrontation.\u201d Prosecutors compared Davidian leader David Koresh to <a href=\"https:\/\/books.google.com\/books?id=w7AaCgAAQBAJ&amp;pg=PT47&amp;lpg=PT47&amp;dq=waco+prosecutor+davidian+religious+terrorists+hitler+stalin&amp;source=bl&amp;ots=jIw3hIPVpo&amp;sig=bqXPx-A3PXhGHcrpvIlctJSBVoM&amp;hl=en&amp;sa=X&amp;ved=0ahUKEwjGuaj7sLnYAhWLPN8KHX2yAO0Q6AEIJzAA#v=onepage&amp;q=waco%20prosecutor%20davidian%20religious%20terrorists%20hitler%20stalin&amp;f=false\">Hitler and Stalin<\/a> and denounced defendants as &#8220;religious terrorists.&#8221; But a jury rejected the most serious charges against the Davidian defendants, which the New York Times characterized as a &#8220;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/1994\/02\/27\/us\/11-in-texas-sect-are-acquitted-of-key-charges.html\">stunning defeat<\/a>&#8221; for the federal government. Five years later, Americans learned that, contrary to Justice Department assertions, FBI attackers fired <a href=\"https:\/\/protect-us.mimecast.com\/s\/cOsWC4xv1Rf015G4hLsj_N?domain=amarillo.com\">pyrotechnic grenades<\/a> into the Davidians\u2019 property\u00a0before a massive fire erupted that left 80 people dead.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p-text\">In the Bundy case, Judge Navarro slammed the FBI for <a href=\"http:\/\/www.oregonlive.com\/oregon-standoff\/2017\/12\/mistrial_declared_in_cliven_bu.html\">withholding key evidence<\/a>.\u00a0 Unfortunately, this seems to be standard procedure for the FBI \u2014\u00a0including in their investigations of both the Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton presidential campaigns as well as the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/us\/2017\/12\/22\/las-vegas-shooting-fbi-official-says-info-on-motive-may-take-until-next-october-to-release.html\">Las Vegas shooter<\/a>\u00a0who slaughtered concert goers last October.\u00a0FBI officials have also been caught routinely twisting the truth to burnish prosecutions. False FBI trial testimony may have helped sentence <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/local\/crime\/fbi-overstated-forensic-hair-matches-in-nearly-all-criminal-trials-for-decades\/2015\/04\/18\/39c8d8c6-e515-11e4-b510-962fcfabc310_story.html?utm_term=.c86bebd7a3f1\">32 innocent people to death<\/a>, as the Washington Post reported in 2015.\u00a0How many other innocent people have been put behind bars because of federal misconduct?<\/p>\n<p class=\"p-text\">Attorney General Jeff Sessions is ordering a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2017\/12\/21\/us\/attorney-general-sessions-bundy.html\">formal investigation<\/a> into how the Justice Department went awry in Nevada. Until the feds cease wrongfully abusing their targets, there will be no rebound in trust in Washington.\u00a0If the Trump administration cannot rein in renegade federal prosecutors, the president should cease-and-desist any and all claptrap about \u201cdraining the swamp.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"p-text\"><em>James Bovard,\u00a0author of\u00a0<\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Attention-Deficit-Democracy-James-Bovard-ebook\/dp\/B00TDQ1SJO\/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1509052899&amp;sr=8-2&amp;keywords=attention+deficit+democracy\">Attention Deficit Democracy<\/a><em>,\u00a0is\u00a0a member of USA TODAY\u2019s\u00a0Board of Contributors. Follow him on Twitter:\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/JimBovard\">@JimBovard<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>USA Today, January 5, 2018 Cliven Bundy-FBI debacle: Another example of why the feds need to be leashed by James Bovard The FBI&#8217;s sordid history of withholding and destroying key evidence deserves a reckoning. The Justice Department was caught in another high-profile travesty last month that continues to reverberate through the western states. On Dec.\u00a020, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1300,1298,1121,974,519,47,1299,1296,983,11,1302,1297,654,652,1301,102],"class_list":["post-11189","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-branch-davidians","tag-bureau-of-land-management","tag-cliven-bundy","tag-draining-the-swamp","tag-due-process","tag-fbi","tag-federal-land","tag-gloria-navarro","tag-jeff-sessions","tag-justice-department","tag-las-vegas-massacre","tag-nevada","tag-randy-weaver","tag-ruby-ridge","tag-stven-myrhe","tag-waco"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>USA Today: Bundy-FBI Debacle Shows Feds Must be Leashed - James Bovard<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2018\/01\/05\/usa-today-bundy-fbi-debacle-shows-feds-must-be-leashed\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"USA Today: Bundy-FBI Debacle Shows Feds Must be Leashed - James Bovard\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"USA Today, January 5, 2018 Cliven Bundy-FBI debacle: Another example of why the feds need to be leashed by James Bovard The FBI&#8217;s sordid history of withholding and destroying key evidence deserves a reckoning. 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Bovard\u2019s writings have been publicly denounced by FBI director Louis Freeh, the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, the Postmaster General, and the chiefs of the U.S. International Trade Commission, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, as well as by many congressmen and other malcontents.\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/www.jimbovard.com\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/jim.bovard\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/jimbovard\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/author\\\/admin\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"USA Today: Bundy-FBI Debacle Shows Feds Must be Leashed - James Bovard","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2018\/01\/05\/usa-today-bundy-fbi-debacle-shows-feds-must-be-leashed\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"USA Today: Bundy-FBI Debacle Shows Feds Must be Leashed - James Bovard","og_description":"USA Today, January 5, 2018 Cliven Bundy-FBI debacle: Another example of why the feds need to be leashed by James Bovard The FBI&#8217;s sordid history of withholding and destroying key evidence deserves a reckoning. The Justice Department was caught in another high-profile travesty last month that continues to reverberate through the western states. On Dec.\u00a020, [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2018\/01\/05\/usa-today-bundy-fbi-debacle-shows-feds-must-be-leashed\/","og_site_name":"James Bovard","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/jim.bovard","article_published_time":"2018-01-05T16:08:06+00:00","article_modified_time":"2024-09-12T00:37:02+00:00","author":"Jim","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@jimbovard","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Jim","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2018\/01\/05\/usa-today-bundy-fbi-debacle-shows-feds-must-be-leashed\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2018\/01\/05\/usa-today-bundy-fbi-debacle-shows-feds-must-be-leashed\/"},"author":{"name":"Jim","@id":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/79550830ad81c14be529a2c37469974f"},"headline":"USA Today: Bundy-FBI Debacle Shows Feds Must be Leashed","datePublished":"2018-01-05T16:08:06+00:00","dateModified":"2024-09-12T00:37:02+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2018\/01\/05\/usa-today-bundy-fbi-debacle-shows-feds-must-be-leashed\/"},"wordCount":968,"commentCount":2,"keywords":["Branch Davidians","Bureau of Land Management","Cliven Bundy","draining the swamp","due process","FBI","federal land","Gloria Navarro","Jeff Sessions","Justice Department","Las Vegas massacre","Nevada","Randy Weaver","Ruby Ridge","Stven Myrhe","Waco"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2018\/01\/05\/usa-today-bundy-fbi-debacle-shows-feds-must-be-leashed\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2018\/01\/05\/usa-today-bundy-fbi-debacle-shows-feds-must-be-leashed\/","url":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2018\/01\/05\/usa-today-bundy-fbi-debacle-shows-feds-must-be-leashed\/","name":"USA Today: Bundy-FBI Debacle Shows Feds Must be Leashed - James Bovard","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/#website"},"datePublished":"2018-01-05T16:08:06+00:00","dateModified":"2024-09-12T00:37:02+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/79550830ad81c14be529a2c37469974f"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2018\/01\/05\/usa-today-bundy-fbi-debacle-shows-feds-must-be-leashed\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2018\/01\/05\/usa-today-bundy-fbi-debacle-shows-feds-must-be-leashed\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2018\/01\/05\/usa-today-bundy-fbi-debacle-shows-feds-must-be-leashed\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"USA Today: Bundy-FBI Debacle Shows Feds Must be Leashed"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/","name":"James Bovard","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/79550830ad81c14be529a2c37469974f","name":"Jim","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d95466cfd0934e38803c5035629df727ae4ec1f3f96c6883c05b5c52e2044505?s=96&d=mm&r=r","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d95466cfd0934e38803c5035629df727ae4ec1f3f96c6883c05b5c52e2044505?s=96&d=mm&r=r","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d95466cfd0934e38803c5035629df727ae4ec1f3f96c6883c05b5c52e2044505?s=96&d=mm&r=r","caption":"Jim"},"description":"Bovard's homepage is at http:\/\/www.jimbovard.com He can be contacted at jim@jimbovard.com James Bovard is the author of ten books. The Wall Street Journal called Bovard \"the roving inspector general of the modern state\" and Washington Post columnist George Will called him a \"one-man truth squad.\" His 1994 book, Lost Rights: The Destruction of American Liberty, received the Free Press Association\u2019s Mencken Award as Book of the Year. His Terrorism &amp; Tyranny won the Lysander Spooner \"Best Book on Liberty in 2003\" award. He received the Thomas Szasz Award for Civil Liberties work, awarded by the Center for Independent Thought and the Freedom Fund Award from the Firearms Civil Rights Defense Fund of the National Rifle Association. Bovard\u2019s writings have been publicly denounced by FBI director Louis Freeh, the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, the Postmaster General, and the chiefs of the U.S. International Trade Commission, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, as well as by many congressmen and other malcontents.","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.jimbovard.com","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/jim.bovard","https:\/\/x.com\/jimbovard"],"url":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/author\/admin\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11189","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11189"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11189\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20497,"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11189\/revisions\/20497"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11189"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11189"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11189"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}