-Caveat Lector- Waco tear-gas data was disclosed in '95, Democrat says Congressman says Reno unfairly accused of cover-up 09/14/99 By David Jackson / The Dallas Morning News WASHINGTON - Documents submitted to Congress four years ago reflect use of the "military tear-gas rounds" that have prompted new investigations into the 1993 Branch Davidian compound fire near Waco, a Democratic congressman said Monday. Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., said the 1995 documents show that Republicans have irresponsibly accused Attorney General Janet Reno of covering up use by the FBI of tear-gas grenades capable of starting a fire during the final assault on the Branch Davidians' compound. "As has been repeatedly - and regrettably - demonstrated over the last few years, they accuse first and investigate later," Mr. Waxman said. Aides to Rep. Dan Burton, R-Ind., said he still plans hearings, noting that documents do not spell out the pyrotechnic nature of the military tear-gas grenades. The documents also do not indicate why the Justice Department did not raise the issue during the six years in which Ms. Reno insisted that no kind of pyrotechnic was used during the FBI's final compound assault April 19, 1993. "It's unfortunate that Waxman has decided to turn what up to now has been a nonpolitical issue into a partisan issue," said Mark Corallo, a spokesman for Mr. Burton. Mr. Burton's staff also is studying a report from the Texas Rangers regarding evidence recovered from the scene. Aides said staffers will visit Texas this week to review some of that evidence, including unidentified shell casings found at the compound. Republican committee aides said they are trying match shells with weapons issued to federal agents as they investigate whether any agent fired at the Branch Davidians during the final assault. The FBI denied firing any shots that day. The aides said they have not decided whether to perform their own ballistic tests on the weapons. The new investigation began after a former FBI official told The Dallas Morning News that - contrary to six years of denials - the agency used pyrotechnic devices during its final tank and tear-gas assault. FBI officials said that two military rounds were fired at a concrete bunker about 40 yards from the main compound building but bounced off. The officials also said the tear-gas canisters did not start the fire that ended in the deaths of Branch Davidian leader David Koresh and more than 80 of his followers. They cited previous investigations concluding that the Branch Davidians started the fires. An angry Ms. Reno said the revelations undercut her credibility, and she asked former Sen. John Danforth, R-Mo., to conduct an investigation. The House and Senate are also looking into the matter. Mr. Burton, chairman of the House Government Reform Committee, and Mr. Waxman, the ranking Democrat, have been frequent antagonists during congressional investigations. Their spat Monday served notice that new congressional inquiries could also turn into a political brawl. The California Democrat sent four documents to Mr. Danforth, who is working from his law office in St. Louis. The documents came from the file that the House Republican majority used for hearings on the Branch Davidian incident in 1995, after the Oklahoma City bombing. Some congressional Republicans reiterated their calls for Ms. Reno to resign after the Justice Department acknowledged on Friday that a 49-page FBI lab report submitted to Congress in 1995 missed the last page - one that made a reference to military tear-gas rounds. "That was the very definitive piece of paper that could have given us some information," Mr. Burton said on Fox News Sunday. "It sure looks like they were withholding information." Mr. Waxman, however, questioned that assertion with the four documents he submitted to Mr. Danforth: * An interview of an FBI co-.pilot who "recalls one conversation, relative to the utilization of some sort of military round to be used on a concrete bunker." * Prosecutors' interview notes in preparation for the criminal trial of the Branch Davidians. One note said a member of the FBI Hostage Rescue Team could be expected to testify that "smoke on film came from an attempt to penetrate bunker with one military and 2 ferret rounds." * Two sets of unidentified handwritten notes. One set said "smoke from bunker - came when these guys tried to shoot gas into the bunker. (Military gas round)." Another cited "1 military tear gas round." Mr. Danforth, who could not be reached Monday, said over the weekend that he would not comment on any evidence until after his inquiry is finished. In a letter to Mr. Danforth enclosing the documents, Mr. Waxman wrote: "In this instance, Chairman Burton has made the extraordinarily serious accusation that the attorney general of the United States has participated in a cover-up. He made this allegation without reviewing even the contents of the files contained in his own offices." Mr. Burton did not comment. Spokesman Corallo said congressional investigators in 1995 could easily have read over those references - contained in 100,000 pages of documents - without recognizing their significance. "They may not have known military gas was pyrotechnic," Mr. Corallo said. "But the Justice Department surely knew it. Why didn't the Justice Department point it out, and why did Janet Reno for six years deny any pyrotechnics were used?" Mr. Waxman said he has reached no conclusions on the new revelations because "I am not an expert on Waco." "I am not in a position to explain Justice Department actions," he said. "I am not here to defend or accuse anyone of anything. Like Sen. Danforth, I want to wait until we get all the facts." http://www.dallasmorningnews.com/specials/waco/0914waco1waco.htm Bard DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic screeds are not allowed. Substance—not soapboxing! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory', with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright frauds is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRL gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credeence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. 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