-Caveat Lector- An old story that didn't get much press. from: http://www.dallasnews.com/specials/bush_campaign/family/0306plot.html FBI didn't tell DPS of Republic of Texas threat against Bush Plot wasn't credible, agents say 03/06/99 By Scott Parks / The Dallas Morning News The FBI learned that Republic of Texas militants were plotting to kill Gov. George W. Bush long before the dramatic West Texas standoff that shattered the separatist group, but federal agents never told the governor's security staff about those threats. An FBI informant who infiltrated the anti-government group revealed the threats six months after the 1997 standoff when he testified at ROT leader Richard L. McLaren's kidnapping trial in Alpine, Texas. Now, Texas Department of Public Safety officers, who are responsible for protecting the governor, say they were blindsided and stunned but kept their concerns private, according to interviews with The Dallas Morning News. FBI agents said they didn't confide in the DPS because they did not believe the threats were credible. Still, Texas DPS Director Dudley M. Thomas said his agents should have been allowed to evaluate the threats on their own. "We were unhappy," Col. Thomas said. "I view it as an isolated incident, a one-in-a-million occurrence. "But my comment to the FBI has been and always will be that if it was a 180-degree situation and we had an informant telling us that individuals were trying to get him to help with or devise a plan to assassinate the president, vice president, attorney general, a congressman, director of the FBI or a city police officer, we would pass the information on to the appropriate agency to make sure they could evaluate their security." Special Agent Al Cruz, an FBI spokesman in El Paso, said the FBI followed its policies. "Those threats considered to be viable are disseminated to the appropriate agencies," Mr. Cruz said. "That is our policy. It was determined, on our part, that McLaren did not have the capacity to carry out the threats. Based on all the info and intelligence we had, that was our assessment." A spokeswoman for Bush said the governor's office had no comment on the threats. Robert Cyrus Stewart III, 40, the FBI informant, is a former Green Beret medic who describes himself as an "independent information broker." He said in an interview that he posed as an arms dealer to infiltrate the ROT in 1996 and 1997. Mr. Stewart said he is now willing to divulge details of the investigation because of disagreements with the FBI over money and security for his family. "It's not purely mercenary, but money is a catalyst," he said. "If they're gonna stiff me, then I have no reason not to talk about the FBI." Assassination plot Mr. Stewart said he attended two ROT meetings in which Bush's assassination was discussed and that he believed the threats to be serious. He said he cased the Governor's Mansion to prepare for one late-night meeting in an Austin hotel parking lot. "These guys wanted me to do Bush and take another ROT guy they didn't like along with me and do him, too, in the process," Mr. Stewart said. "They, the FBI, didn't think the threat was credible since I was the guy they were talking to about doing the job." Col. Thomas said Mr. Stewart might not have been the only person ROT members were talking to about killing the governor. "They may have been contacting 10 others trying to get the same job done," Mr. Thomas said. "That was my concern." Mr. Stewart said he eventually gained the confidence of Mr. McLaren, an unemployed political gadfly who called himself the republic's "ambassador" to foreign governments. The ROT espoused the view that Texas was never properly annexed into the United States and that officials such as Bush were not legitimate. Mr. Stewart traveled numerous times to Mr. McLaren's remote headquarters in the Davis Mountains of far West Texas to gather intelligence for the FBI. Mr. McLaren was interested in obtaining heavy weaponry - M-16 automatic rifles, shoulder-launched rockets and stinger missiles capable of bringing down aircraft, according to court records and Mr. Stewart. During a visit in March 1997, Mr. Stewart said, Mr. McLaren vowed to shoot down Bush's airplane. "These guys were not kidding," Mr. Stewart said. Mr. Stewart said he reported the meeting to his FBI handler in El Paso but was not told whether the information was passed along to anyone else. "If we had had this information, we would have reacted to better protect the governor," Col. Thomas said. Standoff On April 27, 1997, three armed ROT members stormed the home of Joe and Margaret Rowe near Mr. McLaren's mountain headquarters. They held the couple hostage for 12 hours, calling them "spies" against the ROT. The incident sparked a highly publicized, six-day standoff between the McLaren group and dozens of law officers. The Texas Rangers, the elite branch of the Texas DPS, headed negotiations to end the siege. The Rangers have said FBI agents provided them valuable communications equipment and advice during the standoff. But federal agents never told them that Mr. Stewart was placing telephone calls to Mr. McLaren during the stand-off. Those calls were tape-recorded at the FBI's office in El Paso. "The FBI agents gave up some information that apparently had come from an informant, but it certainly was not clear they were getting intelligence during the siege," said one law officer, who asked not to be identified. He said talking to Mr. Stewart during the siege would have been an advantage. Mr. Cruz, the FBI spokesman in El Paso, said his agency never reveals the identity of a confidential informant. The standoff ended with the ROT's surrender. One suspect died in a shootout with officers. Threats revealed Mr. McLaren and four others were charged with conspiracy to kidnap the Rowes. District Attorney Albert Valadez said he discovered Mr. Stewart's existence while preparing for trial. The name came up in transcripts of tape-recorded conversations between officers and Mr. McLaren during the siege, he said in an interview. The FBI willingly produced Mr. Stewart to testify, he said. Mr. Valadez said he interviewed Mr. Stewart before the trial to find out what he might say on the witness stand. Texas Rangers, who were listening to the interview, were stunned when Mr. Stewart said ROT members had wanted him to kill the governor and sell them weapons to shoot down the governor's airplane. Mr. Stewart said his FBI handler asked him not to mention threats against Bush in open court, but he did it anyway. "The FBI agents are just little information-horders and aren't really set up to be more proactive," Mr. Stewart said. Mr. Valadez said Mr. Stewart's testimony was credible and helped convict Mr. McLaren, who was sentenced to 99 years in prison. Col. Thomas said he believes his agency has a good working relationship with the FBI today. Still, he said, there are gaps in communication. "To this day," he said, "I've never been told any reason its threats against Bush was never passed on to us." ©1999 The Dallas Morning News 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. 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