Weaver Report Sealed At Day’s Request Boundary Prosecutor Asked Fbi Not To Release Results Of Probe Until Local Investigation Complete

The FBI’s top lawyer said Thursday his agency badly wants to make public its internal probe of the deadly 1992 shootout at Ruby Ridge, Idaho, but the prosecuting attorney in Boundary County stands in the way.

FBI General Counsel Howard Shapiro told the Seattle Post-Intelligencer the 500-page report completed eight months ago remains under seal at the request of the Justice Department while Boundary County Prosecutor Randall Day completes his own murder investigation.

“That’s correct. It’s being held up at my request,” Day said Thursday in a telephone interview from his office in Bonners Ferry.

Although the detailed report on the FBI internal investigation has not been made public, it was the basis for a recommendation in January by FBI Director Louis Freeh to discipline 12 of the agents involved. The Justice Department has not ruled on Freeh’s recommendation, which is being contested by a top-ranking agent facing discipline.

In a March 28 letter to Associate Deputy Attorney General David Margolis, the Idaho prosecutor asked that the report remain classified until at least June 1, when he believes his investigation will be completed.

The standoff on the Idaho Panhandle - which has become a rallying cry for antigovernment militia groups nationwide - began Aug. 21, 1992. U.S. Deputy Marshal William Degan was shot to death outside the remote mountaintop cabin owned by Randy Weaver, a federal fugitive who had ties with white separatist groups.

Federal marshals killed Weaver’s son, Sam, 14, in the same gunfight, triggering a massive incursion of federal law enforcement officials. Weaver’s wife, Vicki, 43, was killed by an FBI sniper a day later.

The Ruby Ridge incident, along with the April 1993 assault at Waco, Texas, which ended in the fiery deaths of some 80 Branch Davidians, became a powerful symbol to some of big government run amok.

Shapiro indicated that publication of the Ruby Ridge probe, considered one of the most rigorous and intense in FBI history, would show the public how careful and thorough the bureau’s investigation was.

“We’d love to make it public, but we’re being asked by Justice not to release it until Day finishes up,” Shapiro said.

Idaho prosecutors, while not showing their cards, could file criminal charges against FBI officials, the sniper or Weaver.

After a three-month federal trial on the charges that touched off the government’s initial interest in Weaver, a jury acquitted him of most counts. His friend, Kevin Harris, was cleared of all charges. Weaver’s attorney, Gerry Spence, argued to the jury that “the real murderers” were the FBI and U.S. marshals.

Day said the Boundary County homicide probe has been ongoing since the standoff. He added it is unlikely his work will be completed June 1, since some federal officials have refused to cooperate. Day would not elaborate.

Boundary County Sheriff Greg Sprungl said interviews are continuing with FBI agents, U.S. marshals and ATF agents.

Sprungl said he has been unsuccessful in getting statements from Weaver and Harris.

Weaver, 47, lives in Iowa and could not be reached for comment.

“There were three people killed up there (on Ruby Ridge), and we’re treating them all as homicides,” Sprungl said, referring to the two Weavers and Degan.

The FBI’s Freeh, who recommended discipline for 12 of his agents, acknowledged they made serious blunders.

But Freeh, in suggesting punishment of the agents ranging from verbal reprimands to written censure and suspension without pay, found no criminal or intentional misconduct. He also concluded the killing of Vicki Weaver by an FBI marksman was a “tragic accident.”

Freeh reserved his harshest criticism for Eugene Glenn, chief of the FBI’s Salt Lake City office and the bureau’s field commander during the standoff. The director recommended that Glenn be reassigned to FBI headquarters and suspended for 15 days. The Justice Department has not yet ruled on the recommendation.

But Glenn is fighting back. On May 3, he sent a 12-page letter to the Justice Department’s Office of Professional Responsibility, which looks into charges of misconduct, saying the FBI review report on Ruby Ridge was a cover-up designed to protect Freeh’s top deputies, including Larry Potts.

Potts now has overall charge of the Oklahoma City bombing investigation and was recently named the FBI’s deputy director.

Glenn, who at 55 has two years left before mandatory retirement, declined to be interviewed.

“His charges are baseless,” Shapiro said. “It is very unfortunate what he did. In fact, it’s almost unprecedented to do what he did.”