Oklahoma City: Three bombs inside the building

[Michael Barwell]

Slightly off-topic but maybe on-flavour; the US is a strange place, from RT, I gather the EU has 1,200 banned substances for cosmetics, where the US has 12, and fracking co.'s have no requirement to publically disclose toxic/hazardous chemicals that they use and 'dump' into the environment. Money talks, and sings & stomps.
Can't believe tho, that OK was a wet Operation Northwoods, and I am being torture-murdered...

[David Guyatt]

A new two-part feature article on the connections between German intell agent Andreas Strassmeir and Timothy McVeigh.

Today is part 1:

Exclusive: Oklahoma City Bombing Breakthrough, Part 1 of 2

April 22, 2015 by Roger Charles
Categories: Threats to Democracy

It's been 20 years since the Oklahoma City bombing. What was the real extent of the government's involvement? Attribution: Ken Lund / Flickr

Two decades have passed since the April 19, 1995, Oklahoma City bombing. It was the deadliest act of domestic terrorism in American history, and 168 people died, including 19 children.
The attack on the Murrah Federal Building was said to be the work of Timothy McVeigh and two confederates, described as right-wing extremists with an anti-government agenda. McVeigh was executed by lethal injection and Terry Nichols and Michael Fortier were given prison sentences.
Now, however, major cracks have appeared in the federal government's storya story long considered by some victims' families to be little more than a stonewall of mendacity and distortion. New revelations suggest that the government may be covering up prior interactions between intelligence services and the accused. In this way, Oklahoma City poses some of the same questions raised by 9/11 and the Boston Marathon Bombingother national security traumas where Washington has worked hard to block potentially devastating disclosures.
***
Probably the most significant new development is multiple confirmations of past allegations that a German intelligence operative with ties to one or more US agencies, Andreas Strassmeir, aka "Andy the German," had a close and extensive relationship with McVeigh.
Based on 19 years of active investigation by this reporterincluding hundreds of interviews, over two score field trips, and unique access to critical documentsinformation presented herein leads to a hugely important finding: the FBI was aware of the StrassmeirMcVeigh relationship and was monitoring McVeigh's activities at a never-before-revealed level approaching "close surveillance."
Contrary to Strassmeir's long-standing claim, endorsed by the Department of Justice, that he and McVeigh had a single, brief, inconsequential meeting at a Tulsa, Oklahoma, gun show two years before the bombing, several credible sources assert the relationship was far more substantive.
If correct, that could fundamentally alter Americans' understanding of the way their government goes about protecting American livesor, in the case of Oklahoma City, failing to… with tragic results.
The Murrah Federal Building two days after the bombing.

"Andy the German": an informant for certain, maybe a provocateur
A very senior retired CIA official, speaking on background to me in 2006, said he had read an in-house study examining whether the Agency had any "exposure" in OKBOMB (the FBI Major Case name for the bombing investigation).
While the study cleared the US spy agency, it identified a German intelligence operative as being involved. This individual was Andreas Strassmeir. According to my source, although the CIA report stated that Strassmeir worked for the German government, it also said that the intelligence he was collecting on McVeigh had been shared with the FBI.
Strassmeir came to the United States and became active in right wing and neo-Nazi circles, ultimately becoming security director of Elohim City, an extremist "Christian Identity" enclave in eastern Oklahoma. Run by the "Reverend" Robert Millar, a cunning manipulator who also served as a Cooperating Source for the FBIthink "Whitey Bulger of the Ozarks"Elohim City was a major way-station for neo-Nazi and other white supremacists who in 1983 declared war on what they termed the Zionist Occupation Government (ZOG). Strassmeir began living there in August 1991.
But he did not fit the profile of an angry social misfit living in the pinewoods. His father had been a high-level apparatchik in the German national government, and his brother was a Berlin city councilman. Strassmeir himself had served in positions of authority in the German Army.
***
In March 1997, as McVeigh's trial was unfolding in Denver federal district court, the Department of Justice provided his defense team with a large dump of discovery materials. These included reports from interviews by FBI agent Robert Blecksmith with officials in seven "federal government law enforcement and intelligence agencies to determine if ANDREAS CARL STRASSMEIR was ever a cooperating witness or confidential source."
The subject of these interviews was raised by McVeigh's principal defense attorney, Stephen Jones. He wanted to know if Strassmeir ever had any kind of relationship with any federal agency.
Six entitiesCustoms, Defense Intelligence Agency, Internal Revenue Service, National Security Agency, Secret Service, Drug Enforcement Agency and the U.S. Marshals Serviceresponded that they had found no relevant records. (Interestingly, no request was made of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF), which would have had an interest in weapons activities at Elohim City.)
But the response of the CIA's Office of General Counsel was quite different. Attorney Linda Cipriani revealed only that she had provided to DOJ attorney Beth Wilkinson "the results [of a records search] to determine if Strassmeir, white male date of birth 5/17/59, had ever worked for or been affiliated with her agency." But that did not answer Agent Blecksmith's question.
Note that Cipriani did not declare unambiguously, as did six other federal law enforcement and intelligence agencies, that there was "no record or information indicating that Strassmeir" had any relationship with those agencies.
Understandably, McVeigh's attorney was eager to learn exactly what had turned up in that CIA records search on Strassmeir. But that information was never disclosed. Jones requested that the presiding judge, Richard Matsch, order DOJ to share the information presented it by the CIA, but Matsch refused to do so.
***
So, were McVeigh, Nichols and Fortier disgruntled domestic terrorists operating on their own? Apparently not, according to one long-time FBI Confidential Informant (CI).
Shortly after the April 19, 1995, bombing, John Matthews, a CI targeting right wing and neo-Nazi groups (but expressly forbidden to target OKBOMB-related information), reported to his FBI handler information relevant to McVeigh. Matthews recounted how, a few years before the Oklahoma City attack, he had attended a weekend training session in Austin, Texas, for a suspect paramilitary group. While at this meeting, Matthews met two ex-soldiers, introduced as "Tim" and "Andy."
In the post-bombing media deluge, Matthews realized that "Tim" was Timothy McVeigh, When Matthews related his information about "Tim" and "Andy the German" to Don Jarrett of Phoenix, his FBI handler, Jarrett responded, "We know, John. Don't worry about it. We got it covered."
Newsweek confirmed this statement, and others, by Matthews in preparing its November 28, 2011,cover story on white supremacists.
Further corroboration of extensive interactions between McVeigh and Strassmeir come from Bill Buford, the retired former head of the Little Rock ATF office. Buford said on the record that he knew of both verbal and written reports putting McVeigh at Elohim City. He also stated that while none of this material was provided to the defense teams in discovery, it was included in an FBI summary report sent to DOJ.
Additionally, FBI Agent James Carlile, has said on the record: "…McVeigh had been in there [Elohim City] and probably tried to recruit somebody… "
Why is Strassmeir Important?
Strassmeir has always been the enigmatic key to understanding the Oklahoma City bombing. His crucial role began to be documented in August 1994, when the Tulsa, Oklahoma, ATF office recruited as a paid Confidential Informant a Tulsa debutante who had become involved in white supremacist activities after surviving a near-assault by several African-American males. Designated CI-183, she gained ready access to Elohim City, visiting almost weekly and staying on occasion for several weeks until a short time before the bombing. She got to know Strassmeir well.
Less than a half year before the Oklahoma City bombings, Tulsa ATF issued a remarkable report. In its November 1994 monthly Report of Investigation (ROI) on CI-183's activitiessent both to the regional ATF office in Dallas and directly to ATF headquarters in Washington (signifying a very high-profile case)it described Strassmeir as follows:
He was born in 1959 and served in the West German military starting in 1979. He was an infantry officer. His plans are to forcibly act to destroy the US Government with direct actions and operations such as assassinations, bombing and mass shootings. He believes the biggest enemy to be the United States Government (ZOG).
Tulsa ATF targets Strassmeir
The Oklahoma City bombing story is significant on many levels. One important aspect is what it shows about the welter of agencies that are as often investigating and arresting each other's shadowy operatives as they are cooperating. Nowhere is this more apparent than in regard to Elohim City, where several of the key "extremists" may well have been government agents unwittingly egging one another on.
This kind of compartmentalization, while perhaps understandable in intelligence operations, nonetheless can lead to tragedy. That may be what happened in the case of Oklahoma City, when ATF's efforts to nab the German were thwarted by other entities.
Here's what happened, as reconstructed from documents and interviews.
Within two weeks of ATF's report on Strassmeir, David Roberts, Resident Agent in Charge (RAC) of the Tulsa ATF, set in motion plans to raid Elohim City and arrest the German. He would, it was assumed, be held as a "criminal alien" (having an expired visa) in possession of firearms. Strassmeir's illegal possession of firearms(a felony under 18 US Code 992(g)triggered ATF jurisdiction.
Contemporaneous records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) show that in early December 1994, Tulsa ATF requested a "certificate of non-existence of lawful permanent residence" from INS headquarters in Washington. A January 5, 1995, INS record stated that Tulsa ATF "request [INS] participation in Raid next month." (Prior to the reorganization leading to establishment of the Department of Homeland Security, INS was a part of Department of Justice, and ATF was an agency of the Department of Treasury.)
On February 16, 1995, ATF headquarters formally certified that no paperwork existed to back up Strassmeir's "lawful admission to the United States as an immigrant." He was now fair game for arrest in a joint ATF/INS raid.
While INS's wheels were slowly grinding in Washington, Tulsa ATF accelerated pre-raid preparations. On February 7, its agents conducted an aerial reconnaissance of Elohim City, using an Oklahoma State Highway Patrol aircraft and pilot. The ATF Report of Investigation (ROI) for February stated, "Both photographs and video were taken."
(ATF Tulsa records during this time begin to show an increasing concern to withhold what was seen as very sensitive information. But, the bane of any such efforttoo much paper, too widely distributeddoes allow for a relatively complete picture of these crucial days and events.)
Now that INS had certified Strassmeir as an illegal alien, Tulsa ATF requested that Oklahoma Highway Patrol issue a "BOLO" (Be On the Look Out") for "Strassmeir. Titled, "BOLO for Security Chief at Elohim City Compound," and naming "Andreas Strassmeir" as the target, it stated:
Came to USA in 5/91, passport was good until 8/91. He never left the country. INS says he does not have an extension on his VISA.
…
Carries a .45 auto pistol at all times.
He is an illegal alien, ATF wants to be notified if he is stopped and has the gun on him. They will file the charges.
Contact: [information for CI-183's ATF handler was listed]
…
These plans were brought to a sudden halt. To find out whyand what happened nextcheck back for Part II tomorrow.

Source

[David Guyatt]

Part 2

Exclusive: Oklahoma City Bombing Breakthrough, Part 2 of 2

April 23, 2015 by Roger Charles
Categories: Threats to Democracy

"Murrah Building Aerial" by US Army Corps of Engineers. Hronek, Sheri (August 2001).

Not So Fast, ATF
As noted in Part 1 of this 2-part series, in early 1995, Tulsa Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agents were eagerly preparing for a highly anticipated raid on the radical right-wing enclave of Elohim Cityand the arrest of the shadowy figure Andreas Strassmeir, aka "Andy the German."
Then, suddenly those plans were dramatically and suddenly halted. The abrupt about-face was recorded in a Report of Investigation (ROI) for February 1995:
On February 22, 1995 this agent met with OHP [Oklahoma Highway Patrol] Trooper Ken Stafford [the pilot who had flown the AFT team on the February 7 aerial reconnaissance] to exchange certain information regarding this investigation. Trooper Stafford indicated that the FBI also had an ongoing investigation regarding Elohim City. (Emphasis added.)
Near panic gripped federal law enforcement agencies in Tulsa. An extraordinary meeting took place later that day between ATF RAC David Roberts and the local US Attorney, Steve Lewis. The meeting violated strict bureaucratic protocol whereby Lewis would normally not have deigned to meet with a lowly RAC, and would have met only with Roberts' Dallas-based regional ATF boss.
The left-hand and the right-hand of federal law enforcement targeting Elohim City finally became aware of each others' investigations, and Lewis's meeting with Roberts had one immediate and three follow-up consequences:
ATF terminated its investigation and the planned arrest of Strassmeir
ATF terminated CI-183 (the Tulsa debutante) as a paid Confidential Informant.
ATF terminated its investigation of White Aryan Resistance (and Elohim City).
The FBI continued its investigation at Elohim City, unimpeded by the ATF.
(A planned visit to Elohim City by CI-183 for the week of March 5-11 did not take place, or, if it did, no records of the visit have been released).
In September 2001, six years after the bombing, David Roberts told CBS 60 Minutes II producer Mary Mapes in a not-for-record telephone call the following, never-before-public information:
the Oklahoma City bombers came out of Elohim City
the FBI had a snitch in the middle of the bombing conspiracy
the FBI took over sole investigation of Elohim City to protect its snitch.
This writer was working as a consultant to 60 Minutes II on September 8, 2001, and made notes of Mapes's telephone call to an attorney representing Terry Nichols, the man who was charged and convicted as McVeigh's partner in the Oklahoma City bombing. A planned visit with Roberts and his attorney in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, for September 12, 2001, did not take place due to the 9/11 attacks. Subsequent attempts to arrange an on-the-record interview with Roberts have been unsuccessful.
Saving Strassmeir's Ass (and the FBI's)
Two days after the bombing, a joint FBI-ATF team interviewed CI-183. It's worth quoting the FBI report of this interview at some length, including intentional misspellings:
EC's [Elohim City] Security Officer is STRASMEYER, an illegal alien from Germany who is a former West German Infantry Officer.
… STRASMEYER has talked frequently about direct action against the U.S. Government.) He is trained in weaponry and has discussed assassinations, bombings and mass shootings…
MEHAUN [Dennis Mahon, a long-time major figure in the national white supremacist movement and one-time FBI informant, currently serving time for a letter bomb in federal prison] has talked with CAROL [CI-183] about targeting federal installations for destruction through bombings, such as the IRS Building , the Tulsa Federal Building and the Oklahoma City Federal Building… [Note: CI-183 later said this text was wrong. Strassmeir the German had mentioned the three specific buildings, not Mahon. This would not be the first time that the FBI has burned a lesser important snitch to protect a more valuable one.
… MEHAUN and STRASMEYER has taken three trips to Oklahoma City in November, 1994, December, 1994, and February, 1995. CAROL only accompanied the group once, in December, 1994…
Note that last paragraph: here is the FBI reporting that Strassmeir and Mahon, his White-Aryan-Resistance buddy, took three reconnaissance trips to Oklahoma City in the months before the bombing of the Murrah Federal Building, a structure which one or both had reportedly spoken about destroying.
Elohim City is only 170 miles from Oklahoma City, so one might think that after the bombing of the Murrah Federal Building, with the above information in FBI files, Strassmeir would be, if not first, at least in the top-most group of the FBI's list of persons of interest. In fact, reasonable minds might expect that Strassmeir qualified as a full-fledged "suspect."
But that was not how the FBI saw it. There is compelling evidence the FBI actually aided and abetted Strassmeir's return to Germany (in January 1996), without his having been even informally questioned, much less officially interviewed.
The US Counterterrorism Division made it impossible for Strassmeir to return to the USso that he couldn't be questioned about his involvement?

Subsequent to Strassmeir's return home, the FBI responded to some press interest by releasing two short, superficial trans-Atlantic telephone interviews with Strassmeir (conducted on April 30 and May 1, 1996). These interviews completely ignored the information in the April 21, 1995, joint FBI/ATF interview of CI-183, and should go down in history as one of the Bureau's greatest investigative embarrassments.
Alternatively, the Bureau may see it as a great success: for twenty years, its snitch, Strassmeir, along with the Bureau itself, avoided any accountability for his role in an attack that murdered 168 American citizens.
With Strassmeir safely back in Germany, the US Department of State's Counterterrorism Division issued a "Protective Intelligence Bulletin" making Strassmeir ineligible for a return to the US, in case someone like a congressional committee might want to interview him here.
Tulsa ATF called CI-183 back into snitch service
While agencies of the federal government covered their tracks and protected Strassmeir in the wake of the Oklahoma City bombing, ATF Tulsa obtained approval for the emergency reinstatement of CI-183 as a paid Confidential Informant "in order to aid in the Oklahoma City Bombing investigation… "
In another document, Tulsa ATF justified its request to the Dallas Field Division for "Advance of Funds," listing as "Suspect's Name and Address":
Elohim City
Robert Millar
Adair Co [County], OK.
In the block, "Explain/Justification" is this handwritten text:
This investigation involves the Bombing of the Murrah Bldg. in Oklahoma City, OK. It is suspected that members of Elohim City are involved either directly or indirectly through conspiracy. It is suspected that suspect #2 [the elusive John Doe 2] may be at the location. Funds will be used for CI-subsistence, expenses travel… "
The Tulsa ATF ROI for May 1995 states CI-183 traveled to Elohim City and stayed there for three days, and after this visit CI-183 was taken again to Oklahoma City for "debriefing" by ATF and FBI agents. (No records have surfaced from either FBI or ATF files of this debriefing.)
CI-183 reported that one Elohim City resident said, "There is a big secret out here," and that other individuals there "were supportive of the bombing of the building in Oklahoma City."
ATF Tulsa planned to send CI-183 back to Elohim City "in order to determine what the big secret' is and to attempt to identify suspect #2," but this trip was canceled after CI-183 received warnings from an Elohim City resident that CI-183 "had better not go to Elohim City."
These warnings were reinforced on May 24 when Tulsa ATF RAC David Roberts told CI-183's handler that, "Robert Millar suspected CI-183 of being a confidential informant." Most likely, Millar's suspicion was based on information from his FBI handler in what proved to be a successful effort to head off an ATF investigation of Elohim City and its central role in OKBOMB.
With every anniversary of the Murrah Building bombing, the mainstream media run touching tributes to the victims and their families. But as memories of the tragedy fade, so does the possibility of peeling back the façade of a cover-up that has served to keep some "inconvenient" truths from the American public.