Date: Tue, 22 Oct 1996 14:44:35 -0700
To: [r--c] at [xmission.com]
From: "Ken L. Holder" <[k--l--r] at [shell.liberty.com]>

Tuesday October 22 4:38 PM EDT 

FBI Agent Charged with Hiding Ruby Ridge Paper

WASHINGTON (Reuter) - Prosecutors Tuesday charged an FBI official
obstructed justice by destroying a document that was needed in the murder
trial of white separatist Randy Weaver over the 1992 shootout in Ruby
Ridge, Idaho. 

Justice Department sources said E. Michael Kahoe, chief of the FBI's violent
crimes section during the incident, has agreed to plead guilty to the charges
and cooperate in the long-running probe into possible wrongdoing by FBI
officials. 

U.S. Attorney Michael Stiles, who has been in charge of the investigation,
said Kahoe allegedly participated in the concealment and destruction of an
FBI headquarters document sought by prosecutors in preparing for
Weaver's trial. 

The sources declined to say who Kahoe may have implicated or how soon
any other charges might be brought. The charges against him were the first
arising from the investigation that began in August of last year. 

Obstruction of justice carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a
$250,000 fine. Kahoe, formerly the special agent in charge of the FBI's
office in Jacksonville, Florida, has been placed on administrative leave. 

Weaver and his friend Kevin Harris were charged with the murder of Deputy
U.S. Marshal William Degan, who was shot and killed in a confrontation
Aug. 21, 1992. Weaver's son was also killed in the firefight. 

After the shootout, the FBI's hostage rescue team went to Ruby Ridge, and
on Aug. 22 an FBI sniper fired two shots at the cabin, wounding Weaver
and killing his wife. The standoff ended nine days later when Weaver
surrendered. 

Weaver and Harris were acquitted during their 1993 federal criminal trial of
the murder charges. 

According to the new charges, Kahoe was ordered by his superiors to
prepare an "after action critique" of the FBI's conduct. He ordered that a
written document be prepared and took part in editing it. 

Meanwhile prosecutors in Idaho in January 1993 sent a letter to the FBI
emphasizing they needed any documents about the incident. Kahoe allegedly
received a copy of the letter. 

The charges alleged that Kahoe and certain unnamed superiors at FBI
headquarters resisted the request for documents. The Justice Department
finally had to order that all of the FBI documents be given to the
prosecutors. 

Kahoe supervised the production of the documents. 

To ensure the critique would not be available he allegedly withheld it from
the documents to be delivered, destroyed all his copies and ordered a
subordinate to destroy all copies and make it appear as if it never existed,
prosecutors said. 

Kahoe was one of six FBI officials who have come under investigation for
engaging in a possible cover-up. Only one agent has been cleared. Of the
four others, the most senior official was Larry Potts, who left his post as
deputy FBI director because of the controversy. 


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