Date: Fri, 11 Aug 1995 23:32:15 -0400
From: [Hbar 556] at [aol.com]
To: [N--B--N] at [mainstream.com]
Subject: Ruby Ridge Suspensions
Message-ID: <[950811233148 72476370] at [aol.com]>

  WASHINGTON (Reuter) - FBI Director Louis Freeh on Friday suspended four
senior officials, including the bureau's former second-in-command, for their
roles in a 1992 Idaho shootout that has been a rallying point for rightist
militias. 

    Larry Potts, briefly deputy FBI director this year before being hit by
fallout from the siege, was put on administrative leave with pay, as were the
others who were taken off the job. 

    So far, five top FBI officials have been suspended as a result of the
shootout, in which the wife and son of a white separatist leader, Randy
Weaver, were killed at Ruby Ridge, Idaho. 

    Freeh's action came after he recieved a confidential internal report, ABC
News said Friday. 

    Senior law enforcement sources quoted by the network said the report
suggested the FBI officials ``may have lied, destroyed documents or otherwise
obstructed justice.'' 

    In a written statement, Freeh said the suspensions, including one
announced last month, would remain in effect pending further investigation.
He said he would decide on possible additional disciplinary action once the
probe by the Justice Department's Office of Professional Responsiblity was
finished. 

    ``As I have stressed before, the FBI must be held to the highest
standards. I remain committed to obtaining the full truth about what occurred
during and after the tragic events at Ruby Ridge,'' he said. 

    ``Any wrongdoing by FBI employees in connection with those events will
result in tough and swift action against them.'' 

    Congress is scheduled to hold hearings next month on Ruby Ridge, which
together with the disastrous 1993 raid on the Branch Davidian religious
compound in Waco, Texas, has helped fuel the anti-government views of militia
groups. 

    On July 11, Freeh suspended FBI official Michael Kahoe while the Justice
Department investigated charges that he destroyed a document about the Ruby
Ridge shootout. 

    Potts had previously been shifted out of the bureau's number two job
because of the controvery and given a job in the training division. 

    The other three officials suspended Friday were: Danny Coulson, special
agent in charge of the Dallas division; Gale Evans, assistant special agent
in charge of the Salt Lake City division, and; Anthony Betz, assistant
special agent in charge of the Baltimore division. 

Reut22:25 08-11-95