OK Bombing

Why do you think the D.C. government would cover up the OKC bombing? By J.D. Cash and Lt. Col. Roger Charles, (U.S.M.C. retired)

Speaking on the condition that their names not be revealed, a group of former Department of Justice (DOJ) officials have told this newspaper that the FBI never seriously investigated Tim McVeigh's connections to a right-wing paramilitary training camp.

Neither, they say, were McVeigh's ties to a notorious bank robbery gang operating in the Midwest investigated. Further, FBI agents interested in working the case were thwarted by Department of Justice attorneys and by other FBI officials.

Even spoken with their identities hidden because of fears of retribution, the explosive statements are especially surprising now, coming as they do on the heels of a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision that journalists may be jailed if they refuse to reveal sources in federal cases.

That decision has reportedly already had a chilling effect on some federal whistleblowers.

In addition to the former officials' personal insights into the case, however, the newspaper has been able to corroborate much of what they have said about problems with the OKBOMB investigation with other sources and documents pertaining to the bombing of the A.P. Murrah Federal Building on April 19, 1995.

Documents from the FBI and other federal agencies involved in the OKBOMB case support their claims that the FBI failed to arrest all the persons involved and that political considerations played a role in deliberately limiting the investigation to Tim McVeigh, Terry Nichols and Michael Fortier even though the agencies repeatedly assured bombing victims and the public that all persons involved would be brought to justice.