Time: Fri Jun 13 19:13:26 1997
by primenet.com (8.8.5/8.8.5) with SMTP id TAA15698;
Fri, 13 Jun 1997 19:13:05 -0700 (MST)
Date: Fri, 13 Jun 1997 19:11:57 -0700
To: (Recipient list suppressed)
From: Paul Andrew Mitchell [address in tool bar]
Subject: SLS: Oklahoma special state grand jury (fwd)
[14]
*****Oklahoma Grand Jury To Hear Coverup Charge
*****State Lawmaker Sees Bombing Conspiracy
*****By Bill McAllister
*****Washington Post Staff Writer
*****Friday, June 13, 1997; Page A14
*****The Washington Post
OKLAHOMA CITY, June 12 -- For most of his 11
years in the Oklahoma State House of Representatives,
Charles D. Key has a been a low-profile, but
mainstream member of the Republican minority.
Then, the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building was
blown up on April 19, 1995, killing 168 people, some
of them Key's friends and neighbors in his
working-class district around the Will Rogers World
Airport. Soon afterward, friends say Key became a
changed man, convinced that the federal government
was not telling all it knew about the explosion.
This week, as a jury was deciding whether to sentence
Timothy J. McVeigh to death for the bombing, an
Oklahoma judge agreed to convene a grand jury here
June 30 to consider Key's claim of a massive coverup,
an investigation demanded in petitions signed by more
than 13,000 area residents.
In an interview in the State Capitol Office today, Key
said he is sure a grand jury will confirm his allegations
that McVeigh did not act alone and he insisted that he
has facts, "cold hard facts," to back up the claim.
However, Key will not disclose them.
Virtually all local law enforcement officials, including
Gov. Frank A. Keating (R), a former FBI agent, have
scoffed at Key's charges, saying they are unsupported
and irrational. The Daily Oklahoman, the city's
newspaper, has condemned the requested investigation
as "a wasteful sideshow, disliked by most victims and
survivors of those killed."
But Key remains unmoved and has given up his
insurance agency to pursue the charges. He has a
powerful ally in Oklahoma law, which gives residents
the right to petition for a grand jury investigation. Only
New Mexico residents have a similar right, Key's
lawyer said.
A grand jury investigation seems certain to keep alive
conspiracy theories among right-wing militia groups and
others about the Oklahoma bombing, regardless of the
outcome of the McVeigh case. If the local prosecutors,
who have fought Key's request, attempt to lead the
grand jury's deliberations, Key said today he will
petition the courts for a special prosecutor.
Key insisted today that the state inquiry will be simple,
direct and cheap. All it has to do is call the 20 people
he maintains saw McVeigh in Oklahoma City the
morning of the bombing, witnesses Key charges that
federal prosecutors failed to bring before the grand jury
that indicted McVeigh and Terry L. Nichols for the
murders of eight federal law enforcement officers.
Along with others who believe the two men could not
have plotted such a massive explosion on their own,
Key argues that federal law enforcement officers were
around the Murrah building early on the morning of the
explosion waiting to trap someone in a sting operation
that went awry. He charges that federal prosecutors cut
their grand jury case short to cover up the
government's failure to warn federal workers of a likely
explosion.
Federal authorities have denied that any such sting was
underway or that they had any advance knowledge of
the bombing.
Keating believes Key's charge is absurd, said John Cox,
the governor's deputy press secretary. "The governor
has complete confidence in the federal government's
handling of the case," said Cox, adding that Keating
believes "no federal law officer would allow a fellow
federal agent to be murdered."
As for charges that his crusade is political and he has
allied himself with conspiracy buffs, Key replied such
charges "come with the territory."
========================================================================
Paul Andrew Mitchell : Counselor at Law, federal witness
B.A., Political Science, UCLA; M.S., Public Administration, U.C. Irvine
tel: (520) 320-1514: machine; fax: (520) 320-1256: 24-hour/day-night
email: [address in tool bar] : using Eudora Pro 3.0.2 on 586 CPU
website: http://www.supremelaw.com : visit the Supreme Law Library now
ship to: c/o 2509 N. Campbell, #1776 : this is free speech, at its best
Tucson, Arizona state : state zone, not the federal zone
Postal Zone 85719/tdc : USPS delays first class w/o this
As agents of the Most High, we came here to establish justice. We shall
not leave, until our mission is accomplished and justice reigns eternal.
========================================================================
[This text formatted on-screen in Courier 11, non-proportional spacing.]
Return to Table of Contents for
Supreme Law School: E-mail