Carol Howe, BATF Informant, Betrayed by the Goverment
by Bob Hall
The follwing describes the story of Carol Howe, ATF informant,
who penetrated a right-wing cell that may have been associated
with the Oklahoma City bombing. She was rewarded for her efforts
with an attempt by the Federal government to prosecute her.
This trial has the potential to bring a light of truth to the darkness
of the Oklahoma City Bombing. The light shall shine where only
darkness and secrecy has dwelled before, watch this trial closely.
To those familiar with Bob Mathews, it will have a "Mathews"
flavor, a battle only equalled by those huffy puffy wrestlers on
television, full of sound and fury, and shocking details for all. J.D.
Cash apparently will be testifying for the PROSECUTION, against
Carol Howe. Grab your seats, and hang on. This could be a very
exciting trial. As many of you know, the federal indictment for
McVeigh and Nichols included these words, "and others........" Let
those wishing for truth to surface watch this trial, and be
introduced to the "others" involved in the Oklahoma City Bombing.
Enjoy the following, from a highly respected investigator of the
OKC Bombing, of which I have had the pleasure to be a part of the
team. Take note, these reports should follow each day, and I
promise, there will be no speculation, no journalistic spinning or
embellishments of truth, or will there be any hype..... just plain
documentable facts.
Real simple.
Bob Hall
Howe
July 28, 1997
The federal conspiracy trial of Tulsan Carol Howe is living up to its
billing. High drama in courtroom manoeuvring, there will be
evidence allowed that may show others who may have been involved
in the Oklahoma City bombing and a classic example of one lone
attorney battling it out with the federal government.
The main adversaries in this trial, Assistant US Attorney Neal
Kirkpatrick and defense attorney Clark O. Brewster were exchanging
heated barbs even before selection of the jury was finished. The first
exchange came when Brewster told the prospective jurors they were
the judges not only of Ms. Howe but also of the "these guys right
here", pointing to the prosecutor table.
As the day went along, there were so many meetings of attorneys at
the bench of Federal Judge Michael Burrage, that the afternoon
session was mostly taken up with secret talks.
One very important ruling was made by Judge Burrage today. He
denied a motion from prosecutors who sought to keep out all
mention of Ms. Howes' work at Elohim City as an informant for the
Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms. It is that undercover work
that many court observers believe will eventually disclose
information to show that Ms. Howes' observations should have
tipped federal authorities to the Oklahoma City bombing.
The last two questions to prospective jurors from prosecutor
Kirkpatrick showed the level of the governments concern, about Ms.
Howes' information.
Kirkpatrick asked the jurors if any of them believed that the
government would not have done all it could to stop the Oklahoma
City bombing and if anyone believed that the government had
"specific" warning of the bombing.
No one raised their hand.
After the 7 woman five man jury was selected, the prosecution gave
its opening statement. Assistant US Attorney Kirkpatrick told the
panel that the government would show that Carol Howe was
involved in a conspiracy, did make a bomb threat, and possessed the
materials necessary to make a pipe bomb.
Kirkpatrick claimed that the ultimate goal of Ms. Howe and her now
convicted ex-boyfriend, James Viefhaus, was to start a race war.
During the afternoon, the prosecution began playing a series of tape
recordings made by Mr. Viefhaus and Ms. Howe. Those recordings
were played over their National Socialists Alliance of Oklahoma
telephone hotline. On the tapes, Viefhaus and Howe repeatedly
mention the need for "Aryans" to get ready to the coming "war" with
the government. Kirkpatrick claimed that the alleged threat to bomb
15 US cities was a real threat and he can prove it.
He said he could prove it by the tone of the tape recorded messages,
and the literature that was found inside the couples Tulsa home.
The literature at issue is widely available through mail order book
stores and off the World Wide Web.
Defense attorney Clark O. Brewster was able to cross examine only
one witness today. That was Kenneth Piernick, the head of the FBI's
Domestic Terrorism Unit. Piernick admitted that it was a call from a
reporter, who apparently was looking for a story, that first alerted the
FBI to the telephone message that resulted in the federal charges
against Howe and Viefhaus.
The call came from seasoned newspaper reporter Bill Moreland of
the Spokane Spokesman-Review newspaper. During his opening
argument, prosecutor Kirkpatrick claimed that the call so "scared"
Mr. Moreland that he contacted the FBI's top man, agent Piernick.
Some court room reporters scoffed at the notion that a telephone
recording would scare veteran reporter Moreland, whose own
newspaper was bombed by a sect known as the Phineas Priesthood.
Members of that sect were recently convicted of bombing the
newspaper and robbing banks in Spokane.
During his cross-examination of Piernick, Brewster made his point
that Ms. Howe was still a working informant for the BATF when he
first heard the recording and in fact had worked as an informant for
the FBI for a short time. While Piernick stated that he had no idea at
the time, that Ms. Howe was a BATF informant he did admit that it
would have been standard procedure to contact an informant who
was on the inside of a matter that the bureau was about to investigate
before seeking a search warrant and conducting a raid. That left
Piernick in the unenviable position of having to admit that no
contact was ever attempted with Ms. Howe, before her home was
raided in December of 1996.
Interestingly, the leader of a now defunct neo-Nazi group that
committed murders and specialized in robbing armored cars during
the early 80's was obviously still very much on the minds of the FBI
and federal prosecutors.
Robert Mathews was the leader of a group known as "the Order". On
the tape recordings, Viefhaus was heard numerous times praising
Mathews who was killed in a shoot-out with FBI agents in
Washington state on December 8, 1984.
(note: exactly 12 years later Viefhaus and Howe put the message on
their telephone answering machine that resulted in the charges they
now face). Prosecutor Kirkpatrick questioned Special Agent
Piernick at length about Mathews in an apparent effort to place Ms.
Howe in the same league.
Readers of conspiracy theorist J.D. Cash will be disappointed to
learn that he won't be writing any stories about this trial, at least not
first hand accounts. He was ordered out of the courtroom today
because he has been subpoenaed by the PROSECUTION as a
possible witness in Ms. Howe's trial.
Defense attorney Brewster opted to reserve his opening statement
until he begins his side of the case. While prosecutors say the trial
should last only 3 or 4 days, defense attorney Brewster told the
court, it very well could last longer than a week.
Date: 7-29-97
A far different story is beginning to emerge from the federal trial of
Tulsan Carol Howe concerning her "reliability" as a confidential
informant, from what the government has been saying about the
former ATF operative.
Since the public at large found out about Ms. Howes' work, the
federal government has been telling reporters, "on background" that
the former debutante turned infiltrator was "let go" because she had
become unreliable or unstable. Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and
Firearms documents presented as evidence in her conspiracy trial
today, tell a far different story.
During unrelenting cross-examination, defense attorney Clark
Brewster managed to weave a picture today from testimony of
several FBI agents, that showed Carol Howe was highly regarded by
the ATF and by some FBI agents. After Ms. Howe learned that her
work as an informant had been revealed by an FBI agent, her ATF
handler Agent Angela Finley-Graham wrote a Threat Assessment. In
the assessment, Finley-Graham wrote that in the two years she had
known Ms. Howe she never appeared to be overly paranoid or fearful
and that her belief that she is in serious danger was likely real.
Finley-Graham's advice to Howe was to take every precaution
necessary to protect herself.
Finley went on to stress the importance of Howes' work by writing
that she was "the key in identifying individuals at Elohim City which
is tied to the Oklahoma City bomb case."
Probably the most riveting moment of the days court proceedings
came, when FBI agent Chris Peters testified. Peters was part of the
team of agents who searched Howes' residence in December of 1996.
Peters testified that he had no knowledge of Carol Howes' work for
the ATF at the time of the raid. He then testified, nervously, that
ATF agent Angela Finley-Graham is his wife.
There was no explanation offered for the different last names.
After a very long and dramatic pause, defense attorney Brewster
asked Agent Peters if his wife had ever mentioned that she was very
upset or angry that one of her informants had been revealed by the
FBI, during the spring of 1996. Agent Peters said he did remember
that his wife was very upset about the matter, but insisted that he
never knew the informants name.
FBI agent Peter Rickel underwent nearly two hours of intense
questioning from Brewster. Rickel admitted that in the spring of
1996, he had a telephone conversation with Carol Howe because he
was interested in information on Elohim City. Rickel testified,
however, that they never discussed Elohim City, because Ms. Howe
wanted to talk about witness protection. Rickel stated that before he
could begin the conversation about Elohim City, Ms. Howe advised
him that the FBI had revealed to Timothy McVeigh's defense team
that she had been an ATF informer.
"She was very concerned about her personal safety," said Rickel who
admitted that her fears were probably real. His advise was to tell
Howe that she should contact the ATF. Rickel admitted that he
wrote no report, did not talk to his supervisors or even check to see
why the ATF was telling one of its informants, to go to the FBI for
help.
The testimony had the effect of showing that Ms. Howe was still an
active ATF informant and highly thought of. So much so that even
the FBI was calling her for information, long after the Oklahoma
City bombing. It also showed, that Ms. Howe was caught in a
government run-around. The agency she worked for took her fears
seriously but told her to go to the FBI. The FBI told her to go to the
ATF. And no one did anything to protect her. Rickel then admitted,
that given those facts it would have been an option for Ms. Howe to
continue her work as a member of the white supremacist movement.
Rickel added that to do so and be believable, Ms. Howe would have
had to use strong rhetoric, like that which was played for the jury,
from tape recordings found in her home during the FBI raid. Rickel
also admitted that several FBI agents were "angered" that her work
had been disclosed and were very concerned about her safety.
Rickel offered no explanation for his in-action on the matter. Rickel
also stated that he did not make the connection, until several hours
into the raid on Ms. Howes' residence, who she was. Rickel also
testified that no one else in the FBI ever mentioned or realized
during preparations to raid the house who Ms. Howe was.
Again today, there were fireworks between defense attorney
Brewster and Assistant US Attorney Neal Kirkpatrick. Repeatedly,
Brewsters objections over leading questioning of witnesses by
Kirkpatrick, were sustained by Federal Judge Michael Burrage.
Numerous sessions were held at the bench to settle objections.
During one meeting at the bench, the court reporter was told to stop
typing.
During Brewsters cross-examination of FBI agent Peters, prosecutor
Kirkpatrick jumped to his feet and heatedly objected claiming the
information was privileged conversation between husband and wife.
That too took a meeting at the bench. Kirkpatricks objection was
over-ruled.
It appears that the prosecution may end its case late tomorrow or
early Thursday. Brewster would then present his case, and major
components of Ms. Howes' undercover work are expected to be
revealed for the first time.
During his questioning, Brewster revealed that Ms. Howe gave the
BATF over 70 briefings and made more than 47 undercover tape
recordings of white supremacists. Only tidbits of her work have ever
been revealed. Her entire BATF file remains under seal by order of
Judge Burrage. That seal will be ripped away, once Brewster begins
his case.
Other testimony from today's proceedings: Bill Moreland, reporter
for the Spokesman-Review from Spokane Washington, told the
court that he had spent 6 months working on a story about white
supremacists in America, when he discovered the phone message on
Ms. Howes' telephone answering machine. He could not remember
how he got her phone number. He stated that the message, alarmed
him "a bit" and he decided to contact the FBI's number one man for
domestic terrorism. Moreland riled when he was asked if he had ever
before been a government informant. He told defense attorney
Brewster he had never been an informant and he only called because
he thought the bureau should know about the message.
FBI agent Ken Kaminski, a member of the December 1996 raid team.
He testified about a black box that was found in Ms. Howes'
converted garage, that contained a length of pipe with end caps,
containers marked powder, cannon fuse, citric acid and hexamine
tablets. On cross-examination, it was revealed that the citric acid was
a retail item that is used to can vegetables and the hexamine tablets
are used to start camp fires. The pipe with end caps turned out to be
empty.
FBI agent Daniel Argo, testified that it was a .40 caliber handgun he
found in Ms. Howes' purse at the beginning of the search of her
residence.
Brew
Date: 7-30-97
The prosecution is nervous and it is beginning to show at the
conspiracy trial of Tulsan Carol Howe. While reporters struggle to
keep to the facts, on the side, they are talking about what the Tulsa
US attorneys office already knows, their case in chief is in trouble.
The real evidence of how nervous prosecutors are is showing up
outside the courtroom. The father of Howes' convicted boyfriend was
called to US Attorney Steve Lewis' office to try and convince him
that his son should turn states evidence against the former ATF
informant. It is known that several earlier attempts had been made to
reach a deal with Viefhaus in return for his testimony against Ms.
Howe. Those efforts have only increased since his conviction.
Prosecutors would not be pressing Viefhaus now, if they believed
their case in chief was solid.
Viefhaus is standing fast and refusing to testify, either suspicious of
the federal governments offers or still being loyal to his fiancee.
From trial testimony it has become apparent that the couples
relationship was already strained to the breaking point last
December when the house they shared was raided by the FBI.
FBI agent Josh Nixon gave new details today of Howes 4-hour plus
interview on the day of the raid. Nixon stated that Howe told him
that Viefhaus had gone, "too deep into the white supremacist
movement and that he wanted to be a martyr." Nixon said that Howe
told him that she agreed to stay in the relationship only after
Viefhaus had agreed to see a psychiatrist because the only emotion
he was capable of expressing was hatred.
Nixon also testified, that Howe admitted the couple wrote the
message together, that has resulted in her current trial. However, he
explained that Howe told him that she did not want the tape
recording to include references to 15 US cities being bombed. Nixon
said that Howe urged Viefhaus to leave that out but Viefhaus
ignored her. It was also revealed that the alleged bomb threat was
transmitted to Viefhaus and Howe by long time Tulsa white
supremacist and former Klansman Dennis Mahon. Mahon, received
the information from convicted Muskogee bomber Willie Ray
Lampley.
The letter from Lampley in which the original bombing was
predicted has never been produced but he is scheduled to testify for
the defense. Lampley is known to have already admitted that he
wrote the letter to Mahon but that he did not mean that pipe bombs
would be detonated, but that he had received the "prophecy that
nuclear bombs", would be detonated. Part of the charges against
Howe allege that she possessed the components necessary to build a
pipe bomb.
In other testimony today, FBI bomb technician Robert Heckman
stated that the mere presence at Howes residence, of a length of pipe
with end caps and gunpowder constituted the makings of an
explosive device. Earlier testimony from FBI agents who discovered
the pipe showed that there had not been a hole drilled in the pipe for
a fuse. But the FBI expert stated a fuse hole wasn't necessary to
make it an explosive device. He said that if the pipe had been loaded
with explosive material, just shaking it or throwing it against
something could cause it to go off, so it was an "unpredictable
explosive device".
The length of pipe was removed by the Tulsa bomb squad during the
FBI raid and it was found to be empty.
Heckman said that he was cleared by a recent Inspector Generals
office investigation into the FBI Laboratory, of charges that he crafts
his testimony to fit the trial. The charges were made by whistle
blower Frederic Whitehurst.
However, during cross examination, Defense attorney Clark O.
Brewster produced testimony that Heckman had given in February of
this year in another bomb trial. In that case, Heckman told the court
that the pipe bomb lacked one final step to become an explosive
device..."a hole drilled in the pipe for a fuse". When the attorney in
that case questioned further, Heckman testified that, "without that
hole for a fuse, the device was not a bomb".
When pressed by Brewster, Heckman finally admitted that there was
nothing illegal about owning steel pipe and gunpowder.
Prosecutors also called a pair of young men to testify. 16-year old
Johnny Gamble told the jury that he contacted Howe and Viefhaus
in the summer of 1996, wanting to join their organization, the
National Socialists Alliance of Oklahoma. Gamble said the couple
told him he was too young, but they gave him literature and the idea
to start his own youth group which he dubbed, "the Fourth Reich".
Gamble stated that he was referred to Howe and Viefhaus by Dennis
Mahon.
Under cross-examination, Gamble said that Carol Howe also
instructed him to: not take drugs, be polite, stay in school, don't take
a knife to school, and avoid violence.
19-year old Jesse James Allison testified that he met Gamble, Howe
and Viefhaus at a fast food restaurant in Broken Arrow in 1996.
Allison said that during the meeting, he revealed that his father was
an electrician and that he was an apprentice. Gamble then said, "well
you could help us wire the bomb". Viefhaus, he testified, then said
that Gamble and he would build the bomb, Howe would deliver it
and he, Allison, could wire it. Allison said Viefhaus claimed that he
had given the government an ultimatum and that 15 bombs would go
off around the country and a race war would start.
Under cross-examination, Allison said, that Carol Howe seemed
shocked at the statement. He also said that she never really took part
in the conversation.
While the prosecution did not officially rest their case today, they
are expected to do that tomorrow morning, unless they convince
Viefhaus to testify. Defense attorney Brewster is expected to begin
his case tomorrow with his opening statement. He is expected to
begin introducing documents from Howes' ATF work at Elohim
City. Those documents are currently under seal by Federal Judge
Michael Burrage. Increasing media pressure, however, may convince
the Judge to unseal the files. Either way, much of the unknown work
of Carol Howe is expected to begin being made public tomorrow.
Date: 7-31-97
The US rests. The defense begins. And true to his opening
statement, defense attorney Clark O. Brewster is showing the jury a
different way to look at Carol Howe and the charges she faces.
The government had sought to block all references to Ms. Howes'
work for the ATF as a paid confidential informant and especially
her work that related to the Oklahoma City bombing. Prosecutors
tried to block Brewster from calling ATF, FBI and former federal
officials from coming to the witness stand. The government lost
every motion it filed seeking to stop Brewster from presenting his
defense case for the Tulsa woman the way he planned it.
In his opening statement, Brewster told the jury that he would
prove that Carol Howe was an active government informant until
just after her house was raided by the FBI in December of 1996. He
promised to show that much of the material that she is charged with
possessing that the government claimed were the components of a
bomb, were actually acquired for the ATF during her undercover
work.
He also promised to show that Ms. Howes' undercover work took
her into the heart of a terrorist training camp where people talked
daily about blowing up federal buildings, before the feds came to
get them. "She is a bright, hardworking woman", he told the jury.
Brewster said Ms. Howe went inside of Elohim City and brought
out, telephone numbers, car license tags, names, family trees,
descriptions of people - including the location and design of tattoos
- drawings of buildings, pictures and a list of individuals that are
involved in terrorist and criminal activity.
Brewster also described a woman who came to live in almost
constant fear of her life. Faced with her identity as an informant
being made public, and left with no protection from the federal
agencies who paid her to do the work that put her in such danger,
her only choice was to go even deeper into the white power
movement.
And for the first time in this case, the names of Andreas Carl
Strassmeir and James Ellison have come up. Brewster said the nazi
arm band that the jury saw Ms. Howe wearing in a picture used by
the prosecution, was actually purchased by the former German army
officer while she was working for the ATF.
His first witness was Howes' former ATF handler, agent Angela
Finley-Graham.
In previous court hearings, Agent Graham was combative and
unresponsive to Brewsters questions. Today, she was polite and
referred to Brewster at all times as "sir". She even apologized for
her lapses in memory and constant need to be referred to her own
reports. She still had trouble recalling anything, until the
documents were placed in front of her by Brewster. Even though
she testified that she reviewed her entire file including over 40 tape
recordings Howe made in order to get ready for her stint in the
witness seat. Brewster began questioning Graham about her reports
on Howes' work. In the very first report Graham wrote she told her
supervisors that Elohim City had become the primary training
facility for the White Aryan Resistance, a national organization of
which Dennis Mahon is the number three man in charge.
While Mahon was the original focus of the ATF investigation, it
soon changed to a much broader probe once Ms. Howe went to the
anti-government compound in far eastern Oklahoma. Grahams first
report stated that Howe had learned that W.A.R. was preparing for
war with the government in the near future, and was rapidly
stockpiling weapons. Her first report also included a mention of the
Turner Diaries. Howe had given her ATF handler a copy of the
book and told her to read it, because, "it was the bible to the people
at Elohim City".
The Turner Diaries was also a fixation of convicted Oklahoma City
bomber Timothy McVeigh.
During Brewsters sometimes heated examination of Graham, she
admitted that Howe had brought her a container of Pyrex
gunpowder, cannon fuse and safety matches as part of her work for
the ATF. She also got a length of steel pipe from Dennis Mahon
but was told it didn't mean anything. Those very items are now
some of the evidence the government is using to prosecute Howe.
Graham admitted that she would log in the evidence acquired from
Mahon and then gave it back to Howe, telling her, "give it back to
Mahon". Brewster asked if it was normal procedure to give such
dangerous materials back to the target of an undercover
investigation. Graham responded that there wasn't enough
information to bring a charge against Mahon, besides she thought
that he wanted it back.
More interesting information was revealed during Brewsters
questioning of Graham about her January 1995 report on Howes'
work. Graham reported that James Ellison was in regular contact
with Elohim City and was planning his return in April after he
completed his federal probation . Ellison's Covenant, Sword and
Arm of the Lord cult compound was raided by the FBI on April
19th 1985. He was convicted of charges stemming from that raid
and in early 1995 was about to finish up his sentence.
Graham reported that Howe had learned that Ellison planned to
return to Elohim City, round up his followers and reconstruct the
CSA. The report also says that the Rev. Robert Millar had revealed
that he planned to consolidate his compound with other groups in
Texas, Missouri, Oklahoma and Arkansas to get ready to fight a
war with the federal government. Millar, she wrote, had friends
who died at the April 19th, 1993 raid at Waco. Ellison, it was
revealed, also planned for his new militia to be armed with fully
automatic weapons, and members of the Posse Comatitus of
Pennsylvania had come to Elohim City to take part on the
converting of weapons to fire fully automatic.
Graham testified that she had wanted Howe to move into Elohim
City for at least three months, but all of that came to an abrupt end,
in late February and early March. After Howe sought psychiatric
treatment from the pressure of working undercover, Graham said
she wrote a recommendation that Howe be terminated as an
informant for being unstable.
But a few weeks later, one day after the Oklahoma City bombing,
Ms. Howe was re-activated as an informant and sent back into
Elohim City by the FBI and ATF with a substantial pay raise. Her
new contract raised her pay from $25.00 per day to $400.00.
Graham was also forced to finally admit, that despite limited work
by Howe after her last trip to Elohim City, the former debutante
was kept on the ATF active informant list until just after her house
was raided in December of 1996.
Under cross-examination by the government Graham testified that
Howes' work never produced any important information. That no
criminal case could be made.
It should be noted, that while Brewster has not brought it up as yet,
it is widely known that in early 1995, the ATF and INS were
planning a joint raid on Elohim City. The two federal agencies were
preparing to bring in Andreas Strassmeir and the information that
led to the planned raid had been developed by Carol Howe.
Interestingly enough, the raid and Carol Howes' work as an
informant both came to a halt in late February. An explanation for
the decision by higher ups in the federal agencies to delay the raid,
has never been given. A few weeks later the Alfred P. Murrah
Building was bombed. The raid on Elohim City was forgotten
about.
Howe had told the ATF, that a group of people were meeting
almost daily at Elohim City, planning ways to attack the federal
government first and one of their main goals was to bomb a federal
building in Oklahoma or Texas.
The court session today was cut short when Ms. Howe became ill.
That will likely mean that her trial will carry over into next week.
Date: 8-1-97
Not guilty on all counts. The verdict took about five hours to reach
in Tulsa, for former ATF informant Carol Howe.
Some will argue that it was the brilliant work of her defense
attorney Clark O. Brewster that resulted in the acquittal. Others
will claim that the facts just weren't there to prove the prosecutions
case. But no one who was in the courtroom in Tulsa has any doubt
what really swang the case in favor of the former debutante.
Four things: first, it was clear that the majority of the evidence the
government presented against Howe had actually been acquired by
her on behalf of the ATF, second her testimony on the witness
stand, it was far more believable than any that came from federal
law enforcement agents, third the dramatic closing testimony from
Ms. Howes' father and finally, the passionate and sometimes angry
closing argument by her attorney.
As far as the evidence was concerned, defense attorney Brewster,
on the final day of the trial, showed the jury that the components
that the government claimed constituted possession of an explosive
device had all at one time been in the hands of the ATF. The length
of pipe with end caps, the cannon fuse, the Pyrex gunpowder and
even the hexamine tablets had all been acquired by Ms. Howe from
former KKK leader Dennis Mahon who was the original target of
her investigation. Howe got the material from Mahon but the ATF
told her it did not constitute a criminal offense. For some
unexplained reason, the government changed its mind when the
same material was in the possession of one of their own informants.
Throughout the trial, the government presented pictures, literature,
books and tape recordings of Ms. Howe that they claimed showed
her state of mind to be that of a neo-Nazi terrorist. As it turned out
much of the material came back to haunt the government. The tapes
showed that ATF agent Angela Finley-Graham was not telling the
truth during her earlier testimony. The tapes proved that Ms. Howe
had told Graham about Dennis Mahons storage shed which was full
of steel pipe, cannon fusing and gunpowder. The tapes showed that
Ms. Howe had told Graham about her new boyfriend James
Viefhaus who was convicted on the same charges last week. The
tapes showed that Ms. Howe had told Graham about Mahons plans
to build and use pipe bombs. Graham had claimed none of that
information had ever been turned over to her.
One of the pictures that the government fought to have entered as
evidence, showed Ms. Howe with an unidentified male, both
wearing black uniforms and wearing swastika arm bands. As it
turned out, the arm bands were purchased for Ms. Howe by
Andreas Strassmeir during Howes' undercover work at Elohim City.
The pants she was wearing were purchased for her by ATF agent
Graham in the early days of her undercover work, to help Howe
appear to be properly dressed for her undercover work.
While no record was ever found of Ms. Howe handing over
Ragnars Big Book of Improvised Munitions to the ATF, the tapes
showed she had talked to Agent Graham about the manual and that
she got it from Dennis Mahon. The government had claimed it was
a book that Howe was using to get ready to build a bomb and that
her story was just a cover for plans to blow up something in Tulsa.
When Carol Howe took the witness stand today, the courtroom was
standing room only. Everyone wanted to see how the petite 26-year
old handled herself.
She was very believable. Her version of what happened was far
more believable than federal agents who testified against her,
especially the testimony of her ATF handler, agent Angela Finley-
Graham. While Graham bobbed and weaved around the questioning
from Brewster and appeared to not recall much of the case as it was
documented, Howe was clear, straight to the point and only had to
refer to notes on a couple of occasions. Finley-Graham was
constantly having to be reminded of what had actually happened in
the case, and most of the time her recollections turned out to be
incorrect.
Even under cross-examination, Howe remained cooperative and
open. While prosecutors made mistakes and appeared frustrated. At
one point, Assistant US Attorney Neal Kirkpatrick sharply attacked
Howe saying she made a statement on tape that showed her state of
mind was that of a terrorist ready to strike. Howe calmly pointed
out, she never made the statement, her ex-fiancee James Viefhaus
did.
The last person to testify today was Robert Howe, Carol's father.
Brewster called him to the witness stand for one reason, to read a
letter from Carol that had been written to her family in late August
of 1994. The letter had been given to a close friend of Ms. Howe to
be given to her family only, "if something happened to her".
Brewster said later that it was the first time that Robert Howe had
seen the letter. The writing was powerful, and before the second
line was out of Mr. Howe's mouth, he was in tears. Before it was
over, Brewster, his legal assistance, Carol Howe, her mother and
father and other family members in the courtroom and some
observers were all in tears.
In the letter, Ms. Howe told her family if they were reading it, that
meant she was in the federal witness protection program. She wrote
that she had gone to work for the ATF against her fathers urging
and had done so with her eyes wide open. Howe wrote that she had
seen the true nature of the threat to her country, "these people have
the means and the desire to start a terrible war in America...they
must be stopped, one group at a time." She wrote about a fight she
got into with her mother, Aubyn Howe in which her mother had
told her she, "had never done anything for anyone else." Howe
wrote that now she had a chance to do something for every
American, help stop a devastating war. She wrote that she was
willing to give up her life, her name and her future.
By the time Robert Howe had finished reading the letter, the
prosecution knew their case was sunk. They had planned to call
Ms. Howes' ex-husband as a rebuttal witness to attack her
character. Instead, prosecutors sent him packing realizing that
nothing else they could do would be able to erase the impact Mr.
Howe's testimony had made.
To conclude, Clark Brewster delivered a closing statement that was
so passionate, his voice caused the sound system in the courtroom
to overload.
Brewster waved his arms and shouted at the prosecutors, " there
was no bomb threat here, the only threat here is what the
government can do to people when they don't like what you say or
what you might say...I'm offended I'm outraged here. Then they say,
`let's make her a convicted felon but we need accomplices', 12 of
them, you 12 people, the jury. Don't let them do this.
This is wrong. A way to deliver a message in this case is deliberate
on a verdict promptly, with speed. Come right back and tell them
NO!
Five hours later, that is exactly what the jury did.
Date: 8-1-97
It is the story that everyone wants. Everyone has a shot at getting it
first. But that's the rub, no one really wants to run the story first, at
least not at the national level.
The day he got this case, Tulsa attorney Clark O. Brewster lost part
of his life. Friday night, a Federal Court jury gave part of it back
and then took some more away. Brewsters life will likely never
quite be the same.
Brewster had just won what is probably the most important
criminal case of his career. He had shown a jury and the national
news media, that the government trumped up a case against one of
their own informants, hoping it would shut her up. The Plan
worked against James Dodson Viefhaus, convicted on all three
counts. It didn't work against his ex-fiancee because the
government was not prepared for Clark Brewster. And now Carol
Howe will get her chance to talk, the only question is, to who.
Carol Howe has become the interview of the year. No other
interview has been more sought after. Penthouse offered $10,000,
but they didn't want the story as much as the pictures. That offer
never was in the running, as far as Mr. Brewster was concerned.
Brewster knows exactly what he will face every morning. Phone
messages, faxes, e-mail, express mail, fed-ex, you name a message
delivery system and the worlds news media have used it to try and
get an interview with Carol Howe.
Her noted Tulsa defense attorney has turned down, everyone. Only
J.D. Cash has interviewed Carol Howe and that was before her
home was raided by the FBI in early December of 1996. Cash got
the interview, only because Dennis Mahon of WAR fame kept
bugging him to go talk to, "Freya and Thorsen", their handles in the
movement. Mahon has tried to distance himself from Carol Howe
ever since.
The problem with the stories Mr. Cash produced is that some of the
basic facts are in dispute. But his account has spread so far and
wide that no matter what Ms. Howe tells the news media now, she
will likely be dogged with the same bottom line, "you didn't
actually give the ATF or anyone else, specific threat information
before the Oklahoma City bombing."
In his courtroom presentation this week, Brewster has made it clear,
NO one ever said she did provide such a warning. Mr. Cash's story,
however, so muddied the water on the facts that this story has yet to
pull itself out of the muck.
The truth of the story is...Carol Howe gave the ATF so much
valuable information on the activities of people of Elohim City,
that the ATF and INS were planning a joint raid on the cult
compound. It was called off, for reasons that are not clear, in early
March of 1996.
Elohim City is: politically way-far-right, neo-Nazi, Phineas
Priesthood, a White Aryan Resistance Terrorist training camp,
home of the Aryan Republican Army bank robbers and the base of
operations for all white supremacist criminal activity in America.
Skinheads from all over the Unites States have "graduated from
Elohim City". And this has been going on for over 10 years.
The FBI knows this. The ATF knows this. The INS knows this. The
CIA knows this. The Pentagon knows this. The State Department
knows this. The US Justice Department knows this. The German
government Knows This. And this is NOT a conspiracy. It's just a
fact.
Elohim City is undoubtedly one of the most heavily investigated
places on the map. Former FBI agent James Rodgers had developed
a massive FBI raid on Elohim City in 1988 but it was called off for
reasons that have never been clear. Even then, the FBI knew that
Elohim City was stockpiling automatic weapons.
And who got sent in to spy on the place. Carol Howe.
She heard so much stuff in her first few visits, that she was
exploding with information. Her notes are filled with more details
that most federal lawmen get from an informant in a life-time.
Names, places, pictures, family-trees, descriptions of people
including eye color and tattoos, diagrams, license plates, telephone
numbers, meetings, dates, times, travel plans, associates, plans for
the future, current operations, it has to be seen to be appreciated.
The point the news media has missed is this. It's not that Carol
Howe ever gave the feds a clear, direct and specific threat report
involving a bombing in Oklahoma City. She gave them everything
they needed to start rounding up the people who were behind it.
The morning after the bombing, a person who has been a long-time
source of information on Elohim City for the FBI and other law
enforcement agencies, was called to Oklahoma City. He/she meet
with 6 federal agents in a motel room at 6:00 in the morning. When
he/she arrived there were sleeping bodies on the floor. The agents
had managed a couple of hours of rest. He/she was their very first
assignment of the day.
The agents and the source talked for over an hour. They went to
work, the source continued on his/her way. The FBI or at least
several agents knew within hours, where the bombing came from.
They knew Elohim City was involved. They knew Andreas
Strassmeir, who is now in Dublin Ireland drinking in bars with
members of Sinn Fein, was a key in their investigation.
Not because, "everyone was in on it". The agents knew in part,
because of Carol Howe and because information on what goes on at
E.C. has been flowing in for a very long-time.
For some reason, the place continues to exist.
Many of their members, followers, supporters and associates,
however, are in jail or are about to be. Clark Brewster wanted to
admit into evidence during Ms. Howe's trial, research that showed
that since the summer of 1994, 37 people either from Elohim City
or closely affiliated with it have run afoul of the law. When it came
time to introduce the research, it had been mis-placed in that big
stack of documents he wheeled into the courtroom every morning.
That list included the entire Aryan Republican Army/Midwestern
Bank bandits cell, a couple of Christian Identity preachers, Tim
McVeigh, lots of skinheads and soon members of a Phineas Priest
skinhead cell that has been killing people all over the country.
That includes a family from Arkansas. The Muellers. Because
arrests have not been made yet, to go any further into this matter
now may jeopardize impending arrests. However, the people who
will be charged with that killing, have direct ties to Elohim City.
And the Muellers were killed in part, to send a message to anyone
who was thinking about, `ratting off' . No wonder Carol Howe went
somewhat nuts and feared for her life.
The Mueller murders claimed three lives, Bill and Nancy and their
8-hear old daughter. Pulled from their home at gun point. Taken to
a bayou. Bound with handcuffs hand and foot. Plastic bags tied
around their heads with duct tape. A 40 pound boulder tied to the
three of them. And then tossed into the murky water. Their bodies
were not found for six months.
All of that story for another time.
Carol Howe was sent into a nightmare, by an ATF agent who was
new to the job.
Angela Finley-Graham likely had no idea what she was getting into.
Carol and her both found out soon enough.
There was another Waco type confrontation in the offing. Only this
time it would not have been the feds sealing off a big building. This
time the feds would have to go into the Cookson Hills of
Oklahoma. Outlaws have gone there to hide from the law since law
came to the former Indian Territory. To this day, there are parts of
the Cookson Hills that you don't go into unless you know someone.
Makes no difference who or what you are.
The legends abound about the place. Some say a big load of stolen
gold was hidden back up the hills in a cave by Jesse & Frank James
and it's still there. So is Elohim City. Right in the middle of it.
Elohim City is booby trapped, and patrolled day and night. The
only chance law enforcement has against the place is a full military,
commando, Navy Seal/82nd Airborne, total sneak attack and even
then lots of people will die.
After Waco, no matter how bad the people out there have been, the
US government doesn't think it can take the fallout such a raid
might cause.
Somewhere, in her writings, her meticulous notes, is the
information that the US government doesn't want anyone else to
know. It's not that Carol Howe knew the building was going to be
bombed. It's that her information holds the key to the rest of the
people involved.
Once that gets out you will find, many of the co-conspirators in the
Oklahoma City bombing are already in jail. The problem is, the
guys who were really behind it all still aren't. The feds haven't yet
found a way to take them down.
Since the mid-80's the Federal Government has been trying to
quietly put the main figures behind white supremacy in America,
behind bars. They are still working on it. The reason they want to
keep it quiet...white supremacy has a way of spreading, mutating,
drawing in new recruits. The government can't afford to take
another big shot and miss.
In 1988 the feds tried with the well publicized sedition trial in
Arkansas.
Every defendant, the kingpins of hate in America walked away free,
except those who had to go back to prison on previous convictions.
In 1990, at the wedding of long-time white supremacist lawyer Kirk
Lyons in Hayden Lake Idaho - home of the Aryan Nation- the Rev.
Robert Millar was introduced to the other leaders of the movement
as the man who would provide the place to train a new army.
That army now boasts hundreds of foot soldiers, scattered all over
the country. Thousands of weapons. Millions of rounds of
ammunition. Stolen military equipment from rocket launchers and
shoulder fired missiles to chemical weapons. The Federal
Government knows, understands, and is scared to death of the real
threat these people pose.
Carol Howe walked into the middle of it. How she is still alive, is
but by the grace of God.
When her full story gets out, and somehow it will, the federal
government knows that the lid will be off the story. The
militarization of American civilians on their own has been
underway for a very long time. She was not wrong when she wrote
to her father in a secret letter in August of 1994, that "these people
have the means and desire to start a war that would be devastating
to America. They must be stopped."
The souls of at least 168 people from Oklahoma City won't rest,
until they are stopped.
Carol Howe will be a really good interview.
Date: 8/15/97
On April 22, 1985, James Ellison was pleading his innocence in a
Ft. Smith Arkansas Federal courtroom. His attorney, Neal
Kirkpatrick, was arguing that his client should be released on
bond........... On July 28, 1987, Neal Kirkpatrick was giving his
opening arguments as a federal prosecutor, seeking to convict
former ATF informant Carol Howe. Both cases had one other thing
in common...Elohim City.
James Ellison and his followers had held an small army of lawmen
at bay for four days. It ended on April 19, 1985. After his surrender
lawmen found a cache of weapons, explosives, poison, a machine
shop for converting weapons to full automatic fire, a training camp
for domestic terrorists.
Kirkpatrick would argue during the trial, that the compound started
by Ellison, the Covenant, Sword and Arm of the Lord, was not to
promote white supremacy but instead was a religious commune.
Ellison was found guilty and began cooperating with the federal
government. Every day of Ellison's trial, there was a contingent of
people from Elohim City there to support him. Neal Kirkpatrick
saw them and talked with them everyday.
In April of 1987, the cooperation of Ellison lead to the now in-
famous sedition trial at which he was the governments star witness.
Ellison again found himself working with Neal Kirkpatrick.
Kirkpatrick was no longer a defense attorney but was now working
for the US Attorney's office in Ft. Smith Arkansas. Ellison and
Kirkpatrick were working together to convict the nations top white
supremacists of plotting to overthrow the government.
All of those charged in the case were found not guilty. One of the
jurors later married one of the defendants. James Ellison went back
to jail. Neal Kirkpatrick eventually ended up working for the US
Attorney in Tulsa Oklahoma.
Ellison is now living at Elohim City. Where Carol Howe saw him
before and after the Oklahoma City Bombing.
Ms. Howe reported to the ATF that Ellison planned to return to
Elohim City at the end of his federal probation in April of 1995,
and reconstitute his CSA in the form of a skinhead army. Howe
told the ATF that a group was meeting daily at Elohim City,
wearing special T-shirts which said, "Hasten ye the day", in
preparation of Ellisons return. The group was talking about
blowing up federal buildings. It was being led, in part, by a German
national who was in the country illegally.
That information led the ATF and INS to plan a joint raid on
Elohim City for early spring, 1995.
But the raid never happened. And Neal Kirkpatrick ended up
prosecuting the informant whose work produced information that
resulted in plans for a raid that if it had occurred, would have
ensnared his old acquaintance Jim Ellison in another federal crime.
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