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                    NRA-ILA Special Report
                  THE WACO HEARINGS: DAY SIX


                   Lingering from Day Five:
 Charges from Texas Rangers -- and the Question of Leadership

Last night, Captains Maurice Cook and David Burns of the Texas
Rangers called the FBI agent in charge of the Waco siege "out of
control" and alleged that the famed Texas law enforcement agency
was misled, even "lied to," by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and
Firearms.

Under questioning by U.S. Rep. John Shadegg, the Texas Rangers
insisted that, had they been in charge, they would have taken up
Koreshs offer to examine his firearms -- an offer extended to,
and refused by, BATF case agent Davey Aguilera in 1992.  U.S.
Rep. Steve Schiff asked, if the Rangers were in charge and Waco
had ended as tragically as it did, what actions would the 
Rangers have taken?  Captain Cook responded that the Rangers
would have, at the very least, fired those responsible and, in
addition, prosecuted those individuals who lied to them.

The Rangers said they felt very comfortable about saying that
BATF lied to them. Specifically, Burns said, BATF agents Charles
Sarabyn and Phillip Chojnacki lied to them and suggested they be
referred to criminal prosecution.  Burns, who had interviewed
Sarabyn, Chojnacki and other BATF agents, found the two not
credible.  He also believed that the two agents knew full well
that the raid had been compromised.

As Day Six of the Waco hearings got underway, a shaken Jim
Cavanaugh said, "The Davidians opened fire."  Taking issue with
the Branch Davidian attorneys who argued on the previous day that
the Davidians did not start the shoot-out February 28, the BATF
agent said, "I am sickened by any other assertion.... They shot
first!"

But the ultimate impact of the testimony on Day Five may not have
been the sizzle of who fired first, rather the substance of who
led the raid, the siege and the gas attack -- and who continues
to lead.

"I think that unless the oversight process that you're going
through here results in some leadership changes, we're going to
have people still in the position that they were in before this
Waco fiasco, making the same kind of bad judgement calls." So
testified Jack Zimmerman, Branch Davidian attorney on Tuesday. 
Zimmerman insisted that the only way to re-establish faith in
federal law enforcement is to establish accountability in
leadership.

"There has been no personal leadership accountability in the
Department of Justice at all," he added.  "And in the Treasury
Department, the people who were found by their own investigators
to have lied and committed crimes are still working for you and
me."

            Telling The FBI What They Want to Hear

According to testimony heard today from Pete Smerick, former
criminal investigative analyst with the National Center for the
Analysis of Violent Crime at the FBI Academy in Quantico, VA,
William Sessions, FBI Director at the time of the raid, was not
happy with the first four memos circulated by Mr. Smerick.  In
these memos, Smerick told the committee that he suggested a
"waiting strategy" and urged the FBI to back away from the house. 
When questioned by U.S. Rep. Steve Chabot as to whether he had
advised the FBI that increased pressure on Koresh could be
counter-productive and could result in loss of life, Smerick
answered yes.  Smerick explained that FBI officials were not
happy with the tone of his first four memos; they felt it was
tying their hands and would not allow the FBI to increase
pressure on the Branch Davidian center.  Smerick admitted that he
believes he subconsciously toned down the fifth memo to the FBI
to more or less fall in line with what the FBI would want to
hear. 

           Sincere Negotiations or a Stalling Ploy?

The plan to gas the residents of the Davidian complex was not a
last-minute option, as plans were under consideration in
Washington as early as March 27.  While Washington built the CS
gas assault plan, Waco was the scene of peaceful negotiations
between Koresh and federal agents.  Davidian attorneys DeGuerin
and Zimmerman were told by Jeff Jamar, FBI special agent in
charge during the 51-day siege, that they would have "all the
time it takes."

In fact, on April 14, the attorneys believed, there was a
breakthrough in negotiations with Koresh.  He agreed to come out
after writing his interpretation of the "Seven Seals."  
Religious experts agreed.  Philip Arnold of the Reunion Institute
in Houston and Dr. James Tabor, Associated Professor of Religious
Studies, University of North Carolina at Charlotte and author of
"Why Waco?  Cults and the Battle for Religious Freedom in
America" testified last night that had the FBI had knowledge of
the religious faith of the Davidians, the Waco tragedy could have
ended in a far different way.  Tabor said the FBI report was "a
meltdown of information."  FBI was not trained in the Book of
Revelation, Tabor maintained, and "they had a tough time to
figure out who to listen to."

On a U.S. News & World Report electronic forum July 18, Dr. Tabor
wrote, "I will go on record as saying that I do NOT believe that
the Branch Davidians started the fire (emphasis in original).  I
never have thought that.  It was against their faith, and David
Koresh had gathered the women and children, all forty three of
them, to the safest place he could that morning.  The concrete
structure near the kitchen -- with water and wet blankets ...  He
did this to save them, not to burn them in a horrible death...."

Nevertheless, Jamar and other officials dismissed Koresh as
"devious" and the surrender plan a ploy, "just another trick." 
Both Mr. Jamar and FBI Agent Byron Sage testified today that they
did not believe Koresh would surrender as promised.  In the
Justice Department report on the raid, Sage was cited for having
said, on April 15, that there was nothing more he or negotiators
could do to persuade Koresh to release more people.  Today, Jamar
stated that he did not consider the Zimmerman and DeGuerin plan a
"serious plan" and that it was just another "delaying tactic."
When questioned by U.S. Rep. John Shadegg, Jamar said he did not
know if Attorney General Reno had ever even been made aware of
the plan for the peaceful surrender predicated on Koresh's
completion of his biblical interpretation.

Rep. Shadegg: "[D]o you know if Attorney General Reno was ever
advised that there was this new development before she made her
decision?"

Jamar: "I don't know, because -- I doubt it, because it was not
from our understanding of it and the judgement was, looking at
what they were doing, maybe that she was not.  I dont know, but
there wasnt any reason to, because it was not a serious plan. 
It was just another delaying tactic."

On the U.S. News forum July 17, Dr. Tabor maintained that this
surrender plan was indeed something substantive -- certainly
something to consider in lieu of a four-part gas assault.  "It is
not widely known, as was apparently not communicated to the
Attorney General, that Koresh had worked out with his lawyer Dick
DeGuerin and with Philip Arnold and me, as biblical scholars who
had communicated with him, a SIGNED pledge and plan to exit Mount
Carmel with all of his people -- this was just four days before
the April 19 CS gas assault and resulting fire (emphasis in
original)."

             New York Times  Puts Heat on Congress
                   NBC Turns Out the Lights

The FBI got its first big dose of bad press after Day Five of the
Waco hearings, according to a new study by the Center for Media
and Public Affairs (CMPA).  But yesterday's hearings got only 14
seconds of airtime on NBC's "Nightly News," while New York Times 
coverage has been even more critical of the Congress than FBI and
ATF, the study found.

CMPA reported that coverage of Day Five focused on charges that
the FBI ignored opportunities for a peaceful outcome to the 51-
day siege of the Branch Davidian compound.  Leading newsmakers
were Dick DeGuerin and Jack Zimmerman.

NBC Nightly News broadcast only a fourteen-second summary of the
day's events while the other two networks aired complete two-
minute stories and PBS's MacNeil-Lehrer News Hour devoted over
ten minutes of air time to the day's hearings.  Overall, NBC's
flagship news show lags behind the other networks with six
minutes, thirty seconds of Waco coverage compared to over eleven
minutes on ABC and nine minutes on CBS. MacNeil-Lehrer has
outpaced all three commercial broadcast networks combined with
over forty-four minutes of Waco news.

The FBI was criticized 28 times and supported only 8 times in the
day's 9 Waco stories, according to CMPA.  The Justice Department
also attracted attention but received more balanced coverage (45%
positive, compared to only 15% positive for the FBI).  Criticism
of ATF and Congress dropped off sharply and, for the first time
since the hearings began, no criticism of the National Rifle
Association appeared in the daily Waco coverage.

Congress is not without its share of criticism with regard to the
Waco hearings.  CMPA shows that while comments on the ATF and FBI
have been most critical in the Washington Post (7 to 1 negative)
and most balanced in USA Today (2 to 1 negative), complaints of
Congressional partisanship also appeared frequently, before
slacking off this week.  Evaluations of Congress have been 3 to 1
negative on television and in USA Today, 4 to 1 negative in
theWashington Post, and an overwhelming 13 to 1 (96%) negative in
the New York Times.

          EVEN LOWER MEMBER DISCOUNT ON TRANSCRIPTS!!

Complete transcripts of the hearings are available to NRA members
for an even LOWER DISCOUNT RATE of $9.95 a day!!  Call Jack
Graeme at the Federal News Service at 1-800-969-3677 to receive a
daily transcript.  Be sure to mention that you're an NRA member
to secure the incredible discount rate. Hearing quotes excerpted
from Federal News Service transcripts.


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