Secret Service Document Describes Missing Scenes From FBI Release of Oklahoma City Bombing Videos

A Secret Service timeline of events around the Oklahoma City bombing describes video surveillance tapes that show the Ryder truck used in the terrorist attack both before and during the detonation.

The FBI last week released security camera footage of the moments after the bombing. The videotapes, which the FBI claims were not edited, do not show the Ryder Truck, McVeigh or the explosion.

The Secret Service document, dated May 1, 1995, and provided to INTELWIRE by Attorney Jesse Trentadue, describes:

"Security video [that] shows the Ryder truck pulling up to the Federal Building and then pausing (7-10 seconds) before resuming into a slot in front of the building."

"Security video tapes from the area show the truck detonation 3 minutes and 6 seconds after the suspects exited the truck"

The word "suspects" in plural refers to a witness report that two men exited the truck. It is not entirely clear from the document whether the security tape shows anyone exiting the truck. Witness reports also described a third suspect, a woman believed to have been directing the truck into position for detonation.

Timeline document (excerpt)

The videotapes were released to Trentadue under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Trentadue sued the FBI to force it to disclose information about the Oklahoma City bombing after the death of his brother, Kenneth Trentadue, in federal custody on Aug. 21, 1995. Kenneth Trentadue's death was initially declared a suicide by prison officials, but the family discovered signs of numerous injuries when preparing him for burial. The family was awarded more than $1 million after winning a wrongful death suit against the government. Trentadue believes his brother was mistaken for a suspect in the case.

For more information on Trentadue's lawsuit including documents he has obtained through his FOIA lawsuit, click here.

Labels: INTELFILES, OKBOMB, Oklahoma-City-Bombing

Posted by J.M. Berger | Permalink

 

Oklahoma City Bombing Witness Linked To CIA, FOIA Suit Filing Says

A potential witness in the Oklahoma City bombing case had contact with the CIA.

That is just one of dozens of revelations in a document released by the CIA, in response to a lawsuit by Salt Lake City attorney Jesse Trentadue.

Trentadue has been seeking government documents related to Oklahoma City through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), as part of an investigation into the death of his brother while federal custody (story).

Trentadue sought documents from the CIA under FOIA. Although the Agency released some documents (story, documents), it withheld many more. In response to Trentadue's lawsuit, the CIA filed what is known as a Vaughn Index, describing the withheld material in detail. While much of the material was classified, the CIA also refused to disclose several unclassified documents.

Among the documents described in the index:

A document written by a CIA attorney to the Justice Department that "responds to request for information as to whether a potential witness in the Oklahoma City Bombing trial was at any time associated with the CIA." The document describes "contacts between the CIA and the potential witness," which also contains information on "the location of a covert CIA facility."

A letter to an FBI agent describing CIA records searches related to Timothy McVeigh and co-conspirator Terry Nichols.

A 10-page fax describing a name trace search conducted by the CIA on Terry Nichols.

A one-page cable dated April 19, 1995, with the subject line "Bombing in Oklahoma City," which contains information about "the location of a covert CIA facility, a CIA cryptogram, and CIA intelligence limitations and capabilities."

A two cable dated April 19, 1995, and titled "Identity of US Citizens Who Attended the PAIC [Popular Arab Islamic Conference]." The annual Sudan-based conference was known as a nexus for Islamic terrorist leaders including Al Qaeda members. The document also contains information about "CIA intelligence collection requests, the location of a CIA covert facility, and cryptonyms."

A one-page cable dated April 19, 1995, and titled "Call From Foreign Liason Contact," which describes "the identity of a foreign government that provided information to the CIA in the aftermath of the Oklahoma City bombing, the location of a covert CIA facility, and information regarding another agency's sources, information sharing, and analysis of source information. Release of the classified information reasonably would be expected to result in serious damage to the national security of the United States."

A three-page cable dated April 20, 1995, and titled "Planned Correspondence With Foreign Government Liaison Partners," which describes contact between the CIA and "an asset regarding the Oklahoma City bombing."

A two-page cable dated April 20, 1995, and titled "Explosion at Federal Building in Oklahoma" which describes "the location of a covert CIA field station, the identity of a human source, information sharing, and information credited to a representative of a foreign government."

Multiple documents dated April 20, 1995, describing claims of responsibility for the Oklahoma City bombing. As previously reported on INTELWIRE, there were several such claims in the aftermath of the bombing (story, story).

A two-page cable dated April 20, 1995, and titled "Possible Suspect" which "provides information about a possible person of interest in the Oklahoma City bombing."

A two-page cable dated April 20, 1995, and titled "Name Trace Results" which describes "a person named in connection with the Oklahoma Bombing investigation, but whom was not the object of plaintiff's FOIA request." Trentadue's FOIA request specifically requested information on Andreas Strassmeir, a German national linked to McVeigh.

A two-page cable dated April 21, 1995, and titled "Investigative Lead."

A two-page cable dated April 21, 1995, and titled "Possible Lead."

A two-page cable dated April 21, 1995, and titled "Information Regarding Possible Suspects." It contains "the identity of an intelligence source and details regarding inter-agency coordination with respect to the intelligence as well as to protect the location of a covert CIA field station and foreign liaison"

The Vaughn Index lists numerous other leads generated by human intelligence sources.

Read the full document

Labels: CIA, INTELFILES, OKBOMB, Oklahoma-City-Bombing, Terry-Nichols, Timothy-McVeigh

Posted by J.M. Berger | Permalink

 

OKBOMB: Dennis Mahon Indictment

White supremacist brothers Dennis and Daniel Mahon have been indicted in Phoenix, Arizona, for an alleged bombing plot:

Indictment of Dennis and Daniel Mahon

The name of Dennis Mahon will be familiar to those who have followed the Oklahoma City bombing conspiracy investigation.

Chairman's Report, Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee of the House International Relations Committee, Oklahoma City Bombing Investigation

A relevant excerpt:

Carol Howe came from a prominent Tulsa family. She was attracted to the white supremacist movement in February 1994 after she was allegedly attacked by three African-American men. She became a paid informant for the ATF and a frequent visitor to Elohim City in June 1994. Howe testified in Terry Nichols' federal trial that she saw McVeigh with [German national Andreas] Strassmeir at Elohim City in July 1994.

Howe dated Strassmeir in 1994 and January 1995. Howe asserted that Strassmeir trained Elohim City racist radicals in weaponry and had discussed assassinations, bombings and mass shootings. Strassmeir, according to Howe, frequently called for direct action against the U.S. federal government. Howe reported these statements to the ATF. It is not clear how seriously they were taken, as authorities have tried their best to discredit Howe as a witness. She was a former drug abuser and had other personal weaknesses; nonetheless, she was a paid ATF informant and in the aftermath of Waco and Ruby Ridge must have been considered an important source of information.

Howe also talked to the ATF regarding Dennis Mahon, an occasional inhabitant of Elohim City who is listed as a terrorist in several countries (including Germany and Canada) and is a leader of the White Aryan Resistance. Strassmeir also stayed with Mahon while attending weekend gun shows in Tulsa. Howe reported that Mahon talked about targeting federal buildings for bombings. Her reports could be interpreted as warnings of the upcoming Oklahoma City bombing. Howe, for example, claimed that Mahon and Strassmeir took three trips to Oklahoma City, in November 1994, December 1994, and February 1995, on one of which she accompanied them.

Labels: Andreas-Strassmeir, Dennis-Mahon, INTELFILES, OKBOMB, Oklahoma-City-Bombing

Posted by J.M. Berger | Permalink

 

CIA Records On Oklahoma City Bombing

Salt Lake City attorney Jesse Trentadue released more than 50 pages of heavily redacted documents relating to the Oklahoma City bombing, which he obtained from the CIA under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).

Trentadue had petitioned for a number of documents relating to the bombing itself, communications between the CIA and the FBI over the bombing, and records related to Andreas Strassmeir, a German national linked to McVeigh who is alleged to have played a role in the bombing.

The CIA claimed a number of exemptions including that the release of the documents would pose a threat to national security and could expose CIA methods.

Read the full documents

Labels: INTELFILES, Jesse-Trentadue, OKBOMB, Oklahoma-City-Bombing

Posted by J.M. Berger | Permalink

 

Videotapes of Oklahoma City Bombing

A dozen or more surveillance videotapes showing the Oklahoma City bombing may soon be released under the Freedom of Information Act. The videotapes are described in documents released to Salt Lake City attorney Jesse Trentadue, who is also seeking the tapes themselves. The actual tapes "are due any day," Trentadue said Thursday.

Read the documents

Labels: INTELFILES, Jesse-Trentadue, OKBOMB, Oklahoma-City-Bombing

Posted by J.M. Berger | Permalink