To a tight circle of federal law enforcement
officials she was known as Confidential Informant 53270-183, or more
commonly, CI-183. To her "comrades" in the neo-Nazi and "Christian
Identity" movements -- whom the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms
(ATF) and FBI had asked her to infiltrate and surveil -- she was known
by the noms de guerre "Freya" and "Lady MacBeth." During the
trial of Timothy McVeigh for the Oklahoma City bombing, she became more
widely known in press accounts by her real name: Carol Elizabeth Howe.
That is the name affixed to the ATF's "Informant
Agreement" of August 25, 1994, signed by Miss Howe and Special Agent
Angela Finley (now Angela Finley-Graham) of the ATF's Tulsa, Oklahoma
office. McVeigh's defense team had sought to have Howe testify
concerning her allegations that she had warned her federal supervisors
prior to the bombing that subjects of her investigation were planning to
bomb federal buildings, including the one in Oklahoma City. But jurors
in the Denver trial of McVeigh never heard Carol Howe's name mentioned
in court, nor did they hear her testimony. Federal prosecutors filed
motions to prevent her appearance as a defense witness.
"Irrelevant" Witness
U.S. District Judge Richard Matsch ruled for the
prosecution in a May 27th decision that found Miss Howe's testimony
"irrelevant" to the McVeigh trial. At the time, Judge Matsch's ruling
was astounding, since the "relevance" of Howe's testimony is facially
obvious. It was federal prosecutors, after all, who had entered into
evidence the records of a telephone debit card registered to Timothy
McVeigh under the name "Daryl Bridges." Among the calls listed was one
placed two weeks before the bombing, at 1:46 p.m. on April 5th, to
Elohim City, the main target of Howe's undercover work. The intended
recipient of that call was Andreas Strassmeir, whom Howe had identified
before the bombing as one who was plotting to blow up federal buildings
and carry out shootings, assassinations, and other acts of violence.
Strassmeir has admitted in an affidavit to having met McVeigh at a gun
show and having purchased materials from him.
However, there is considerable evidence indicating
a much more substantial connection. Witnesses in Herington, Kansas, for
instance, where McVeigh once lived and where his co-defendant Terry
Nichols still lived at the time of the bombing, state that Strassmeir
was a friend of McVeigh. The McVeigh/Bridges call to Strassmeir at
Elohim City takes on even more relevance by virtue of the fact that it
was placed from the same phone (at the Kingman, Arizona motel where
McVeigh was staying), and on the same calling card, less than two
minutes after a call to the Ryder Truck Rental agency.
Even more astonishing evidence supporting Howe's
charges was revealed in Howe's own trial in Tulsa, which concluded with
a complete acquittal on all counts on August 1st. Howe's attorney, Clark
O. Brewster, had claimed that the federal government's prosecution of
Howe for the very actions that she had been contracted to carry out as
an undercover operative was reprehensible and obviously "retaliatory,"
intended to dissuade her from revealing potentially damaging information
she has about the bombing.
Howe had been charged with possession of an
illegal explosive device, conspiracy to make a bomb threat, and making a
bomb threat (see our August 4th issue). THE NEW
AMERICAN has obtained and examined copies of ATF reports
and documents, along with other evidence and testimony revealed during
the trial. (Many of these are now available for examination on our
Internet web site at www.jbs.org/okc/Howe/) Our analysis of this
material, combined with our interviews of key participants, supports Mr.
Brewster's charge and indicates that the jury was correct in finding
Howe innocent of all charges. It also indicates that ATF, FBI, Justice,
and Treasury officials engaged in a long train of misrepresentation,
cover-up, deception, and outright lying concerning the Carol Howe case
and the Oklahoma City bombing. Most importantly, evidence and testimony
presented during the trial, together with government documents, go a
long way toward proving Miss Howe's claims of having provided specific
prior warning to her supervisors.
Perhaps the only thing more reprehensible than the
mistreatment, betrayal, and endangerment of informant Howe by federal
officials is the near total blackout of the Howe trial by the national
media. Although hundreds of correspondents covered the McVeigh trial in
Denver and were aware of the enormous potential impact of Carol Howe's
testimony, almost every major news organization ignored the Tulsa trial.
With the exception of the Tulsa World, which provided
extensive coverage (and surprisingly fair reporting, considering the World's pronounced antipathy for all those who question the
official government line on the bombing), this important story was
spiked, or received only trivial attention from the Establishment
opinion cartel.
Investigating WAR
On August 30, 1994, Agent Angela Finley filed her
preliminary report on Carol Howe (CI-183) and ATF Investigation No.
53270-94-0124-B. Entitled White Aryan Resistance, W.A.R.,
it states: "This is an opening report in the investigation of the White
Aryan Resistance and the violation of federal firearms and conspiracy
laws in various counties in the Northern Judicial District of Oklahoma."
The ATF had contacted Howe after learning that she
had filed a crime report with the Tulsa Police Department against a
leader of WAR, Tulsa resident Dennis Mahon, for threats he had made
against her. Miss Howe had also obtained a court restraining order
against Mahon. Agent Angela Finley's August 30th report continues:
On August 24, 1994 this agent met with CI-183 in
the Tulsa ATF Field Office and discussed in great detail the federal
firearms and conspiracy violations of the White Aryan Resistance, "W.A.R."
The following information pertaining to W.A.R.
was provided by CI-183:
W.A.R. is a white supremacist organization that
is described briefly as being radical, paramilitary, neo-Nazi,
anti-government and violent. W.A.R. has national and international
affiliates to include the KKK and a racist following in Germany. W.A.R.
affiliates with John Metzger, who is a widely known white supremacist
with the KKK. W.A.R. has approximately 20-25 active, 50 non-active,
and 200 underground members locally. When a group of "legals" reaches
a membership of 5 to 15 people, it will separate to form another
group. This is done to protect the members from any government action
such as search warrants and infiltration.
Agent Finley's report also notes that "W.A.R. has
several training sites in Oklahoma. The primary training location is
called Elohim City which is in a rural area near the border of Oklahoma
and Arkansas." Finley concludes this initial report by recounting that
CI-183 provided her with a videotape of Mahon making statements "that he
was a member of the Klan; that violence is the only answer; that
violence does work; and that he supports violence against politicians."
The report, on what the ATF refers to as a
standard 3270.2 form, was directed to Special Agent in Charge (SAC) of
the Dallas Field Division, Lester D. Martz. It was signed by Agent
Finley; by David E. Roberts, the Resident Agent in Charge (RAC) of the
Tulsa Field Office; and by Tommy Wittman for SAC Lester Martz in Dallas.
According to former top ATF official Robert Sanders, it is very
significant that the report -- and others that followed -- was
specifically designated "sensitive" and "significant" rather than
routine, and that the investigation was specified as one concerning
"terrorist/extremist" individuals and groups. These designations would
guarantee that this investigation was being closely monitored at the
highest levels in Washington, DC, Sanders told THE NEW
AMERICAN. Sanders, who served for 24 years in the
ATF, where he held every supervisory position including that of ATF
Assistant Director, the agency's number two spot, also testified as an
expert witness for the defense during the Howe trial.
Enter "Andy"
In her second report on Carol Howe, filed
September 26, 1994, Finley records that "183 met Andy LNU [last name
unknown]" during a September 2nd trip to Elohim City. Andy was described
as "a German male, who is head of security for Elohim City." Moreover,
"Andy also told 183 that there exists a black market dealer who can get
grenades, C-4 and a range of explosives." And, in what was apparently a
"loyalty test," Andy "made 183 crawl on the ground under barbed wire
while he fired his .45 at 183's feet." Andy, as veteran readers of THE
NEW AMERICAN are already aware, turns out
to be a very important and mysterious connection to Timothy McVeigh and
the Oklahoma City bombing.
In the same report, Finley writes that Dennis
Mahon "gave 183 approximately 2 feet of green safety fuse, a can of gun
powder and a plastic funnel," and said he would "instruct 183 how to
assemble hand grenades." Mahon also told 183 "that the race war would
begin" in 1995 and they "need to prepare for it."
On January 11, 1995, more than three months before
the Oklahoma City bombing, Agent Finley filed a status report which has
startling relevance to the bombing. It states:
On December 19, 1994 this agent learned the
identity of "Andy" who is said to be the head of security at Elohim
City. He is actually Andreas Karl Strassmeir, a West German, DOB
051759. This agent then contacted the INS in Oklahoma City and was
informed that according to their records Strassmeir is an illegal
alien. Strassmeir entered the United States in May of 1991 and was
scheduled to leave August of 1991, however, according to records
Strassmeir has not left the country. It should be noted that
Strassmeir always carries a .45 pistol.
In the same report, Agent Finley relays to her
superiors Howe's intelligence that Strassmeir was drilling his Elohim
City "troops" in "combat maneuvers," that they were "camping outside in
14 degree weather," and that Strassmeir's troops "were forced to swim in
a creek in these frigid temperatures." "Each household is required to be
stockpiling ammunition," she writes, and Robert Millar, the founder and
head of Elohim City, "gave a sermon soliciting violence against the US
government." "He brought forth his soldiers and instructed them to take
whatever action necessary against the US Government," reads the ATF
account. "He stated that certain groups from Texas, Missouri, Arkansas
and Oklahoma will be uniting as one front to fight the government," it
continues, noting that Millar "explicitly told 183 that they were
preparing to fight a war against the government."
"Arm of the Lord"
Significantly, this ATF report and others which
preceded it mention the resurrection of another militant group
associated with Elohim City, the Covenant, Sword and Arm of the Lord
(CSA), which had engaged in an armed standoff with federal authorities a
decade before and had been involved in an earlier plot to bomb the
Murrah Building in Oklahoma City. In fact, Millar's son-in-law, James
Ellison, a CSA leader, was due to return to Elohim City in April, after
completing a prison sentence related to those earlier activities. And,
at the same time, another CSA leader, Richard Snell, was due to be
executed for the murder of an Arkansas Highway Patrol officer.
("Reverend" Millar, acting as Snell's "spiritual adviser," would journey
to Arkansas and bring back "martyr" Snell's body for burial at Elohim
City after his execution on April 19, 1995, the same day as the Oklahoma
City bombing.)
The report states that "183 met Keith Bowel, a
former CSA who stated that many members of CSA have stayed together and
are living in Sparta, MO. Ellison is still planning to visit EC [Elohim
City] in April and is expected to round up his followers in order to
reconstruct CSA." Howe was invited to join CSA and was told "that
Ellison will have a militia with fully automatic firearms and that he
intends to have fewer followers to insure a stronger community."
On February 7, 1995, Finley reported that she,
along with ATF technician Pat McKinley and acting Special Agent in
Charge Tommy Wittman, flew with Oklahoma Highway Patrol pilot Ken
Stafford over Elohim City to take photographs and video. Later, on
February 22nd, Finley met with Stafford to exchange information
regarding the investigation. Her report states:
Trooper Stafford indicated that the FBI also had
an ongoing investigation regarding Elohim City. On this same date, RAC
David Roberts met with the United States Attorney for the Northern
Judicial District of Oklahoma, Steve Lewis, to discuss this
investigation.
On February 23, 1995 RAC David Roberts was
contacted by FBI supervisor, Marty Webber, who stated that FBI Special
Agent in Charge, Bob Ricks, would be available during the week of
February 27 through March 03, 1995 to meet with ATF Special Agent in
Charge, Lester Martz. RAC Roberts then contacted Dallas Division to
request SAC Martz meet with SAC Ricks to discuss the investigation of
Elohim City.
High-Level Interest
Robert Sanders and other veteran federal law
enforcement officials confirm what common sense tells anyone who
examines the ATF reports: Elohim City was under intense scrutiny by
federal agencies at the top levels of management. According to Sanders,
the intelligence coming out of Elohim City -- illegal explosives and
firearms, illegal aliens, planned terrorism, groups and individuals with
a history of violence, incendiary rhetoric -- together with the rare
interagency action between the FBI and ATF indicate that this
information would go not only to the heads of the Treasury and Justice
Departments, but also to the White House and the National Security
Council. The activities mentioned in the ATF reports have "such a high
potential for affecting national security," Sanders said, that they
would demand monitoring from policymakers in Washington, not merely the
local and regional officials.
On April 20, 1995, the day after the bomb attack
on the Murrah Building, Angela Finley was contacted by Howe, who stated
her belief that Elohim City residents were connected to the crime. The
following day Finley and another ATF agent transported Howe to the FBI's
bomb investigation headquarters in Oklahoma City where, Finley reported:
"CI-183 was debriefed by Special Agents from ATF and FBI. A lead sheet
was then completed. It was then determined that CI-183 would be sent to
Elohim City to obtain any intelligence relating to the bombing."
On May 1st, Howe traveled to Elohim City on her
undercover mission. She returned on May 3rd and was again debriefed by
ATF and FBI agents. According to Agent Finley's ATF report, Howe was
told by an Elohim City resident, "There is a big secret out here." Howe
also "stated that individuals spoken with were supportive of the bombing
of the building in Oklahoma City."
Prime Evidence
In its case against Carol Howe, the federal
government contended that Howe had not provided any specific warning
prior to April 19, 1995 about Strassmeir or other Elohim City residents
planning to blow up federal buildings. Government prosecutors also
insisted that Howe was deactivated after June 1995 and that she was not
working as a government informant when indicted on March 11th of this
year for the explosives, conspiracy, and bomb threat charges. The value
of her work as an informant was denigrated, and she was described as
unstable. Assistant U.S. Attorney Neal Kirkpatrick called the
26-year-old Howe "the poster girl" for "conspiracy theorists" who
believe the government is trying to cover up information about prior
warning at the Murrah Building, which killed 168 people. Federal
authorities attempted to present Howe as a dangerous neo-Nazi and
violent skinhead sympathizer. The government also attempted to suppress
any evidence or testimony by Howe concerning the bombing of the Murrah
Building.
However, the government's own records and
testimony by government officials during cross-examination revealed
these alarming facts:
• ATF Agent Finley-Graham admitted that Howe had
warned of bombing threats against federal buildings before the April 19,
1995 bombing.
• Government records show that Carol Howe was
indeed carried as an informant up through the time of her arrest.
• The government produced no records to support
the claim that Howe was dropped as an informant and nothing to
contradict Howe's claim that she was never told she was being dropped.
• ATF reports describe Howe as "the key" witness
tying Elohim City to the OKC bombing, and refer to her as "stable and
capable."
• The FBI blew Howe's cover and then refused to
provide her with protection.
• Federal reports show that officials knew their
actions had put their informant's life in grave danger.
• After being exposed by her superiors and denied
protection, Howe opted to burrow deeper -- and more convincingly -- into
the neo-Nazi movement, as a matter of survival.
The government's assertion that Howe did not
continue as an informant after June 1995 is refuted by many of the
government's own records. One of those is an ATF report by Angela
Finley-Graham dated January 31, 1996 which states: "It is requested that
CI 53270-183 be retained as an active informant. It was requested by the
Dallas Division office that this informant be retained as an active
informant for the duration of the Oklahoma City bombing investigation."
(Emphasis added.)
Another important document in this respect is the
April 22, 1996 memorandum from Agent Finley-Graham to the Special Agent
in Charge of the Dallas Field Division regarding the danger to Howe. It
states: "This informant is involved with the OKC bomb case which is
pending prosecution in Denver and was the key in identifying individuals
at Elohim City, which is tied to the OKC bomb case."This clearly
shows that: a) Howe was officially acknowledged as an active informant
in April 1996; b) she was "the key," i.e. considered important and
reliable; and c) Elohim City was considered to be "tied to the OKC bomb
case."
Disturbing Questions
Under cross-examination, ATF Agent Angela
Finley-Graham admitted that Howe was listed as an "active informant" for
the ATF through December 18, 1996, but offered an interesting
explanation for that status. Graham and federal prosecutors argued that
removing her from the official listing might have led to the destruction
of records concerning the Oklahoma City bombing. That was especially
intriguing and troubling because it left unanswered who would
have destroyed which records, and why any records
concerning the deadliest terrorist attack on American soil would have
been destroyed, especially while the investigation is ongoing and a
trial is pending.
Also left unanswered were these important
questions: What happened to Agent Finley's December 1994 status report
on CI-183? Was it destroyed? Did that report contain, as some sources
indicate to us, Howe's specific warnings about the planned April attack
on the Oklahoma City federal building? Like so much of the crucial
evidence at Waco that conveniently "disappeared," the December report
may be permanently "lost."
However, Finley-Graham did admit in an April 24th
pre-trial hearing that Howe told her before the Oklahoma bombing that
Strassmeir had threatened to blow up federal buildings. "Ms. Howe told
you about Mr. Strassmeir's threats to blow up federal buildings, didn't
she?" Howe's ATF supervisor was asked by defense counsel Brewster. "In
general, yes," Finley-Graham answered. "And that was before the Oklahoma
City bombing?" "Yes," she answered again. It is important to note that
Carol Howe and her attorney were limited by Judge Burrage's pre-trial
instructions concerning evidence of her prior warnings to the
government. The following exchange between Burrage and Brewster is taken
from the transcript of the closed April 24th hearing:
Burrage: Well, let me just ask you this, Mr.
Brewster. A lot of this makes for good conversation, like the trip to
Oklahoma City, you know, before the bombing and so forth and it makes
for sensationalism, and I don't know that it really has anything to do
with the Oklahoma City bombing, but I saw where you were coming from.
With that McVeigh trial going on, I don't want anything getting out of
here that would compromise that trial in any way.
Mr. Brewster: What do you mean by compromise? Do
you mean shared with the McVeigh lawyers?
Burrage: Yes, or something that would come up --
you know, we have got evidence that the ATF took a trip with somebody
that said buildings were going to be blown up in Oklahoma City before
it was blown up or something of that nature, and try to connect it to
McVeigh in some way or something.
During Carol Howe's trial, the defense was limited
to making only general references to Howe's prior warning concerning the
bombing, and then only insofar as was necessary to Brewster's defense
theory. As evidence that Howe was truly planning to engage in terrorist
bombings, the government had cited her notes, which among other things,
listed 18 bombing targets -- Muslim, Jewish, Native American, and
government buildings -- in the Tulsa area. Brewster's defense theory
argued that Howe "believed she had sufficiently warned the government,
such that, when the [Oklahoma City] bombing occurred, she felt that she
had failed and therefore needed to keep more careful notes." In support
of that theory, Brewster provided the jury with pre-marked copies of
Agent Finley's ATF reports and walked them through some of the important
information therein related to Carol Howe's warnings about Strassmeir,
Mahon, and others. He then put Howe on the stand and asked her in a very
general sense if, based on what she had told Finley and what had
appeared in the ATF reports, she felt she had provided sufficient
information for the ATF to conduct an investigation that would have
confirmed that a bombing of the Murrah Building was about to take place.
Howe said, "Yes."
The prosecution then began cross-examination of
Howe by indicating it was going to challenge her claims of forewarning.
At that point Mr. Brewster asked for a bench conference. When he
returned from that conference, the prosecutor took an entirely different
tack and did not confront Howe on the matter of prior warning. So what
was said in that conference that had such an impact on the prosecution's
line of questioning? We asked Mr. Brewster. He explained: "I simply
said, 'Your Honor, out of deference to your Honor's struggle with the
decision as to whether I could get into that topic, I want you to know
that I very generally touched upon it with this witness, but Carol is
sitting here today cocked and loaded to discuss that, and I just want
the prosecutor to know that I didn't get into it, but I'm giving
him full right to do so and I have no objection, but I want him to know
that she will get into it if he opens it up.'" The point was well
taken. The defense had put the government on notice that it could not
hit and run. If the prosecution was going to attack its confidential
informant's credibility on this specific matter, the defendant would
have the right during re-direct to answer with specifics, and the
government could not object on grounds that her testimony would
jeopardize the bombing trials or some other investigation. The
prosecution retreated.
Sufficient Evidence
So, will Carol Howe publicly divulge specifics
about her warnings now that her trial is over? Not just yet. She is
scheduled to testify before the Oklahoma County Grand Jury which was
convened through the grassroots efforts of citizens to investigate all
aspects of the bombing, including charges of prior warning and official
misconduct and cover-up.
But what is in the official record already from
the Howe trial alone should be more than sufficient to convince even the
most hardened skeptic that we are witnessing an official cover-up of
enormous proportions concerning the worst terrorist act in our nation's
history. If John Huang, James McDougal, Charlie Trie, Nora Lum, James
Riady, and other "donors" in the various "Moneygate" scandals being
investigated by Congress are potential landmines for the Clinton
Administration, Carol Howe is a potential nuclear bomb.
Time after time during the trial, the claims of
Agent Finley-Graham and other ATF and FBI officials were proven false
and the claims of Howe proven true. Finley-Graham and the prosecutors,
for instance, charged that they were concerned about Howe's loyalty
because she was improperly "mixing" with local skinheads and not
relaying what she knew of their activities. However, defense attorney
Clark Brewster introduced evidence that Howe had provided Finley with at
least two tapes of phone conversations with local "skins" as well as
their names and addresses. "How much more specific information than
names and phone numbers do you need?" Brewster asked Finley-Graham.
What's more, Finley herself had listed Howe's association with the
Hammerskins, a Tulsa skinhead group, on an ATF form in May 1995, and
immediately below that entry affirmed that Howe had provided "reliable"
and "verified" information in the past. ATF records also show that Howe
passed a polygraph and was deemed "truthful." Finley-Graham also
admitted in court that Howe had given her a copy of The Turner
Diaries months before the bombing and repeatedly insisted that
she read it since it was "the Bible" of the neo-Nazi movement and a
handbook on their strategy and tactics. Federal prosecutors later would
claim that this novel had a tremendous impact on McVeigh and provided a
blueprint for the truck-bomb scenario of the Murrah Building.
"A Very Good Informant"
On the witness stand, Finley-Graham implied that
Howe was ineffective as an informant and never provided evidence that
resulted in the conviction of a "target." But former ATF official Robert
Sanders told THE NEW AMERICAN he found that assertion incredible. Howe
provided authorities, he said, with specific intelligence "on dozens,
maybe hundreds of serious crimes," yet "there is no evidence that they
did anything with her information." It is not the informant's job, he
pointed out, to arrest and prosecute. In the case of Strassmeir alone,
Sanders pointed out, Howe provided information that the German illegal
alien constructed, possessed, and detonated illegal explosive devices,
and "each of those offenses is a federal felony carrying a ten-year
sentence." Incredibly, Strassmeir was not even questioned by the FBI or
ATF and was allowed to flee the country in January 1996, eight months
after the bombing.
Then there is the damning evidence Howe provided
on Mahon. "According to Howe, Mahon set off a 500-pound ANFO bomb,"
noted Sanders. "That is a big bomb. How many people in this
country have ever done that? Not many, I can guarantee you. The ATF and
FBI would definitely want to question him about that, especially
after Oklahoma City. But there's no evidence that they ever did."
In Sanders' estimation, Carol Howe was "a very
good informant." "She is obviously intelligent, resourceful, cool and
convincing under pressure," and has a good sense for "the kind of
detailed information that is most helpful" to law enforcement and
prosecutors. Besides making 38 audio cassettes and two videotapes for
her ATF and FBI handlers, she also provided voluminous information on
the identities and relationships of residents and visitors at Elohim
City, organizational charts and family trees, telephone numbers, vehicle
license plate numbers, types and quantities of explosives and firearms,
meetings with other violent extremist groups, drawings of tattoos, and
much more. In return for this very courageous work under extremely
difficult and dangerous circumstances, Carol Howe was "outed" by her own
superiors and left to fend for herself.
An ATF report by Agent Finley-Graham dated April
1, 1996 leaves no doubt that authorities knew Howe had been put in grave
danger. It states: "On March 29, 1996 this agent received a telephone
call from S/A Harry Eberhardt," who "stated that the identity of CI
53270-183 had been severely compromised" due to the release of a report
by FBI agent James R. Blanchard II which "contained the formal name of
CI 53270-183," as well as other sensitive information about Howe. The
report says that "S/A Eberhardt stated that he became irate because it
was apparent that nothing was going to be done in an effort to rectify
the problem or at least provide help for the safety of CI 53270-183."
Finley-Graham wrote that she "immediately telephoned CI 53270-183 and
informed him/her that their name had been disclosed and that he/she
should take every precaution for their safety.... This agent told the CI
that anything and everything will be done to insure his/her safety."
But that turned out to be an empty promise. A memo
by Finley-Graham dated April 22, 1996 notes: "The FBI is the lead agency
on this case, however, many other federal, state and local agencies
are involved." (Emphasis added.) Still, with all that police power
involved, Howe was given no protection. The same April memo asserts:
"Individuals who pose immediate danger to CI 53270-183 are: (1) Dennis
Mahon, (2) members of Elohim City, and (3) any sympathizer to McVeigh...."
Finley-Graham concluded by saying she has "known CI 53270-183 for
approximately two years and can assert that this informant has not been
overly paranoid or fearful during undercover operations. This agent
believes that s/he could be in serious danger when associates discover
his/her identity."
Indeed, one of Finley's earliest reports on Elohim
City recounts that Mahon "stated that he would kill any informant." (In
fact, that may have been what Mahon had in mind when he sent Howe on a
"night reconnaissance mission" in a secluded, rural area -- straight
into the arms of a black gang, whose members pistol-whipped Howe and cut
her with a knife.) In spite of this acknowledged "serious danger," the
feds left their outed informant unprotected. According to trial
testimony, Finley-Graham, like Eberhardt, was angry with the FBI, both
for compromising Howe and for failing to give her security afterward.
FBI agent Pete Rickel admitted on the stand that Miss Howe had come to
him in May 1996 seeking protection, but he had offered none. In fact, he
said he didn't even make a note of the conversation with her. So much
for concern about her safety.
Fed Retaliation
After being thus betrayed by those who had pledged
to protect her, Howe contended that her only hope was to dig deeper into
the movement to allay any suspicions that she was an informant.
Incredibly, the prosecution then tried to prejudice the jury against
Howe by citing those very things which allowed her to be convincing
enough to survive. It cited, among other things, her possession of
neo-Nazi and racist literature, her association with neo-Nazis and
skinheads, her possession of firearms, and her camouflage clothing. All
of this was an obvious attempt to distract the jury from the weakness of
the case against Howe.
It is transparent to many observers that the
government's entire case against Carol Howe was a diversion and a
retaliatory act meant to stop her from exposing embarrassing facts which
key people in the government desperately want to remain buried. "I think
it's appalling that the government prosecuted this girl for doing
exactly what they hired her to do, while at the same time allowing
Dennis Mahon, Andy Strassmeir, and others who are implicated [in the
bombing] off scott-free," Kathy Wilburn told THE NEW
AMERICAN. Mrs. Wilburn, whose two grandsons were
killed in the blast and whose husband Glenn recently passed away (see
our August 18th issue), was one of the very few who attended all of the
Carol Howe trial. "Carol Howe's testimony and the ATF records lend very
strong, additional support," says Mrs. Wilburn, "to all of the other
evidence and eyewitness testimony -- the bomb squads being at the
building before the explosion, the ATF agents being out of their
offices, other undercover informants -- indicating that the government
did have prior warning."
