FBI chief admits "serious errors" in McVeigh case

(16 May 2001)
1. FBI Director Louis Freeh walking into hearing room and sitting down at witness table
2. Cutaway of House Appropriations committee members
3. SOUNDBITE: (English) Louis Freeh, Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation
"The FBI committed a serious error by not ensuring that every piece of information was properly accounted for, and where appropriate, provided to the prosecutors so they could fulfil their discovery obligations. Because of the massiveness of this investigation and the implications inherent in being found guilty of such a horrendous crime, McVeigh and his attorneys were given access into government records far beyond what is provided for other defendants, far beyond documents that affect guilt or innocence."
4. Cutaways of lawmakers listening to Freeh
5. SOUNDBITE: (English) Louis Freeh, Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation
"While I do not believe that the newly discovered documents will have any bearing on the convictions or sentences of either McVeigh or Mr. Nichols, I am not here to minimize our mistake or make excuses. It appears that most offices of the FBI either failed to locate the documents and items in question, misinterpreted their instructions and likely produced only those that would be disclosed under normal discovery, or sent the documents only to have them unaccounted for at the other end. Any of these cases is unacceptable."
6. Wide shot of Freeh testifying
7. SOUNDBITE: (English) Louis Freeh, Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation
"Regardless of how extraneous these documents may be, if they were covered by the discovery agreement, they should have been located and released during discovery. As Director, I'm accountable and responsible for that failure, and I accept that responsibility."
8. Wide-shot of Freeh testifying
STORYLINE:
Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Louis Freeh acknowledged Wednesday that his agency committed a "serious error" in its failure to provide Timothy McVeigh's lawyers with evidence in the Oklahoma City bombing case.
He said the Federal Bureau of Investigation headquarters had repeatedly asked, but failed, to get field offices to provide the material.
Speaking publicly for the first time since the disclosure that more than 3-thousand pages of documents were withheld from McVeigh's lawyers at the time of his trial, Freeh said none of the withheld documents would affect the case against Timothy McVeigh or Terry Nichols.
But he added, regardless of how extraneous the FBI believed them to be, they should have been turned over and released.
Freeh made the statement before a House Appropriations subcommittee, six days after the revelation, and a day after testifying behind closed doors on the problem before the Senate Intelligence Committee.
Even as he was explaining the problem, Freeh admitted that in addition to the more than 3-thousand pages that were turned over last week, the FBI located a number of additional documents as a result of a search ordered Friday.
Freeh said the documents are being reviewed to see if they should be turned over.
His testimony came on the same day that McVeigh was originally scheduled to have been executed for the Oklahoma bombing.
McVeigh and his lawyers are currently reviewing the documents, and weighing whether they should seek a new trial.
Find out more about AP Archive: www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork
Twitter: / ap_archive
Facebook: / aparchives ​​
Instagram: / apnews
You can license this story through AP Archive: www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...

[@sideaccount6198]

Turns out ol Tim saw it long before the rest of us. They way they're acting now is going to birth a lot more Timmys...