Waco Hearings- DAY 4
Waco Hearings- DAY 4
WACO HEARINGS: 1:00 - 1:19PM - Master Number 10945 - INTRODUCTION: The following footage from the Waco Hearings consists of the questioning of the ninth group of panelists. They are: Robert Rodriguez; ATF Special Agent, Chuck Sarabyn; former ATF Assistant Special Agent In Charge of the Houston Office and also Tactical Commander for the Mount Carmel raid, Phillip Chojnacki; former ATF Special Agent In Charge of the Houston Office and Overall Incident Commander at Waco, Sharon Wheeler; ATF Special Agent and Public Informations Officer on the day of the raid, Dan Hartnett; former ATF Deputy Director for Enforcement, Daniel Black; ATF Personal Office Official, Louis Merletti ; Assistant Project Director of the Treasury Department Review Team, James Cadigan; FBI Special Agent and an expert in firearms, William Buford; ATF Resident Agent In Charge at the Little Rock Office and Commander of one of the Special Response Teams during the raid, Roger Altman; former Deputy Director of the Treasury Department, Roland Alisterous; former ATF Agent and John Williams; ATF Agent. The following Representatives present questions, and or statements to the panelists: Bryant, Blute and Schiff. 12:59:46 Old footage from Master Number 10945 shows Mr. Buford answering a question from Congressman Bryant. 13:03:46 Fresh footage shows Congressman Blute asking Agent Rodriguez what his undercover name was. He replies Robert Garcia. Agent Rodriguez is then asked how he gained the trust of the Branch Davidians. He replies that he first meet Koresh when he and another agent drove to the compound to ask Koresh if they wished to sell the horse walker that was in the front yard. Keeping with Agent Rodriguez, Congressman Blute then inquires if he ever felt that Koresh knew of his true identity. He replies that at the beginning of the undercover operation there were problems associated with Koresh attempting to find information out about him. Rep. Blute then asks about the cover of being a technical school student. Agent Rodriguez answers that he joined the undercover team after it was already up and running, and adds that from the start of his assignment he recognized that the team had problems. Pressing the issue, Congressman Blute asks Agent Rodriguez if he told his superiors about the problems. He states that he informed Case Agent Aguilera. Referencing from a report, Rep. Blute next asks Agent Aguilera about the ATF's use of non-agents in their undercover work. He answers that agents presented themselves as technical school students, but doesn't necessarily answer the question. Interrupting, Congressman Blute asserts that one undercover agent told a Davidian that his major was philosophy. Agent Rodriguez states that was a false report, and that the question was presented to him, and that he told Koresh that his major was photography. Continuing further with Agent Rodriguez, Congressman Blute then asks about alcohol use at the undercover house. He replies that agents invited woman agents over to the house to make it appear that a party was going on as part of their cover. Turing then to Mr. Sarabyn, Congressman Blute asks him if he had recognized the concerns felt by Agent Rodriguez. Mr. Sarabyn replies that there was a supervisory agent who was ordered to take care of the undercover agents' needs. Pressing the issue, Mr. Sarabyn is asked if correcting problems after the fact allowed agents' cover to be blown. He answers that the ATF used a neighbor of the Davidians as an informant to identify such concerns. Continuing on, Mr. Sarabyn asserts that this informant initially reported Koresh was nervous about the house, but that he later grew more relaxed. Keeping with Mr. Sarabyn, Rep. Blute inquires why the 24-hour surveillance of the compound was discontinued. He replies that for two weeks there was little activity at night, and so when agents requested monitoring be limited from 6:00AM - 12:00 AM, he allowed it. Mr. Sarabyn is then asked about the pit, and replies that the pit was being dug for a foundation by the Davidian men after their morning Bible study, and that such information was used to help schedule the time of the raid. 13:10:29 Congressman Schiff begins his time by asking Mr. Altman if he was the number 2 person at the Treasury when he wrote the April 15th memorandum to Secretary Bentsen. He answers that he was. Rep. Schiff then inquires if Mr. Altman wrote the phrase, "The risk of a tragedy are there." He answers that he did, and is then asked if Secretary Bentsen ever acted upon the memo. Mr. Altman replies that he never discussed the memo with the Secretary. Congressman Schiff then inquires what motivated him to use such terminology. Mr. Altman answers back that he was reflecting upon an instinct based around the elements that were coming into play at Waco Congressman Schiff then inquires why the memo was sent to Secretary Bentsen if it was of no concern to him. Mr. Altman replies that such memo writing occurs on a very regular practice for all sorts of matters. Keeping with Mr. Altman, Congressman Schiff then asks if the memo was ever sent to the Justice Department. He replies, "Of course not. Like the memo says, this is the Attorney Generals decision." Pressing the issue, Congressman Schiff asks Mr. Altman if he thought that the opinions of Treasury officials would have been of some value to the Attorney General since the case originated there. Mr. Altman answers, "Not mine. I have no background in these issues" Pressing the issue, Rep. Schiff questionably concludes that the memo was not worth anything then. Mr. Altman responds that his thoughts were not qualified enough to be of value to the Justice Department. Keeping with Mr. Altman, Congressman Schiff states that they were qualified enough to send to Secretary Bentsen. Mr. Altman answers yes, but that was the relationship he had with Secretary Bentsen. Congressman Schiff then makes a series of statements concerning the Minorities tendency to dramatize the hearings with testimony concerning child abuse reports from the compound. He asserts that, although such accounts are tragic, the approved ATF raid was for firearms violations, and that if the ATF was truly concern for the compound's children that the ATF would have then consulted more thoroughly with Texas Childcare Caseworker, Ms. Sparks. 13:16:50 Chairman McCollum makes a series of statements concerning parliamentary procedure. 13:18:40 Chairman McCollum recesses the Sub-Committee Chamber for lunch 13:18:49 The Sub-Committee Chamber is shown in recess. 13:19:18 TIME OUT.