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04/30/93
Some in ATF feel betrayed by Treasury Department
By Lee Hancock / The Dallas Morning News
WASHINGTON-One day after the ATF faced its toughest grilling to date on the failed Branch Davidian raid, some agency officials privately complained that their bureau has been "hung out to dry' by its superiors in the U.S. Treasury Department.
But federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms Director Stephen Higgins said he is confident that the agency has Treasury Secretary Lloyd Bentsen's support. He disputed reports that he is likely to be forced to resign as a result of the Feb. 28 Waco raid that ended in the deaths of four ATF agents and a 51-day siege of the cult.
"I don't know why I would give thought to resigning,' he said during an interview with The Dallas Morning News. "I think you resign if you have done something wrong or you think you cannot be effective.'
Mr. Bentsen issued a statement Thursday disputing news reports that the ATF director will be forced out after Treasury officials complete an independent review of the Waco raid.
"The secretary has not assigned blame for conflicting statements about the ATF raid,' said Assistant Treasury Secretary Jack DeVore. "He has serious questions about what happened, but at this stage, with the investigation getting under way, has reached no conclusions.'
Some ATF agents-from high-ranking officials to field investigators-complained that the Treasury Department appears to be using the investigation to try to distance itself from the bureau.
"Agents are questioning the future of our agency. I think a clear signal has been sent that our leader is on his way out,' one high-ranking official said. "And I'm hearing from a lot of agents that they'd like to see us moved over to the Department of Justice because that agency, at least, has a leader willing to support her law enforcement personnel.'
Attorney General Janet Reno has drawn praise for her staunch defense of actions by the FBI in its failed attempt to end the Branch Davidian siege. As many as 86 cult members were initially believed killed on April 19 when a fire destroyed the cult compound after FBI agents began injecting tear gas into the structure. That number, based on figures supplied by cult leader David Koresh, has been questioned by investigators as possibly too high.
Ms. Reno also was praised Thursday by President Clinton for her firm response to questions during the daylong House Judiciary Committee hearing on the Waco standoff.
"She certainly seemed in command to me yesterday up on the Hill,' he said in a speech to U.S. Justice Department employees.
Many agents said they sensed a lack of support by Treasury officials for Mr. Higgins, who appeared alone to testify before the House committee and whose testimony was followed by a statement from Mr. Bentsen that he was "deeply troubled' by conflicting accounts of the Waco raid.
"It's like they order him not to answer questions and then they complain because he's not answering questions,' one ATF official said.
Mr. Higgins, 54, ATF's director for the last decade, said Thursday that the agency will face "a tough time' in the next few months as officials examine the Feb. 28 raid.
But he said he believes that the agency can survive and should remain an arm of the Treasury Department, despite calls by congressional critics for disbanding the bureau or merging it into the Justice Department.
He said he believes that he can lead the agency he joined 32 years ago.
"I don't think this can happen and not have an impact on people's perception of your effectiveness. But If I didn't think I could be helpful, I'd go somewhere else,' he said.
But he added: "I know some people say that in the political process there's always got to be a scapegoat. I play by the rules, and I'm a believer in the process. That dosn't mean the process won't bite me.'
He said he understands the frustration of many in his department at the agency's inability to answer all questions about the Waco raid. He said, however, that he supports a Treasury Department directive that he and other ATF officials answer no questions about what happened until the independent review and prosecutions of surviving Branch Davidians are completed.
"I'm not complaining about Treasury asking me to do that. I respect that,' he said.
Mr. Bentsen said again Thursday that he is troubled by conflicting accounts of why federal agents in Waco decided to execute the raid even after learning that the cult had been tipped off.
"Was ATF aware that (the element of suprise) had been lost? If so, why did the raid proceed?' he said.
Mr. Bentsen and Ms. Reno announced late Thursday that independent investigators will examine how the ATF and the FBI responded to the Branch Davidian crisis and whether changes are needed in the way federal law enforcement agencies manage protracted cult standoffs.
Mr. Higgins said the conflicting statements about what led to the Waco raid "will be explained. As to why people heard or acted on differing information, those questions can be resolved.'
Mr. Higgins was battered by some members of the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday-including Texas Rep. John Bryant, D-Dallas- after he refused to answer questions about what happened and how the cult might have been tipped off. He cited an order by Treasury officials not to discuss what happened until completion of an independent review of the ATF action.
He said the exchange with Mr. Bryant was his most frustrating moment during the often intense hearing "because I think he thought I was covering up. . . . I'm not a person who wants to be evasive.'
"Its frustrating because I've always thought of myself as the most open, candid person,' he said.
Texas Rangers are investigating the cause of the leak, and law enforcement officials say they are focusing on information reportedly passed just before the raid by a Waco media representative to a cult member who died when the siege ended April 19.
Some House Judiciary Committee members angrily grilled Mr. Higgins about whether the agency may have caused the leak by alerting some Dallas TV stations that a raid was about to take place.
But ATF officials have insisted that the agency never specified the time, date or place when it told some media representatives that its agents were about to conduct an action. Law enforcement officials said the ATF has been cleared of wrongdoing in the tip investigation.
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