Utah Attorney Exposes FBI Deception in OKC Bomb Records Case
Last month, the Justice Department sought to halt a lawsuit requesting records on the FBI’s role in the Oklahoma City bombing. Utah attorney Jesse Trentadue, the plaintiff in the case, accused the DOJ and FBI of making misleading statements that warrant sanctions.
Trentadue’s lawsuit, filed under the Freedom of Information Act, sought records related to Roger Edwin Moore, a CIA asset and FBI informant linked to OKC bomber Tim McVeigh, as well as the Aryan Republican Army, a neo-Nazi group involved in the attack. Despite waiting nine years for the FBI to process his FOIA request, Trentadue was told it would take another 12 years to release the records.
The FBI claimed that many of the requested records were already available on their website, but Trentadue found this to be untrue. He discovered that the posted records were significantly fewer than what the Bureau claimed to possess, with only a small portion referencing McVeigh or Moore’s involvement in Operation Punchout.
Trentadue also disputed the FBI’s assertion that he agreed to receive records at a rate of 500 pages per month. He clarified that he had agreed to receive records in increments as they were processed, not limited to 500 pages per month.
This is not the first time Trentadue has faced deception from the DOJ and FBI. In a separate lawsuit seeking surveillance footage of the OKC bombing, allegations of witness tampering by the FBI are under investigation. Trentadue compared the FBI to the Russian KGB, noting their lack of honesty and transparency.
Trentadue urged the judge to order the FBI to release records at a faster rate of 5,500 pages per month, citing the upcoming 30th anniversary of the OKC bombing and the public interest in the case. He highlighted the significance of the case by referencing articles written by journalist Ken Silva, which have garnered significant attention.
The decision on the matter is pending, and Trentadue continues to push for transparency and accountability from the FBI.
Ken Silva is a staff writer at Headline USA. Follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/jd_cashless.