Idaho Standoff Inquiry Focuses on Official Misconduct
The Justice Department and FBI are conducting an extensive investigation into possible official misconduct stemming from a bloody 1992 confrontation with a white separatist in Idaho, a department spokesman said Wednesday.
Spokesman John Russell said the probe has been going on for months, led by the department’s Office of Professional Responsibility with the cooperation of the FBI.
The New York Times reported in today’s editions that the probe has begun to reach the highest officials in the FBI and the Justice Department in the George Bush Administration, including former Atty. Gen. William P. Barr and former FBI Director William S. Sessions. It said investigators planned to question the former top officials.
Randy Weaver and co-defendant Kevin Harris had been charged with murder, conspiracy and other counts after a shootout and 11-day standoff in Idaho in August, 1992. A federal marshal and Weaver’s wife and son were killed.
A jury acquitted Harris on all charges and convicted Weaver only of failure to appear on a previous weapons charge.
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