For FBI, the Stains Remain : Idaho case raises doubt about Freeh’s ability to renew agency image

Many in Washington had hoped that FBI Director Louis J. Freeh would burnish the image of an agency that had become stained by the arrogance and abuses of some previous leaders. But Freeh’s administration has now been shaken by his handling of the investigation into the 1992 shootout at Ruby Ridge, Ida., in which a white separatist’s wife and son were killed by federal agents.

Last week Freeh suspended four top agents, including his friend, Deputy Director Larry A. Potts, after the Justice Department reported they were suspected of criminally covering up facts about the incident. That embarrassment deepened Tuesday when the government agreed to pay the separatist, Randy Weaver, and his surviving children $3.1 million.

Admittedly, the original events occurred before Freeh took over. But he appears to have worsened matters by placing excessive trust in Potts, who oversaw the Idaho raid from Washington. At issue was whether Potts approved changes in standard FBI policy on lethal force to allow sharpshooters to fire at will at any armed person rather than just when threatened. Potts denied having approved such a change, and he received only a mild reprimand. Freeh promoted him to deputy director on May 2.

One day later, the agent most severely punished for the killings, Eugene Glenn, filed a complaint against Potts with the Justice Department’s Office of Professional Responsibility, charging he had been scapegoated for Potts’ actions. The FBI’s general counsel, Howard Shapiro, pooh-poohed Glenn to reporters as an isolated malcontent. That was before the FBI discovered that documents about Ruby Ridge had been destroyed. As a result of that finding, Freeh demoted Potts.

None of this inspires faith in Freeh. At best, he exercised poor judgment in urging the Justice Department to approve Potts’ promotion while questions about the Idaho case remained open.

The GOP-controlled Senate will open hearings Sept. 6. While these undoubtedly will be political, any forum that helps force the FBI to confront its historic institutional refusal to accept accountability for mistakes and purge itself of the excesses of the J. Edgar Hoover regime is welcome.