Inquiry Into Davidian Siege to Cost Millions
Working in secrecy protected by armed guards and metal detectors, the independent investigator looking into the FBI siege at the Branch Davidian compound expects to spend nearly $11 million, interview up to 1,000 people and review 1.5 million pages of documents.
A 23-page budget for the inquiry headed by former Sen. John C. Danforth was obtained by the Associated Press from the Justice Department through the Freedom of Information Act. It offers previously unreported details of the investigation, which is being conducted mainly in a suite of offices on the 15th floor of a downtown St. Louis office building.
In a reenactment scheduled for Sunday at a Texas military base, Danforth is seeking to determine whether flashes recorded by the FBI’s infrared camera at the compound could be from gunfire, as survivors claim in a lawsuit.
Investigators also planned to analyze “hundreds of hours” of video, audio and infrared tapes.
Danforth refused interview requests Tuesday.
Atty. Gen. Janet Reno appointed Danforth in September amid criticism that followed revelations that the FBI, contradicting a position it had taken for six years, used potentially incendiary devices on the last day of the 51-day standoff near Waco, Texas, on April 19, 1993. David Koresh and about 80 followers died.
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