Special Counsel: No Federal Coverup at Waco

July 22 -- One week after a jury absolved the government of wrongdoing in a suit stemming from the siege of the Branch Davidian compound near Waco, Texas, an independent counsel concluded Friday that federal agents were not responsible for the deaths at the fiery end of the 1993 standoff.

Special counsel John C. Danforth told a news conference in St. Louis he had determined with “with 100 percent certainty” that federal agents and the government were innocent of any wrongdoing. The former Missouri senator blamed the Branch Davidians and sect leader David Koresh for starting the fire that claimed 80 lives on the last day of the 51-day siege.

Announcing the findings detailed in a preliminary report to the Justice Department, Danforth also concluded that federal agents did not shoot at the Davidians and that government officials did not engage in a major coverup in the investigation. In addition, he found that the military’s involvement in the siege was not improper.

Failure to Disclose Pyrotechnic DevicesWhile Danforth absolved the government in his report, he said he is still expects an explanation for why government officials initially hid the fact that federal agents used pyrotechnic rounds such as tear-gas canisters during the siege.

“All of us should be more skeptical of those who make sensational accusations against evil acts by government,&0148; Danforth said. &0147;But the investigation revealed that a few government lawyers and an FBI agent did conceal from the public, Congress and the courts that an FBI agent fired three pyrotechnic tear-gas rounds.”

The devices, Danforth said, did not cause the fatal fire. The rounds were fired at the compound four hours before the blaze began and were not a factor, he said.

Still, the government’s use of the pyrotechnic devices did not become known until last year, more than six years after the siege. In his report, Danforth said the failure of government officials to disclose the information led to the appearance of a coverup and shook the public’s faith in the government.