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03/05/93
FBI says its probe of sect inconclusive; Lawmakers' allegations spurred inquiry
By Steve McGonigle / The Dallas Morning News
WASHINGTON-The FBI acknowledged Thursday that it received a pair of accusatory letters about the Branch Davidian sect last April and conducted an investigation that did not confirm the alleged criminal behavior.
Joe Hanley, an FBI spokesman in San Antonio, said his office received the same letters again in early February from U.S. Rep. Chet Edwards, D-Waco, and notified several state and local law enforcement agencies.
The letters, written by two Michigan residents, contained allegations of child abuse and neglect, tax evasion, slavery and "reports of possible mass destruction,' Mr. Hanley said.
He said the letters received last April were sent by a House member and senator from Michigan, whom he did not identify.
The spokesman said the FBI did not contact the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and did not learn until late February that the firearms bureau had been investigating the Waco-area religious cult for several months.
He read from an FBI memorandum dated Feb. 23 that stated: "ATF intends to execute a warrant (on the Davidians) on 3/1. Will follow with ATF to see if any violations observed.'
The FBI memo also stated that "to date no information has been developed to verify the allegations' contained in the letters, Mr. Hanley said.
Mr. Edwards told reporters this week that he received the letters last March from a House colleague from Michigan, whom he declined to name. He forwarded them to the FBI last April, he said, and passed them along again last month because the agency had never responded.
The firearms bureau stormed the Davidian compound on Sunday to serve an arrest warrant on the sect's leader, David Koresh. The effort was repulsed by heavy gunfire, killing four federal agents and wounding 15 others.
Federal authorities have said there is an undetermined number of dead in the compound, but they have confirmed only one cult fatality. Mr. Koresh has said he was wounded.
FBI agents did not participate in the raid. The bureau was brought into the operation late Sunday when it developed into a standoff and is overseeing efforts to coax Mr. Koresh and about 100 followers into surrendering.
FBI Director William Sessions told reporters that his agency is "sharing the responsibility' with the firearms bureau for directing the overall effort to resolve the crisis.
Before Sunday, he said, the FBI had "no involvement in this particular operation at all.' He also said that he did not recall ever seeing the letters forwarded by Mr. Edwards.
The head of the FBI's congressional affairs office, John Collingwood, said his office had received the letters sent last month by Mr. Edwards. But he said he had not found the same letters Mr. Edwards said he sent last April.
The letters received last month, he said, were forwarded to the FBI's criminal division and to the firearms bureau, a branch of the Treasury Department. He said he did not know what action those offices had taken.
Aides to Mr. Edwards released a statement Thursday saying the FBI had confirmed receipt of the congressman's letters. The statement expressed Mr. Edwards' satisfaction and said he would have no further comment.
Mr. Edwards previously had declined to identify the authors of the letters except to say that one was a former cult member. [B FBI spokesman Hanley described his agency's handling of the letters as proper and indicated that the bureau had been aware of the activities of the Davidian sect for several years.
"There is quite a bit of investigation that has gone on to determine whether there is involuntary servitude, whether there is mistreatment of children and things along that line,' Mr. Hanley said.
Told that Mr. Sessions had denied there was any FBI investigation of the Davidian sect, Mr. Hanley said the director might not have been aware of all the investigative activities of the Central Texas FBI offices.
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