Petition
to the
U.S. House of Representatives
Government Reform and Oversight Committee
by the
"NASA-13" Defense Committee
Houston, Texas
November, 1996
The "NASA-13" Defense Committee
To: Rep. William F. Clinger, Chairman
Rep. Cardiss Collins, Ranking Minority Member
House Government Reform and Oversight Committee
U.S. House of Representatives
Rayburn House Office Bldg. (Rm. 2157)
Washington, D.C. 20515
Honorable Representatives,
The purpose of this letter is to provide factual evidence to the committee of serious, continuing violations of the constitutional rights of U.S. citizens, and of U.S. and International law, by government employees of the Department of Justice, the FBI, and other federal police agencies.
In the past several weeks, public respect for these federal police agencies has been further eroded by revelations of violations of these rights and U.S. laws, during the Richard Jewell investigation. FBI Director Fresh has announced that the Attorney General had directed yet another "internal investigation" of the FBI and the propriety of the manner in which the bureau conducts its operations. In the Jewell case the FBI investigators are accused of using un-American dirty tricks during an unconstitutional interrogation and of deliberately leaking information about Mr. Jewell to the press. These "internal investigations" are being conducted by the DOJ/FBI Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR).
In a recently published book, "Main Justice", respected authors Jim McGee of the Washington Post, and Brian Duffy of the U.S. News and World Report, wrote that between 1992 and 1993, "there was an unprecedented, albeit secret, surge in the number of (OPR) complaints - an increase of 78%"!
In August, 1994, Dep. Attorney General David Margolis confirmed in writing that an FBI undercover Sting called Operation Lightning Strike, which had been conducted at the NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston, TX, from 1991 to 1994, was also under "internal investigation" by the OPR for "investigative and prosecutive misconduct."
As of October, 1996, there have been no public or other disclosures of the findings of this "internal investigation." We have no illusions about the final result -- once more the DOJ/FBI will be found, at the most, to have committed, what Janet Reno calls "a mistake," (in a Washington Post interview by Roberto Suro). Similar "mistakes" committed by private citizens are called "crimes"!
In view of the recent press interest in the subject of the illegal Jewell Interrogations, we have decided to publicly release shocking new evidence that we have obtained which reveals that the DOJ/FBI/NASA/DCIS agents involved in the Lightning Strike Undercover Sting Operation used methods of "mental torture" prohibited by U.S. and International Law, during "Star Chamber" type psychological interrogations in the Lightning Strike Operation. These methods were first introduced by the Chinese Communists during the Korean war! Further, there is evidence that these psychological warfare methods, universally condemned forty years ago by all civilized nations, may have now been institutionalized by these Federal police agencies, for use against any U.S. private citizens suspected of wrongdoing!
RECENT EVIDENCE OF DOJ/FBI "PSYOPS" (PSYCHOLOGICAL WARFARE) SUPERVISORY ROLE
This shocking evidence is contained in the attached research report completed by Mr. John R. Crenshaw. Mr. Crenshaw, a 75 year old engineer and former President of the Aerospace Industry Association at NASA, was one of approximately 80 innocent space program workers who were illegally targeted, tape recorded, harassed, psychologically intimidated and coerced by these agents. He was never prosecuted because he was not guilty of any violations of law whatsoever. Thirteen (13) of these victims were eventually prosecuted for a series of bizarre new white collar procurement crimes actually manufactured by the agent in charge.
The Crenshaw report includes a controlled and independent survey of fourteen (14) victims of this sting operation, and provides extensive Behavioral Science References, and documentary evidence of Federal government "psychological warfare" and coercive psychological intelligence interrogation methods currently being used by agents of the U.S. government, against U.S. citizens. These suspects reported that during Lightning Strike, they were first entrapped, then subjected to psychological interrogations, never read the Miranda rights, denied timely access to counsel, and coerced into working for the agents in entrapping others with no prior criminal records, predisposition to commit crimes, or probable cause.
This evidence of a pattern of outrageous illegal behavior is being provided to the courts, the Congress, and the people through the media.
We are requesting that your committee investigate these charges and conduct open hearings to expose these illegal methods which are apparently now being used across the country during undercover operations, interrogations, and in wiretapping and so-called consensual recorded eavesdropping, of American citizens.
Some of these undercover entrapment and coercion practices contributed to the debacles at Ruby Ridge and Waco, TX. Growing outrage, as more citizens learn of these un-American practices, undoubtedly contributed to the Oklahoma City disaster. The media record is loaded with thousands of similar undercover stings being attempted every year. Similar interrogation methods were used by the Houston FBI in a recent sting aimed only at minority members of the Houston City Council.
As a practicing attorney, a former federal grand jury foreman, and a first hand observer to some of the NASA sting events, I have become so convinced of the corrosive effects, which these entrapment and psychological coercion methods are having on our civil rights, that I have provided my services "pro bono" to the "NASA-13" Lightning Strike victims. Most Texans do not support the use of "frame-ups" and torture, to obtain prosecutions.
I urge you to review this report and to take immediate bipartisan action to conduct a thorough investigation of these charges, and then to institute the urgently needed reforms of the U.S. criminal justice laws and rules of criminal procedures. We need to put an end to these practices, which are threatening the fabric of our society and the liberty and freedom of all Americans.
In his best selling book "Lost Rights," popular author and columnist James Bovard writes (p. 250), "the proliferation of entrapment schemes represents the triumphs of an authoritarian concept of justice -- as if government should be allowed anything it chooses in order to catch anyone who any government official thinks might be a criminal. As Gail Greaney wrote in 1992 in the Notre Dame Law Review, "the due process defense is basically a nullity. . . with each case, it appears that the line of intolerable police conduct is being pushed further toward the outlandish. Entrapment epitomizes the triumph of a "body count" approach to law enforcement. Entrapment schemes have proliferated partly because it is easier to manufacture crimes than to protect private citizens. Entrapment schemes wreck private lives in order to boost arrest statistics. Some politicians have sought to justify entrapment schemes as a necessary response to the crime wave of recent years. Thus the worse the government fails to prevent crime, the more power government should have to violate people’s constitutional rights -- the worse police fail, the more power they must have." The accuracy of this statement is punctuated by the fact that while a large team of FBI agents were chasing down NASA scientists and Houston City Council members, Houston was experiencing ever higher incidence of bank robberies, 115 so far in 1996, up almost 100% since 1995 (67)!
In the 1930s the congress acted to stop destructive "third degree" practices by police at all levels, by appointment of the Wickersham Commission in 1931. It is time for Congress to act again, this time to end the "psychological third degree", to save the Bill of Rights, and to stop the future anarchy which such repressive police state methods will bring. Famed defense attorney Gerry Spence said it best in his book "From Freedom to Slavery - the Rebirth of Tyranny in America", ". . . the government is no longer the servant of the people but, at last, has become the people’s master."
We are also petitioning this committee to appoint a Special Prosecutor not affiliated with the DOJ or the Federal Police agencies to review the "NASA-13" cases and to provide relief for the victims, because a fair investigation will find that the government agents entrapped these innocent people, then violated their constitutional rights, to obtain coerced plea agreements.
A press release will be issued shortly. Our recommendations for necessary reforms to prevent future recurrence of the Richard Jewell case and thousands of similar incidents are included on Attachment 3.
The "NASA-13" are all willing to provide testimony to your committee when required.
Respectfully yours,
Richard Atcheson
Attorney at Law