Free PDF Version the AMBUSHED GRAND JURY
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
00 Ambsh'd FM i-xiv 2/2/04 2:19 PM Page i What do you do when there’s no justice at the Justice Department? A True Story 00 Ambsh'd FM i-xiv 2/2/04 2:19 PM Page ii 00 Ambsh'd FM i-xiv 2/2/04 2:19 PM Page iii 1612 K Street, N.W. Suite 400 Washington, D.C. 20006 October 24, 2001 United States Congress Washington, DC Open Letter to the U.S. Congress, I am an FBI agent. My superiors have ordered me to lie about a criminal investigation I headed in 1989. We were investigating the US Department of Energy, but the US Justice Department covered up the truth. I have refused to follow the orders to lie about what really happened during that criminal investigation of Rocky Flats Nuclear Weapons Plant. Instead, I have told the author of this book the truth. Her promise to me if I told her what really happened was that she would put it in a book to tell Congress and the American people. Some dangerous decisions are now being made based on that government cover-up. Please read this book. I believe you know what needs to happen. Respectfully, Jon Lipsky The Ambushed Grand Jury The Ambushed Grand Jury is a non-fiction and non-profit book first published in March 2004. This PDF is a free electronic version of the 2004 publication with three (3) extra pictures. The Ambushed Grand Jury is available on Amazon in Kindle format and your purchase supports nuclear safety organizations. Also, The Ambushed Grand Jury, in softcover, is available at www.rockyflatsambushedgrandjury.com. $6.65 covers shipping and handling. The web site at www.rockyflatsambushedgrandjury.com is your online resource for additional information. The Ambushed Grand Jury includes Endnotes. However, www.rockyflatsambushedgrandjury.com includes copies of source documents, important media and up to date events. The video short The Ambushed Grand Jury is available at https://rockyflatsambushedgrandjury.com/rocky-flats/. Reference materials used in the book, obtained through the U.S. Congress, Freedom of Information Act, and other sources, is available at https://rockyflatsambushedgrandjury.com/reference-materials/. A ‘What’s Happening’ page of recent events is available at https://rockyflatsambushedgrandjury.com/whats-happening/. Rocky Flats – Safety Concerns, documented by Rocky Flats Nuclear Workers is at https://rockyflatsambushedgrandjury.com/category/saftey-concerns/. Your comments and questions are important to us and you can Contact Us at https://rockyflatsambushedgrandjury.com/pages/contact-us/. 00 Ambsh'd FM i-xiv 2/2/04 2:19 PM Page v The Ambushed Grand Jury ——————————— How the Justice Department Covered Up Government Nuclear Crimes And How We Caught Them Red Handed by Wes McKinley and Caron Balkany, Esq. Mf , The Apex Press New York 00 Ambsh'd FM i-xiv copy 2/12/04 8:13 AM Page vi Copyright © 2004 Eco-Ed all rights reserved The authors are donating all of their profits from the sale of this book to anti-nuclear groups around the country. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data McKinley, Wes. The ambushed grand jury: how the Justice Department covered up government nuclear crime: and how we caught them red handed / by Wes McKinley and Caron Balkany. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 1-891843-29-X (alk. paper) — ISBN 1-891843-28-1 (pbk.: alk. paper) 1. Offenses against the environment—Colorado—Golden. 2. Rocky Flats Plant (U.S.)— Management—Corrupt practices—Colarado—Golden. 3. Rockwell International. Rocky Flats Plant—Corrupt practices. 4. United States. Dept. of Energy. 5. Rockwell International—Trials, litigation, etc. 6. United States. Dept. of Justice—Corrupt practices. 7. Justice, Administration of—Corrupt practices—United States. 8. Corruption investigation— United States—Citizen participation. 9. Radioactive waste disposal—Colorado. 10. McKinley, Wes. I. Balkany, Caron. II Title. HV6404.C6M35 2004 364.1’42—dc22 2004041051 Published by The Apex Press, an imprint of the Council on International and Public Affairs, located at 777 United Nations Plaza, Suite 3-C New York, NY 10017 Its publications office may be reached at (800) 316-APEX (2739) P.O. Box 337, Croton-on-Hudson, NY 10520 e-mail: [email protected]. website: www.cipa-apex.org. Text design and production by Jim Mafchir, Western Edge Press Cover design by BoulderBookworks Back cover photo of Wes McKinley courtesy of Daily Camera Printed in the United States of America by Capital City Press Montpelier, Vermont 00 Ambsh'd FM i-xiv 2/2/04 2:19 PM Page vii Table of Contents An open letter to the United States Congress iii Foreword by John Nichols ix A Note to Our Readers xi Part One “Operation Desert Glow” Rocky Flats Nuclear Weapons Plant Golden, Colorado, 1989-1992 ONE The FBI Raids Rocky Flats, June 6th, 1989 3 TWO The Whistleblower, June 15th, 1989 19 THREE The Grand Jury, August 1st, 1989 31 FOUR The Justice Department Ends the Grand Jury Investigation, March 26th, 1992 45 Part Two The Citizens’ Investigation Begins, 1997 FIVE The Cowboy Gets Legal Counsel, 1997 71 SIX Citizens’ Investigation Analysis: How the Justice Department Stonewalled Congress, 1992 93 SEVEN Citizens’ Investigation Analysis: Wes McKinley’s Congressional Campaign, 1996 99 00 Ambsh'd FM i-xiv 2/2/04 2:19 PM Page viii EIGHT The Citizens’ Investigation Continues—Some Small Successes, 1997-2000 109 NINE Flashbacks from Wes’ Journals: Inside the Grand Jury Chambers, 1989-1992 139 TEN The Citizens’ Investigation Continues, 2001 157 ELEVEN Jacque Brever, 2001 165 TWELVE Special Agent Jon Lipsky, 2001 177 THIRTEEN We Prove the Justice Department Cover-Up. Now What? 207 Updating Our Story 229 Afterword by Arjun Makhijani 231 Appendix: Who’s Who and Timeline 236 Acknowledgements 242 Bibliography and Endnotes 243 Citizens’ Grand Jury Indictment 281 00 Ambsh'd FM i-xiv 2/2/04 2:19 PM Page ix Foreword by John Nichols Author of The Milagro Beanfield War, The Sterile Cuckoo, and other literary works The Ambushed Grand Jury is a fascinating, scary, very important story. In an age of increasing environmental collapse and “terrorist” dan- ger, our government’s careless and illegal actions at the Rocky Flats Nuclear Weapons Plant outside Denver should prompt all of us to become activists on behalf of our own future. This book is a chilling account of nuclear danger perpetrated by the United States against the United States. As foreman of the Grand Jury that investigated nuclear crimes at Rocky Flats, Wes McKinley is a truly courageous American, and a fab- ulous character. The whistleblower, the FBI agent, and the lawyer who joined Wes in the drawn-out Citizens’ Investigation of Rocky Flats, at clear danger to their own lives and livelihoods, deserve the Medal of Honor for their refusal to back down. When everyday common citizens have the guts to stand up against the monolith, at great risk to themselves, the rest of us need to listen. Their perseverance is remarkable. In lucid exciting prose, The Ambushed Grand Jury unweaves a tangled web, giving us extraordi- nary insight into the Chinese puzzle of nuclear weapons development, nuclear waste disposal, and our government’s complete disregard for the well-being of its citizens. More to the point, the book itself is a true act of hope in a cynical universe. Whoever dreams of a better earth should take this story to heart. In such dangerous times, we all need to become activists, and here is a blueprint to get us started. I predict that someday, The Ambushed Grand Jury might become a film to join the ranks of movies like The China Syndrome, Norma Rae, A Civil Action, Silkwood, and Erin Brockovich. It is that engaging and inspiring. ix The Ambushed Grand Jury Citizens Investigation Team L to R: Wes McKinley (former Rocky Flats Grand Jury Foreman); Jacque Breyer (former plutonium worker and whistleblower who helped the FBI uncover environmental crimes at Rocky Flats); Caron Balkany (attorney and author of The Ambushed Grand Jury with McKinley); Jon Lipsky (former FBI Special Agent who led the FBI investigation of Rocky Flats). Photo courtesy of anonymous, April 2004. Dedicated to the Memory of Jacque Breyer (1957-2015) Jacque is shown here two years before her death after being intentionally contaminated with plutonium for blowing the whistle on environmental crimes at Rocky Flats and testifying before the Rocky Flats Special Federal Grand Jury. She had lost over six inches in height and spent her last years in constant pain, but still fighting to uncover the cover-up at Rocky Flats. L to R: Wes McKinley, Jacque Breyer, Jon Lipsky (and Jacque's husband Skip in background) Photo courtesy of Rachel Lipsky Carr, November 2013. 00 Ambsh'd FM i-xiv 2/2/04 2:19 PM Page xi A Note to Our Readers, whom we call on to act as a Citizens’ Grand Jury In this book, you, the readers, will receive evidence showing how the US government and its defense contractors covered up danger- ous environmental crimes at Rocky Flats Nuclear Weapons Plant, suppressed the indictments demanded by a federal grand jury, and threatened those jurors with jail if they spoke out; so that now, you as Citizen Grand Jurors can consider all the facts and render your own decision in the court of public opinion and before the Congress of the United States of America. A Lawyer’s Opening Statement Members of this Citizens’ Grand Jury: This is an opening statement, what lawyers call their roadmap. An opportunity for us, a group of outraged fellow Americans, to tell you a lit- tle bit about what the evidence in this Citizens’ Grand Jury Investigation is going to show.