“As I have always said: The only difference between the KGB and the FBI is that the KGB has never claimed to be a legitimate law enforcement agency.” ~ Jesse Trentadue
Readers may know the name John Ashcroft, attorney general under George W. Bush.
Well, good old Ashcroft was at the heart of a high profile cover-up: the Oklahoma City bombing, according to attorney Jesse Trentadue. The following comes from a court filing provided to ZeroHedge by Trentadue, attorney to OKC bombing accomplice Terry Nichols.
For context (per Jesse from kennethtrentadue.com): Jesse is the brother of Kenneth Michael Trentadue who died in August 1995, while incarcerated at the Federal Transfer Center in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Following the death, the Department of Justice (DOJ) immediately deemed it a suicide, denied the medical examiner access to the cell where Kenneth Trentadue was killed, ordered the cell cleaned and painted, and repeatedly asked both the medical examiner and Kenneth Trentadue’s family to authorize the cremation of his body. The medical examiner could not legally authorize cremation and the family refused, demanding that Kenneth's body be returned to them. When Trentadue's body was returned to the family, they removed heavy makeup and discovered bruises all over his body, from head to foot. The bruises, cuts, and other wounds depicted an obvious beating and murder.
Now for the story…
While serving his prison sentence, Nichols attempted to spark an investigation into FBI involvement in the OKC bombing. He sent a letter stating that he could provide such information to the then head of the DOJ Ashcroft.
Ashcroft did not respond to the letter but immediately forbade the media from speaking to Nichols, which resulted in 60 Minutes cancelling a sit-down interview they had scheduled with Nichols, says Trentadue. Shortly thereafter, Nichols said he received a visit from a man presenting an offer from the DOJ to undo Nichols’ death sentence if he agreed to three conditions:
- Take ownership of an anonymous warning the DOJ received saying the Murrah Building was bombed 30 minutes before it actually had been.
- Implicate Nichols’ own brother in the bombing plot.
- Reveal the location of the “Kinestick”, an explosive used in the bombing. Nichols mentioned having knowledge of an unused stache in his letter to Ashcroft. The existence of a remaining stache was not known at the time.
The existence of the mysterious call was independently corroborated in Stephen Jones’ book Others Unknown and even covered by ABC News:
It was discovered that the DOJ proxy (Michael Selby) who visited Nichols previously worked in Ashcroft’s private security detail. Trentadue helped to further corroborate that this meeting took place by telling ZH:
It is strange that such an offer – giving leniency to an accomplice to one of the most horrific domestic terrorist attacks in U.S. history – would be presented by someone who does not work at the DOJ and stipulate that Nichol take credit for an anonymous tip which he did not make.
Nichols ultimately did not accept the deal because he did not want to throw his brother under the bus.
The story, now part of official record thanks to Trentadue, serves as an interesting look into the true conspiracies that Ashcroft may have had a hand in.
To see the full spectrum of official documents that Jesse Trentadue has fought hard to force the government to release, follow his website named in honor of his brother who he believes was murdered by the FBI: http://www.kennethtrentdue.com/
And for a great interview where Trentadue discusses the contents of this article and more, listen to friend-of-ZeroHedge Scott Horton interview Jesse just last month.
As for Ashcroft, after 'retiring' he started a private lobbying firm that quickly secured the Israeli government as its first client.