FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE July 11, 1995
For futher information call: NRA Public Affairs 703-267-3820
WHY DID JUSTICE DEPARTMENT SAY "NO" TO X-RAY OF GUNS?
The National Rifle Association Institute for Legislative Action (NRA-ILA) announced today that, since June 14, it has retained Failure Analysis Associates (FaAA), an engineering and scientific consulting firm, to assist in the analysis of information pertaining to the 1993 tragedy in Waco, Texas, which claimed the lives of four federal agents and eighty-two civilians.
FaAA served as experts for General Motors in the X-car investigation and more recently in the C/K pick-up truck probe in which they investigated for GM the notorious NBC Dateline episode. FaAA worked on the analysis of the Challenger disaster and the Exxon Valdez oil spill. The firm recently completed widely publicized explosion testing of ammonium nitrate fertilizer that is alleged to have been used in the Oklahoma City bombing disaster.
"We conducted a nationwide search for the most appropriate experts for this analysis," said NRA-ILA executive director Mrs. Tanya K. Metaksa. "We selected FaAA based on their long history, broad expertise and specific experience in other governmental and high- profile investigations. Once FaAA completes its analysis, we will make it available to the Congress.
"The legacy of the four agents and twenty-two children should be: never again. We believe science can help assure that legacy."
On Monday, June 26, Dr. John Moalli, Managing Engineer with FaAA, arrived in Austin, Texas, to begin one phase of the analysis -- the x-ray of fire-damaged guns and other materials retrieved from the compound. Said Dr. Moalli: "It was our understanding that we would be able to examine guns and other materials and conduct X-ray and other non-destructive analyses on which our scientific findings would be based." Equipped with a truck load of sophisticated analysis equipment, the engineers were denied access to the guns and other materials by Mr. Richard Scruggs, formerly personal assistant to Attorney General Janet Reno and currently Counsel for Intelligence Policy for the Department of Justice.
"We presented our background, credentials and explained the non- destructive nature of our proposed analysis. Mr. Scruggs refused access to the evidence, until we revealed our client. As a matter of policy, unless authorized, FaAA does not reveal its clients. We were retained to establish the facts regardless of client identity or client preference."
"If the Clinton Administration wants to create the impression of a cover-up, it's performing flawlessly," observed Mrs. Metaksa. "Understanding that client identity is the sole condition stipulated by Mr. Scruggs for access to the evidence, let us now proceed to conduct X-ray and other non-destructive analyses."
Founded in 1967 by three Stanford University professors and two Ph.D.-level Stanford Research Institute researchers, FaAA is now the largest engineering firm in the nation devoted primarily to the analysis and prevention of engineering- or science-related failures and disasters. FaAA employs 300 people, approximately seventy of whom hold doctorates in their field of specialty.
Leading the investigation for FaAA is Dr. Roger L. McCarthy, FaAA CEO, who recently completed his term on the President's Commission on the National Medal of Science. The core FaAA team on the Waco project consists of five Ph.D.s from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Stanford and Purdue with expertise in the areas of firearms technology, chemical engineering, fire cause and origin, synthetic materials, non-destructive evaluation and acoustics.
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