{"id":2097,"date":"2025-04-12T16:10:52","date_gmt":"2025-04-12T16:10:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sfawbn.com\/home\/?p=2097"},"modified":"2025-04-12T16:10:52","modified_gmt":"2025-04-12T16:10:52","slug":"why-is-doj-hiding-an-fbi-informants-deposition-on-the-oklahoma-bombing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sfawbn.com\/home\/2025\/04\/12\/why-is-doj-hiding-an-fbi-informants-deposition-on-the-oklahoma-bombing\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Is DOJ Hiding An FBI Informant\u2019s Deposition On The Oklahoma Bombing?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By: Ken Silva<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

April 10, 2025<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Oklahoma<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

An attorney in Utah is working to unearth the truth through his ongoing lawsuit for surveillance footage of the Oklahoma City bombing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Author<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ken Silva<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After the April 19, 1995, Oklahoma City bombing, the FBI launched a massive manhunt<\/a> for a mystery accomplice to Timothy McVeigh known as \u201cJohn Doe 2\u201d\u2014only to later claim that he never existed, and that McVeigh acted largely alone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nearly 30 years later, an attorney in Utah named Jesse Trentadue is still working to unearth the truth through his ongoing Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit for surveillance footage of the blast. According to FBI and Secret Service records, the footage shows McVeigh with another unidentified subject.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since McVeigh\u2019s other known accomplice, Terry Nichols, was confirmed to have been in Kansas on April 19, John Doe 2\u2019s identity remains a subject of debate. Credible researchers have made the case that he may have been an undercover informant, or even an agent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trentadue\u2019s nearly 17-year-old FOIA lawsuit hasn\u2019t received much attention over the last decade, largely because it\u2019s been litigated behind closed doors, with gag orders on all parties. That\u2019s because a special master is continuing to investigate stunning allegations that the FBI intimidated an undercover informant involved in the case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With the OKC bombing anniversary next week, Trentadue recently moved to unseal the deposition he took of the FBI informant\u2014a retired Marine named John Matthews, who allegedly saw McVeigh months before the bombing. However, one of the top officials in the Justice Department, Principal Acting Assistant Attorney General Yaakov Roth, is opposing his motion, according to a letter Trentadue wrote to Attorney General Pam Bondi\u2014a copy of which this reporter obtained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMr. Roth appeared in that case in his official capacity and heads the Department of Justice\u2019s vehement opposition to unsealing Matthews\u2019 deposition,\u201d Trentadue told Bondi in a March 26 letter. \u201cWhy is the Department of Justice fighting so hard to prevent the unsealing of that deposition when it is contrary to everything the current administration has publicly stated about exposing and cleaning up the FBI lawlessness?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bondi Letter<\/a> by The Federalist<\/a> on Scribdhttps:\/\/www.scribd.com\/embeds\/848375927\/content?start_page=1&view_mode=scroll&access_key=key-5qlXl7uaK37aaLgQiALP<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The contents of Matthews\u2019s deposition are not publicly known. Trentadue said he wasn\u2019t allowed to comment on the matter due to the court-imposed gag order.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Judging by Matthews\u2019s past public disclosures, his testimony likely reveals new information about some of the darkest scandals in the FBI\u2019s history\u2014including its coverup of others involved in the OKC bombing, which killed at least 168 people, including 19 children, in what remains the deadliest domestic terrorism attack in American history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bondi\u2019s office did not respond to messages seeking comment. Roth also did not respond to a message seeking comment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Who Is John Matthews, and What Does He Know?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Matthews, a retired Marine who infiltrated the right-wing underground in the 1990s as a paid operative, never intended to become a whistleblower. He had been out of the game for over a decade, and only went public after he saw the bureau burned him by not redacting his name in documents that were being released.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAll those years I\u2019ve been a good boy and kept my mouth shut,\u201d Matthews told Newsweek<\/a> in 2011. \u201cThen you release my name? What kind of sh-t is that?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Initially, Matthews attempted to tell his story through the press. Buttressed by his credibility\u2014the FBI gave him a plaque for his service, and documents corroborated much of what he said\u2014Matthews told Newsweek about an undercover operation to infiltrate right-wing groups called \u201cPatriot Conspiracy,\u201d or PATCON.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Matthews, PATCON entailed numerous undercover FBI agents and informants posing as neo-Nazis. Those operatives fomented numerous crimes, from illegal gunwalking to plotting an attack on a nuclear plant in Alabama, according to Matthews. Perhaps Matthews\u2019s most jolting claim was that he saw McVeigh in 1994 with a German national named Andy Strassmeir\u2014whom an ATF informant later saw casing the Murrah Building in early 1995.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But when Newsweek published its article about Matthews on Nov. 21, 2011, he was dismayed to find his most damning disclosures unreported. That\u2019s when Matthews turned to Trentadue, who was preparing for an upcoming trial in his FOIA lawsuit for the OKC bombing surveillance footage\u2014the only FOIA case, to this writer\u2019s knowledge, that\u2019s ever gone to trial.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trentadue\u2019s Trial<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Trentadue filed his lawsuit in 2008, and the FBI swore to a judge that footage never existed. Typically, such a declaration is all it takes for a judge to dismiss a FOIA lawsuit. But the Utah attorney had already separately obtained investigatory records from the Secret Service, which conducted its own investigation into the bombing. The Secret Service documents said the John Doe 2 surveillance footage indeed exists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSecurity videotapes from the area [around the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building] show the truck detonation 3 minutes and 6 seconds after the suspects exited the truck,\u201d the Secret Service document<\/a> states.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trentadue also showed the judge FBI records and contemporaneous news reports about an agent who allegedly tried selling the surveillance footage to NBC News. According to the leaked October 1995 FBI memo<\/a>, an attorney representing an FBI agent in Los Angeles had contacted the NBC show \u201cDateline,\u201d offering to sell surveillance footage for more than $1 million.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was represented that the video tape would contain time-lapse photography of the arrival and then departure of a UPS truck. Then a Ryder truck pulls up and a male resembling Timothy McVey [sic] is seen exiting the driver\u2019s side of the Ryder truck and then walking away,\u201d the FBI memo says<\/a>. \u201cNext, a second male is seen exiting the passenger side of the Ryder truck and walking to the back of the truck. The second male then walks away in the same direction as the first male.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Having been caught in an apparent lie about the surveillance footage and the existence of John Doe 2, the FBI was forced to go to trial. Trentadue\u2019s trial happened in Utah over a four-day period from July 28 to July 31, 2014.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wanting to show that the FBI was hiding records about others involved in the bombing, Trentadue was going to have Matthews testify about his encounters with known associates of McVeigh. Trentadue also wanted to press Matthews on his inside knowledge of scandals ranging from the 1993 Waco massacre<\/a> all the way to the Obama-era \u201cFast and Furious\u201d gun-walking disaster.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Matthews\u2019s testimony was supposed to put the finishing touches of Trentadue\u2019s case that other unidentified accomplices indeed were involved in the bombing, and that the FBI was hiding records about them. Specifically, Matthews was going to talk about his time with Andreas Strassmeir, an infamous figure from the 1990s militia scene who was accused by an ATF informant of casing federal buildings in late 1994 and early 1995.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPrior to the Oklahoma City Bombing [Matthews] had seen Timothy McVeigh and a German National by the name of Andreas Strassmeir at a militia training facility near San Saba, Texas,\u201d Trentadue later said in a sworn declaration. \u201cAccording to Mr. Matthews, he had reported the McVeigh\u2013Strassmeir [sighting] to the FBI, and was told by the FBI that the Bureau was already aware of that fact, which indicated to Mr. Matthews that others within the FBI were monitoring McVeigh on the [run-up] to the attack on the Murrah Building.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Matthews Goes Missing<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Matthews\u2019s purported sighting was recounted in a sworn declaration, not from his trial testimony, because he changed his mind about taking the stand. On day three of the trial, Roger Charles\u2014a private investigator who worked on McVeigh\u2019s defense team before helping Trentadue with his litigation\u2014said he received a phone call from Matthews, who relayed that the bureau had threatened him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cJohn Matthews said that he had been told to by [sic] the FBI to \u2018stand down.\u2019 John Matthews also said that he had been told by the FBI to take a vacation so that he could not be subpoenaed,\u201d Charles said in an Aug. 7, 2014, sworn declaration to the court. \u201cHe likewise said that the \u2018Bureau\u2019 had made it very clear to him that if he did testify it could result in the loss of his Veteran\u2019s health coverage, and Veteran\u2019s disability pension.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trentadue filed a similar declaration, in which he said, \u201cDuring that conversation, Mr. Matthews related to me the events leading up to his refusal to testify, including the name of the FBI agent who had contacted him, Adam Quirk.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The FBI denied Charles\u2019s and Trentadue\u2019s allegations of witness tampering. The bureau showed Judge Waddoups an Aug. 2, 2014, email from Matthews to both parties in the FOIA dispute. In it, Matthews said he declined to testify based on the advice of his former handler, retired FBI agent Don Jarrett.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLike we both agree, I had nothing to do with the Oklahoma City bombing or the tapes. I did not want to testify and I did not want to get caught in a crossfire with both sides,\u201d Matthews wrote. \u201cIf I took a trip, no one could find me to give a subpoena to. Don told me we should inform the FBI in Salt Lake City and let them know what I was going to do.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In his email, Matthews confirmed that he spoke with Trentadue and Charles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI told them that I was not going to testify. That Agent Adam Quirk was supposed to [have] told the court,\u201d he wrote, emphasizing in all capital letters: \u201cNO ONE FROM THE FBI OR DOJ HAS MADE ANY THREATS TO ME OR MY FAMILY.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Matthews\u2019s assurances did not convince Judge Waddoups, who launched an investigation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe current record at least permits a reasonable inference of wrongdoing by Defendant or its agents in influencing Mr. Matthews not to testify,\u201d Judge Waddoups said in an April 2015 decision, ordering a separate magistrate judge\u2014a \u201cspecial master\u201d\u2014to investigate the witness tampering allegations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Almost exactly a decade later, the special master has yet to issue his report and recommendations. Meanwhile, Matthews is nowhere to be found. Trentadue said he doesn\u2019t even know if Matthews, a Vietnam veteran who suffered from the effects of Agent Orange, is still alive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While declining to comment on the proceedings, Trentadue did say the DOJ and FBI have fought him \u201ctooth and nail.\u201d Trentadue also said he expected a coverup from previous administrations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After all, former Attorney General Merrick Garland helped prosecute McVeigh, and was involved in suppressing information about John Doe 2. Garland argued<\/a> during McVeigh\u2019s April 27, 1995, preliminary hearing that \u201cit doesn\u2019t matter whether there were two or a hundred people in that truck, as long as there was somebody representing Mr. McVeigh there.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even though the Trump administration promised more transparency, Deputy AG Roth\u2019s move to keep Matthews\u2019s declaration sealed is just the latest action by the U.S. government to keep the truth hidden, Trentadue said. Sean Dunagan, a senior investigator for transparency group Judicial Watch, has said he\u2019s surprised the case has even gotten this far.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re one of the largest FOIA litigants in this country, and we\u2019ve never been involved in anything that involves that degree of alleged misconduct by the [FBI]. It\u2019s astounding,\u201d Dunagan told this reporter in 2022<\/a>. \u201cIt\u2019s very good for Jesse that his case is not being litigated in D.C. If this case were litigated in D.C., it would have been closed years ago. Judges in D.C. have a lot more deference to agencies, particularly when it comes to classification of law enforcement records.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By: Ken Silva April 10, 2025 An attorney in Utah is working to unearth the truth through his ongoing lawsuit for surveillance footage of the Oklahoma City bombing. Ken Silva After the April 19, 1995, Oklahoma City bombing, the FBI…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2097","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","wpcat-1-id"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sfawbn.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2097","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sfawbn.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sfawbn.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sfawbn.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sfawbn.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2097"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sfawbn.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2097\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2098,"href":"https:\/\/sfawbn.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2097\/revisions\/2098"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sfawbn.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2097"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sfawbn.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2097"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sfawbn.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2097"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}