Chapter 28
“The patriot volunteer, fighting for country and his rights, makes the most reliable soldier on earth.”
In a situation room in the West Wing of the White House, Tyrell Johnson, Jamail Tibbs, Benjamin Gould, Cliff Radford and other cabinet members watched the press conference in Austin on television.
“Damn, that looks like Chechnya or the Arab Spring!” one cabinet member remarked, referring to the thousands of people standing shoulder to shoulder with signs and Lone Star flags waving in the crowd, dotted with the occasional unmistakable yellow Gadsden flag of the Tea Party, and the famous “Come and Take It” Gonzales battle flag.
Several flat screen TVs in the situation room showed news coverage from various networks. On Fox News, commentators broadcast reactions from the governors of other states that had experienced similar raids on Tea Party activists in South Carolina, Oklahoma, Alabama and Arizona. Each of those governors denounced the actions of the Justice Department and voiced support of the Texas governor.
When they were asked if they would authorize the same type of actions to recover a citizen they felt was unlawfully detained by the federal government, almost all said they would. The Arizona governor noted that, although she didn’t have an elite law enforcement unit such as the Texas Rangers, she knew a few local sheriffs who would jump at the chance for such an operation—referring to two sheriffs in particular who had already had run-ins with the president’s attorney general.
“Mr. President, this sets a very bad precedent. We need to put this cowboy in his place and reaffirm the role of the federal government to him and to Texas. To let Texas set this precedent could have severe consequences on everything from the IRS to EPA regulation enforcement,” stated Tibbs.
“Well, damn—they shot an ATF agent! I agree there has to be a response,” said the president.
“Look, we’ve never been popular in that state. We need to halt this before it grows. Did you see the size of that crowd?” bemoaned Avery Smith.
“Jamail, what’s our move here?” asked the president.
“First, the Texas Rangers involved in that operation should be arrested. Next, we should re-arrest Chuck Dixon.”
“What are the national polls saying?” asked the president.
“We don’t have any new data since this press conference but the popular notion overall is the governor acted improperly. Most American believe Texans are somewhat arrogant and went off half-cocked on this thing. Don’t forget the majority of Americans believe the Tea Party is connected to Rash Sally—fully 63 percent of them,” remarked Smith.
“Should we move before we have new polling data from this latest news conference?”
“Mr. President, the longer we wait, the weaker we appear. It will look like we backed off from the Texans. The country is with us on this. Nobody likes the brash arrogance of Texans who think they can trump federal law.”
“What’s your proposal?” Johnson asked.
“I propose we have our local agents in Dallas and Houston go to Austin and arrest the Texas Rangers involved in the operation, as well as this Tea Party guy, Dixon.”
The president sat there for a long moment in silence, his chin in his hand.
“What is the backlash if you go into Austin and grab these guys?”
“Well, in Texas it will be pretty bad, but who gives a shit what Texas thinks? The rest of the country will be glad Texas is taught a lesson. What could have more impact than us going into Texas and grabbing the symbols of their Texas heritage?” Tibbs sounded smug.
“Do you think your staff can just drop into Texas and arrest a Texas Ranger?” asked Smith.
“Ha, you may need SEAL Team Six,” laughed Johnson.
“Shit! To arrest some damn cowboys?” exclaimed Gould.
“Well, they did punk your ATF agents,” Radford stated.
“With all due respect, Mr. President, if we just arrest the senior Texas Ranger who led this operation, it will have a significant impact,” Tibbs said.
“That dude, Pops Younger? He’s already a folk hero there,” said the president.
“That’s just it. He may be a folk hero in Texas but he interfered with a federal government operation as far as the rest of the country is concerned. It’s now a matter of national security.”
“What about Dixon?”
“He’s easy enough to arrest again, just a regular schmoe, but word is they have him in protective custody.”
“Were you able to recover anything from his computers? Any issues with the firearms you recovered?”
“Not so far, Mr. President,” said Gould.
“But we aren’t done with the forensics yet,” Tibbs finished.
“Seriously? You guys have had those for days. Why is it taking so long?” questioned Smith.
“Don’t worry, Avery, we’ll come up with something,” sneered Tibbs.
“Mr. President, I don’t think you should be briefed on this operation. This is an operation that should be totally contained in Justice,” Radford stated emphatically.
“Okay,” Johnson agreed, “but don’t let it escalate. If you’re going to do this, it needs to be a smooth and successful operation.”
“We’ll put our best people on it. In a day or two, we will have this Texas Ranger and the Tea Party guy parading in front of the cameras in handcuffs.”
“Are you going to issue arrest warrants this time?”
“Yes, that’s likely,” Tibbs said.
“Even though no arrest warrant was issued for this guy Dixon the first time?”
“Here’s how it works, Mr. President. The Rangers violated federal law, so a federal warrant for them is easy enough. As far as the Tea Party guy, he can be counted as a fugitive under the terrorist provision of the NDAA. There’s essentially no problem with either option.”
“But we don’t know where this Dixon guy is being held, right?” asked Radford.
“We’ll find out,” Tibbs said confidently. “We have plenty of friends in law enforcement in Texas. Now that the guy is something of a celebrity, he’s harder to hide. When we publish that he’s wanted by the FBI, local and state law enforcement will have their hands forced. They’ll have to give him up.”
The next day, members of the Texas GOP congressional delegation came to the floor of the House of Representatives, demanding a congressional investigation into the actions of the Justice Department and the executive branch’s role in events that occurred in Texas and five other states. Most egregious, though, was the shooting of Stan Mumford, the destruction of the Dixon home and Dixon’s three-day detainment without due process.
House Republicans had tangled extensively with the Justice Department over some of its cases and their cover-ups, holding the attorney general in contempt over relevant document production. The executive branch had claimed executive privilege in the case, effectively delaying the resolution of the contempt charge until after the election. Because of the actions of Rash Sally, the American public and most of Congress had their attention diverted elsewhere. Now, the Department of Justice was right back in the crosshairs.
“This is exactly why Congress originally opposed the National Defense Authorization Act. Once the administration determines you are their enemy, they can effectively target political groups whose ideologies and beliefs differ from theirs. This is no different than the old KGB in the former Soviet Union,” claimed Rep. Cartwright, a regular critic of the administration and a long-time Tea Party favorite.
“It is downright despicable,” Cartwright said forcefully, “that federal agents can go into a sovereign state and destroy a person’s home, terrorize his family, and hold him without charges at an undisclosed location for three days. This is effectively rendition of an American citizen on American soil. It’s unconstitutional. It’s criminal. It must stop now. It has resulted in the unwarranted deaths of several of our fellow Texans. It’s an outrage.”
The war of words between Austin and Washington was just beginning to heat up. Later in the day, White House Press Secretary Ted Duncan held a news conference.
“The fact of the matter is that law enforcement from Texas violated federal law on federal property, including the shooting of an agent of the United States government,” said Duncan at the news conference. “Let me state unequivocally that those responsible for this shooting and the release of a fugitive from justice will be dealt with accordingly. There is no room for state law enforcement officials to usurp federal law enforcement initiatives. We won’t stand for it. In this country, we have something called the rule of law, and nobody is immune—including those in Texas who may think they are above federal law.”
One of the beat reporters stood up. “Does this mean there could be arrests of those Texas Rangers involved in the release of Mr. Dixon? What about the Texas governor who ordered the operation?”
“The Justice Department will make that call. There are qualified professionals there who know the law and will act accordingly.”
“Are you going to arrest the Texas governor?”
Duncan said pointedly, “As I said, I am not in a position to comment about an ongoing investigation. It is clear the state of Texas interfered in this investigation of a possible conspiracy associated with Rash Sally.”
“Why didn’t the administration notify Texas law enforcement before these raids? Why no search warrants?”
“Again, this is an ongoing investigation of significant importance concerning national security. Certain departments, including the FBI, NSA, Homeland Security, the CIA and the ATF cannot disclose every operation or mission to local law enforcement, as it may have significant public safety implications or jeopardize the mission itself.”
The insistent beat reporter continued. “But, as a citizen, how would you expect someone to act if you raided his home without showing a search warrant? How would a person discern, for instance, an ATF agent from a common criminal?”
“Well,” said a smiling Duncan, who looked like he had now cornered the beat reporter into a stupid question, “for one thing, your common criminal won’t have a badge and normally won’t have a jacket or shirt on that is emblazoned with a bright yellow A-T-F.”
The rest of the room laughed. The beat reporter didn’t give up so easily. “What if they don’t show the badge? Can’t someone buy a badge at a flea market? Couldn’t I easily make an ATF-emblazoned jacket with yellow duct tape?”
“I’m not going to continue to play these scenarios with you.” It was apparent Duncan’s patience had run out. “The ATF and other federal agents adequately identify themselves. They are not common thugs or criminals and your statement, sir, comparing thugs and criminals to those brave men and women who are out protecting lives every day is regrettable.”
“But, how can an unwarranted search and destruction of someone’s home…?”
“Sir,” an irate Duncan interrupted firmly, “we have already addressed these questions in prior press conferences. The ATF and FBI have full authority under the NDAA to perform necessary operations on suspected terrorists…”
The persistent reporter interrupted Duncan’s interruption with one of his own. “How in the world can you classify the Dixon family as terrorists?”
“We are not privileged to the information the Department of Justice has in this investigation. The ATF was operating fully within…”
“Well, apparently the governor of Texas felt differently.”
“The governor of Texas has a record of opposing this administration on everything from healthcare and the EPA to this issue. It is apparent this is a grandstanding event by Governor Cooper; however, this time he overstepped his authority, as the action he ordered was likely illegal and it interfered with a federal operation.” Duncan glanced around the room and pointed to another reporter.
“What were the president’s thoughts on the press conference in Austin, which essentially turned into a rally against Washington?” that reporter asked.
“The president didn’t watch it and has no comment.”
“What’s the next step for the administration related to Chuck Dixon?”
“That’s up to the DOJ; that’s not a call the president makes.”
“As the commander-in-chief and head of the executive branch, he has no input or direction for the DOJ on this matter?”
“The president has a capable attorney general and capable directors of the FBI and ATF. Anything related to that case will be dealt with by those departments,” Duncan stated. “Remember, this is all related to the Rash Sally attempted assassination and is part of the overall investigation into any conspiracy he was involved in.”
“Has President Johnson or Attorney General Tibbs talked to Governor Cooper?”
“Not that I know of, regarding the president. I don’t know about the attorney general.”
Another reporter piped up. “What do you say to the governor’s claim that he made numerous calls to the DOJ and the administration before ordering the Texas Rangers to rescue Chuck Dixon?”
“Rescued? I think you meant to say kidnapped,” laughed Duncan.
Nervous laughter came from some of the mainstream media in the room.
“What about the phone calls?” the previous reporter repeated.
“I don’t have any knowledge of the governor reaching out to the White House or the Department of Justice,” Duncan said.
“Does that mean the administration is contradicting his claim about numerous attempts to resolve the problem before ordering the raid on Ellington Air Force Base?”
Ted Duncan’s body language had physically changed over the last few questions. The uneasiness caused by the recent questions and answers left many seasoned reporters wondering why the press secretary continued responding to the line of questioning.
“We’ve already covered this question and we are out of time,” Duncan said abruptly. “Thank you all.” He turned away from the microphones and headed to an exit on his right.
Questions peppered Duncan as he left. “Is the administration lying? Can you produce the phone logs from the White House to prove Governor Cooper didn’t call? What about the Justice Department logs? Who’s lying here?”