Bundy Clan charges dismissed, citing “flagrant prosecutorial misconduct” by FBI, prosecutors

 

I would be remiss not to post the concluding paragraph to this story of how badly things can get out of hand when the government uses its force for nefarious purposes. That being the FBI and Bureau of Land Management. I have heard nothing in the news about this. What a disgrace. I have done tons of posts on the topic starting back with the story in Bunkerville when we first heard of the Bundy and the ranching debacle that got this whole thing started. For the background first:

Cliven Bundy case declared a mistrial, Misconduct by FBI, BLM

December 21, 2017 — bunkerville

A federal judge declared a mistrial Wednesday in the case of a Nevada rancher accused of leading an armed standoff against the government in 2014, blaming prosecutors for withholding key evidence from defense lawyers, including records about the conduct of FBI and Bureau of Land Management agents.

Bunkerville and Bundy – the real story about the fight and timeline   April 16, 2014 — bunkerville (The timeline at the post. Here are comments by Mark Levin. Chilling indeed.

Oregon stand off ends in one dead, another Waco, Ruby Ridge in the making?

January 27, 2016 — bunkerville

Now the good news Fox News:

A federal judge dismissed all charges against Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy, his two sons and another man on Monday after accusing prosecutors of willfully withholding evidence from Bundy’s lawyers.

U.S. District Judge Gloria Navarro cited “flagrant prosecutorial misconduct” in her decision to dismiss all charges against the Nevada rancher and three others.

“The court finds that the universal sense of justice has been violated,” Navarro said.

On Dec. 20, Navarro declared a mistrial in the high-profile Bundy case. It was only the latest, stunning development in the saga of the Nevada rancher, who led a tense, armed standoff with federal officials trying to take over his land. The clash served as a public repudiation of the federal government.

The Brady rule, named after the landmark 1963 Supreme Court case known as Brady vs. Maryland, holds that failure to disclose such evidence violates a defendant’s right to due process.

Sessions calls for probe of Bundy case after mistrial

Obama and the Greenies seeking massive land grab in Utah

Here we go again. Another massive land grab. Not the first or the last land grab.The latest will claim land from Utah the size of Delaware and Rhode Island combined. Over Two million acres. No doubt he is not through yet. A few of the previous grabs of millions of acres. Obama to claim half million acres today under ‘Monument act’ UPDATE .Then we have President Obama designates five new national monuments add Obama Stretches ‘Antiquities Act’ to Include Three New National . I will give you this one  With 3 California Sites, Obama Nearly Doubles Public Land

The government already owns two-thirds of the 13 Western states. This doesn’t include State and Local government ownership. Now Utah is going to lose another two million acres?

The Antiquities Act, passed in 1906, gives the president of the United States unilateral power to designate so-called national monuments to protect historic landmarks, structures, and other objects of historic or scientific interest on federal land. The act also specifically notes that these monuments should be confined to the smallest possible area. But the exact language of the legislation doesn’t matter to radical environmentalists and their ideological allies in the Obama administration. All they care about is power, and because national monument designations do not require input from Congress or locals, they have become a favorite tactic for federal overreach.

The proposed monument in San Juan County is known as Bears Ears. It covers nearly 2 million square miles, about the size of the states of Delaware and Rhode Island combined. Does that sound like the “smallest area” needed? But this national monument designation is not about protecting antiquities, it just one part of the efforts of radical environmentalists to put as much land off limits to productive use as possible, a pattern that is repeated all across the western states.

San Juan County, Utah is the poorest county in Utah and one of the poorest counties in the United States. The large majority of the land in the county is owned by the federal government, meaning that locals already face severe limits on economic activity, hardly what a struggling county needs. Now rich, out-of-state environmentalists in San Francisco want to inflict even more pain on the citizens of San Juan County. These environmentalists are urging the Obama administration to undertake a national monument land grab that would put much of the county off limits to productive use. Oppressing poor, rural Americans so that rich, city environmentalists can pat themselves on the back? Sounds like a project the federal government will be happy to help along.

More at Freedom Works

Obama to claim half million acres today under ‘Monument act’ UPDATE

UPDATE:  Done.

“I’ve preserved more than 3 million acres of public lands for future generations. And I am not finished,” Obama declared before signing a proclamation naming the Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument.

Wednesday’s action marks Obama’s 12th use of the Antiquities Act to protect lands officials say deserve special treatment, and supporters are lobbying for the president to use his authority more often before he leaves office. Several Utah areas — including Cedar Mesa, the San Rafael Swell and Greater Canyonlands — have been touted as possible candidates for monument designations.

During his State of the Union speech earlier this year, Obama said he wants to work with Congress but would act on his own if it doesn’t move on this issue.

MORE AT  SALT LAKE TRIBUNE

Of all places, the announcement today will give illegals an open pathway on the border with Mexico directly to the U.S. Bundy style, the BLM moves again. Back in 2010, a leaked memo indicated Obama had his eye on 13 million acres. Some monuments larger than Rhode Island and Delaware combined. Much of it rich in gas, oil and other minerals.

President Obama on Wednesday will declare a national monument in southern New Mexico, delivering a win for environmentalists but angering ranchers and local law enforcement, who say the land restrictions will end up creating a safe haven for drug cartels to operate within the U.S.

Mr. Obama will declare about 500,000 acres as the Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument. About half of that land is expected to be set aside as wilderness, meaning it will be closed to vehicles and construction.

Know that this is just the beginning. From an earlier post:

Obama Eyes Western Land for National Monuments

February 19, 2010  Click here to view a list of the sites and a brief description of each one. 

Another 13 million acres? When is enough, enough? 

 No legislation needed.

Upwards to 40 percent of the United States land is already under some form of government control or ownership — 800 million to 900 million acres out of America’s total 2.2 billion acres.A disturbing report out from Fox News this afternoon:

More than a dozen pristine landscapes, wildlife habitats and scenic rivers in 11 Western states, some larger than Rhode Island and Delaware combined, are under consideration by the Obama administration to become America’s newest National Monuments — a decision the administration can make unilaterally without local input or congressional approval.

According to internal Department of Interior documents leaked to a Utah congressman and obtained exclusively by Fox News, the mostly public lands include Arizona deserts, California mountains, Montana prairies, New Mexico forests, Washington islands and the Great Basins of Nevada and Colorado — totaling more than 13 million acres.

Many of the areas under consideration by the Obama administration are known to house rich deposits of oil and natural gas. 

For a list of monuments  he has in mind go to the link here at

Fox News

Now back to the latest so called Monument announcement today:

“This is about opposing so many thousands of acres that is going to create nothing more than a pathway for criminals to get into this country to do their criminal acts,” Dona Ana County Sheriff Todd Garrison told The Washington Times in a telephone interview Monday.

The monument would cover hundreds of thousands of acres right next to the Mexican border.

Only Congress can declare a national park, which stops most land uses. But under the 1906 Antiquities Act the president has the power to declare national monuments, which offer heightened environmental protections.

Read more: Washington Times

Bunkerville and Bundy – the real story about the fight and timeline

Mark Levin last night gave a superb explanation and history of the Bundy and Bunkerville showdown.  For anyone who really wants to understand, do take the time to listen to his explanation of how there is more than one kind of BLM land, and it was the re-classification of this land that started this mess.

In short, Levin calls it an abuse of power and believes the BLM should stop referring to the land as a conservation area and allow Bundy’s cattle to continue grazing on the land just as it has for the last 100 years or so.

He cites the Washington Post as doing a “pretty good outline” of giving the history.

Excerpts from the Washington Post, go over to the link for the full thing:

Everything you need to know about the long fight between …

1989: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service lists the desert tortoise as an endangered species. A year later, its designation was changed to “threatened.”

March 1993: The Washington Post publishes a story about the federal government’s efforts to protect the desert tortoise in Nevada. Near Las Vegas, the Bureau of Land Management designated hundreds of thousands of acres of federal land for strict conservation efforts.

“Among the conservation measures required,” according to the Post’s coverage, “are the elimination of livestock grazing and strict limits on off-road vehicle use in the protected tortoise habitat. Two weeks ago, the managers of the plan completed the task of purchasing grazing privileges from cattle ranchers who formerly used BLM land.”

Many people were not impressed by the new conservation plan. “Cliven Bundy, whose family homesteaded his ranch in 1877 and who accuses the government of a ‘land grab,’ are digging in for a fight and say they will not willingly sell their grazing privileges to create another preserve.” People who use the desert to prospect for minerals and to race motorcycles and jeeps also feel shortchanged. “‘It was shoved down our throat,’ said Mark Trinko, who represents off-road vehicle users on the committee that oversees the plan.”

April 1995: The fight between the Bureau of Land Management and the ranchers who want to use the federal land without fees or oversight is growing more tense, according to a story published in USA Today.

The reason that things were ramping up? Counties were starting to challenge federal ownership of land. In 1991, Catron County in New Mexico passed an ordinance that claimed state ownership and local management of public land in the state. Thirty five counties followed suit. Nye County, Nevada, became the first to act on its legislated threat. The county commissioner bulldozed his way down a closed national forest road. Forest rangers soon followed, who the county commissioner threatened to arrest if they interfered.

At this point, Cliven Bundy had racked up $31,000 in fees for grazing on federal land without a permit. Helicopters often hover over his herd, counting up the cows so he can be fined appropriately. “They’ve taken their authority and abused it,” Bundy said. “I’m not being regulated to death anymore.”

March 18, 1996: The federal government, which owns 87 percent of the land in Nevada,  is still worried about potential violence if they try to remove illegally grazing cattle from protected land. Two more pipebombs had exploded in Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management offices in the past two years. The Justice Department has 12 lawsuits pending against Nevada cattle ranchers. A federal court in the state struck down the Nye County ordinance that caused trouble the year before. Not that ranchers took that as reason to stand down, however. One local resident told USA Today,”A single district court decision in one district doesn’t settle it. It’s just a single day in the year of a revolutionary war. We’re going to continue on with the fight.” Bundy is also continuing to graze on federal lands. “I’m still saying the state of Nevada owns that land, and the federal government has been an encroacher. I’m not moving my cattle. We have … rights.”

 

The BLM’s grand plan for Bunkerville and the West

What’s really spinning out of control in Bunkerville NV in particular and the West in general? An out of control government who is not satisfied with owning 50 percent of the West, and over 80 percent of Nevada. Note that it not just government-owned land that is involved in the grand design, but private land as well. Throw in the EPA land grab, and one will not recognize America.

As early as  April 16, 2012 in Who owns the West? – RenewAmerica 

    In recent years, the Bureau of Land Management, the Forest Service and other federal agencies that have jurisdiction over federal land have tightened regulations to the point that ranchers, such as Cliven Bundy and Kit Laney, are now a dying breed. It is nearly impossible for what once were thriving ranches to even survive. The Progressives — Democrats and environmentalists — have once again taken control of government. They blame Capitalists — Republicans and business leaders — for all the economic woes.

Complete Federal Land Grab Document Released  Posted August 13, 2010 

 The document also gives a not-so-subtle clue as to the size of the land area it seeks to “protect”.

“Of the 264 million acres under BLM management, some 130-140 million acres are worthy of consideration as treasured lands. These areas, roughly equivalent in size to Colorado and Wyoming combined, are valuable for their unspoiled beauty…”

The memo was leaked by a Department of Interior official to Utah Congressman Bob Bishop.

It took Bishop months to get the document, which lays out the context for the snippets released a few months ago.

“They have clearly been dragging their feet, and they don’t want to let us know what they’re trying to do,” Bishop says.

He is especially concerned about portions of the document that recommend using the Antiquities Act “should the legislative process not prove fruitful.” The act gives the president power to designate a national monument with no public or legislative input.

Bishop’s office has release the entire BLM document titled “Treasured Landscapes” of which only pages were released a few months ago. It lays out what some consider a sweeping and detailed plan for changing the way the federal government manages land over the next 25 years.

The document lays out a sea change in the way the federal government manages land. It proposed that rather than manage individual plots of land, regardless of size, the government should consider managing entire “landscapes, ecosystems, airsheds and watersheds.”

Written in March of 2010 but still most relevant! – Leaked Memo Uncovers Obama Administration Land Grab

Senator Jim DeMint took to the pages of the Washington Post this morning to raise the alarm about a planned, 10 million acre Western land grab by the Obama administration… this morning to raise the alarm about a planned, 10 million acre Western land grab by the Obama administration.A secret administration memo has surfaced revealing plans for the federal government to seize more than 10 million acres from Montana to New Mexico, halting job- creating activities like ranching, forestry, mining and energy development. Worse, this land grab would dry up tax revenue that’s essential for funding schools, firehouses and community centers.

President Obama could enact the plans in this memo with just the stroke of a pen, without any input from the communities affected by it.

In Nevada, the Obama administration might make another monument in the Heart of the Great Basin because it, supposedly, is a “center of climate change scientific research.” Much morehere.

The leaked document lists 17 sites in 11 states that could be designated as national monuments through the federal Antiquities Act. Over 380,000 acres in Colorado are designated in the memo under the heading “Prospective Conservation Designation.

According to the memo, around 380,000 acres of BLM and private land in Colorado would be subject to a “conservation designation” under the National Monument designation of the 1906 Antiquities Act. The Vermillion Basin, northwest of Craig, and the Alpine Triangle near Ouray are listed in the memo. This designation would close the areas off to multi-use activities including, mining, hunting, grazing, oil and gas development and other recreational activities. (Note BLM and PRIVATE Land).

H/T: The Battle for Bundy Ridge – pre BLM stand down from Lady Raven’s Whiskey in a Jar has a great list of links and more information.

Past Indiscretions

President Carter used his National Monument “proclamation authority” to offset the perceived damage from the construction of the Trans Alaska pipeline.

Several past presidents have made gratuitous use of the National Monuments designation to give back-room favors to their environmentalist supporters. The law allowed Former President Clinton to single-handedly create 19 new national monuments, expand three others and prohibit recreational use over 5.9 million acres without ever consulting anyone.

He unilaterally closed the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in Utah to oil and gas development, without ever consulting the public or state, local and federal officials. Prior to the designation, the 135,000 acre region was responsible for producing 65,000 barrels of oil a year. The designation even sparked a Supreme Court case.

President Jimmy Carter used the executive to lock up more land than any other president; all in the name of “conservation.” He took more than 50 million acres in Alaska despite heavy opposition from the state.More here.

 

Cowboys, snipers in Nevada – another Ruby Ridge? Waco?

UPDATE: From Comrade Matrix:

Stand firm Mr. Bundy. Reason behind this: Harry Reid’s son, Rory Reid, was the chief representative for a Chinese energy firm planning to build a $5-billion solar plant on public land in Laughlin, Nevada .Senator Reid behind BLM land grab

Cliven Bundy’s cattle ranch is under siege by federal agents because he won’t let the feds push him around….the snipers are setting up….is this going to be another Ruby Ridge? Waco? Is this about the tortoise or the 87 percent of Nevada land that the Government owns. Clintons & their Waco Slaughter – 80 plus April 19,

It has been the Federal Government that has a history of violence without condemnation from the left. A great read on this history can be found here Little Akex in Wonderland. The spawn of Oklahoma City was created. For Ruby Ridge Storm Front.

Those on the left, like Clinton, seemed to be longing for the violence to come. Perhaps because they realize they are going to lose power without spilling a single drop of blood, and there is nothing they can do about it. At least if they were to incite violence, the government would have a reason to step in and shut down the protests. VA Right

 

Statement from Clive Bundy’s daughter:

By SHIREE BUNDY COX:  

I have had people ask me to explain my dad’s stance on this BLM fight. Here it is in as simple of terms as I can explain it. There is so much to it, but here it is in a nut shell.

 My great grandpa bought the rights to the Bunkerville allotment back in 1887 around there. Then he sold them to my grandpa who then turned them over to my dad in 1972. These men bought and paid for their rights to the range and also built waters, fences and roads to assure the survival of their cattle, all with their own money, not with tax dollars. These rights to the land use is called preemptive rights.

  Some where down the line, to keep the cows from over grazing, came the bureau of land management. They were supposed to assist the ranchers in the management of their ranges while the ranchers paid a yearly allotment which was to be use to pay the BLM wages and to help with repairs and improvements of the ranches.

 My dad did pay his grazing fees for years to the BLM until they were no longer using his fees to help him and to improve. Instead they began using these money’s against the ranchers. They bought all the rest of the ranchers in the area out with their own grazing fees.When they offered to buy my dad out for a pittance he said no thanks and then fired them because they weren’t doing their job.He quit paying the BLM, but tried giving his grazing fees to the county, which they turned down. So my dad just went on running his ranch and making his own improvements with his own equipment and his own money, not taxes.

 In essence the BLM was managing my dad out of business. Well when buying him out didn’t work, they used the endangeredspecies card. You’ve already heard about the desert tortoise. Well that didn’t work either, so then began the threats and the court orders, which my dad has proven to be unlawful for all these years.

 Now they’re desperate. It’s come down to buying the brand inspector off and threatening the County Sheriff. Everything they’re doing at this point is illegal and totally against the constitution of the United States of America.

 Now you may be saying,” how sad, but what does this have to do with me?” Well, I’ll tell you. They will get rid of Cliven Bundy, the last man standing on the Bunkerville allotment and then they will close all the roads so no one can ever go on it again.

 Next, it’s Utah’s turn. Mark my words, Utah is next.

 Then there’s the issue of the cattle that are at this moment being stolen. See even if dad hasn’t paid them, those cattle do belong to him. Regardless where they are they are my fathers property. His herd has been part of that range for over a hundred years, long before the BLM even existed. Now the Feds think they can just come in and remove them and sell them without a legal brand inspection or without my dad’s signature on it. They think they can take them over two boarders, which is illegal, ask any trucker. 

Then they plan to take them to the Richfield Auction and sell them.All with our tax money.

  They have paid off the contract cowboys and the auction owner as well as the Nevada brand inspector with our tax dollars.  

See how slick they are?  

Well, this is it in a nut shell. Thanks”    

H/T  American Freedom Fighters