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- WASHINGTON (CNN) -- House
Government
Reform Committee sources are downplaying an expert's opinion
that the
FBI fired guns into the Branch Davidian compound during the final
day
of the 1993 siege in Waco.
-
- The sources tell CNN that expert assessment is based
largely on broadcast footage provided to the expert by a news organization
-- not on evidence provided by the committee.
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- Carlos Ghigliotti is the expert
in thermal imaging and
videotape analysis who has done work for the FBI
in the past.
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- "I conclude that the FBI fired shots on that day,"
Ghigliotti told the Washington Post in a report published Wednesday.
"I
conclude this based on the ground-view videotapes taken from
several different
angles simultaneously and based on the overhead
thermal tape. The gunfire
is there, without a doubt."
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- Ghigliotti, owner of
Infrared Technologies Corp., in
Laurel, Maryland, said the tapes also
confirm that the Davidians fired
at FBI agents repeatedly during the
assault.
-
- But House committee sources said Ghigliotti's current
analysis
of the Waco incident "is in its infancy stage. He has not
provided
the committee with any reports or any definitive findings."
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- And the sources said
the committee plans to consult a
number of experts before reaching any
conclusions.
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- 1 million documents ahead
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- In addition,
government sources said Ghigliotti has not
yet viewed a cache of FBI
tapes and is scheduled to do so later this week.
-
- After committee chairman Rep.
Dan Burton (R-Indiana)
was informed of the newspaper report on
Ghigliotti's initial observations,
the lawmaker issued a statement
saying:
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- "What we have heard from this expert is troubling,
but we
think it's premature to make any final determination. We don't want
to
go off half-cocked. As soon as we get all of the necessary information,
we will hold hearings and present the information to the American
people."
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- The committee is now beginning a critical discovery stage
and
is expected to receive around 1 million documents from the Justice
Department and the FBI, congressional sources said.
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