Former FBI agent's rights are restored

The governor and Clemency Board give back the civil rights of the man who destroyed a report in the Ruby Ridge killings.

©Associated Press
December 13, 2002

TALLAHASSEE -- Gov. Jeb Bush and the Clemency Board restored the civil rights Thursday of the FBI agent convicted of destroying records while investigating the agency's role in the 1992 shootout at Ruby Ridge, Idaho.

E. Michael Kahoe, a former head of the FBI's violent crime and major offenders section, pleaded guilty in 1997 to obstruction of justice for ordering the destruction of an FBI report into the fatal shootings at the cabin of white separatist Randall Weaver.

Convicted felons cannot vote in Florida unless their rights are restored by the Clemency Board, which is made up of the governor and Cabinet. The board did not restore Kahoe's right to own, possess or use a gun.

"It's a fascinating story," Bush said after listening to Kahoe. "He admitted his wrongdoing, which is important. He served his time; he paid his debts. He participated in something that he regretted, and I was happy to be a part of giving him a chance to have his rights restored."

None of the board members objected to Bush's recommendation that Kahoe's rights be restored.

Kahoe told Bush and the board about the shootout, his role in investigating the FBI's actionsand his decision to destroy a report meant for the U.S. attorney in Idaho. The report could have been used by lawyers representing Weaver, whose wife and son were killed during a nine-day standoff with government agents at Weaver's rural cabin.

"I read the memorandum, told the supporter who wrote it to throw his copy away. I kept my copy and did not file the memorandum," Kahoe said. "I didn't file it because I thought at that time the memorandum was useless."

Kahoe said he spent more than $100,000 defending himself before the Department of Justice offered him a deal just months before his retirement: He could plead guilty and stay on the FBI rolls until his retirement, or be fired, forfeit his retirement and face indictment.

He served one year, 20 days in federal prison and completed two years' probation.

"I'd like to have my civil rights restored because I'd like to vote," Kahoe said. ". . . I don't attempt to justify what I did."

Kahoe said he now owns an employee leasing business in Jacksonville.

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