Lewiston Morning Tribune Tuesday, August 12, 1997
Idaho State Police documents paint a different picture of the July 18 raid by agents of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) on the Clearwater County flood command center at Orofino.
Instead of federal agents using strong-arm tactics, as alleged by several local officials, the documents indicate Clearwater County officials, including Sheriff Nick Albers, exhibited the most contentious behavior.
One ISP document says "Sheriff Albers' conduct was very unprofessional and he was an embarrassment to the law enforcement community."
The Lewiston Tribune obtained the ISP documents through the Freedom of Information Act.
Albers has declined comment about the FEMA raid on advice from Clearwater County Prosecutor John Swayne.
Swayne said Monday that the surprise arrival of FEMA agents at the flood command center was like putting a "stick in a hornet's nest" and some people may have simply reacted out of indignation toward the manner in which the federal search warrant was executed.
"Nick was agitated," Swayne said, and maintained that Clearwater County has always tried to cooperate fully with FEMA in all matters of business.
But according to the ISP documents, Albers several times referred to FEMA agents as "You f---ing feds" and at one point told one of his deputies, a canine officer, to walk his dog around the agents' cars "so the dog could pee on their tires."
One document alleges Albers' behavior on that Friday morning "fueled the flames of the commissioners and they joined in on the sheriff's comments." The names of the county commissioners are not mentioned in the documents.
The ISP documents consist of a memo written by ISP Lt. M. Peterson and two reports filed by Cpl. Marc Santo and Cpl. Kevin Rouse. The two corporals were assigned to assist FEMA agents on the service of the search warrant.
More than 40 boxes of documents were taken from the command center as part of what has been described as a FEMA investigation into allegations of attempts to defraud the federal government. A federal grand jury in Boise may begin hearing testimony today by a number of persons subpoenaed, including several employees of the command center.
The center was set up after the 1996 floods to help coordinate relief efforts and handle what Swayne and other Clearwater County officials have called a "mountain" of paperwork associated with reimbursement of more than $5 million worth of disaster funds through FEMA.
Albers was appointed by the county commissioners as incident commander at the center. The center, which had been in the basement of the Clearwater County Courthouse, was relocated, along with documents, to the county's marine storage building prior to the July 18 raid.
According to the ISP memo, Michael J. Janiga, a special agent in charge of investigations for FEMA, called ISP headquarters July 17 to make an appointment to discuss the pending raid.
"The assistance from ISP would be outside perimeter and to keep the peace," the memo reads.
Peterson also reports in the memo that he was contacted by Robert Sobba, director of the Idaho Department of Law Enforcement. There was discussion about what impact the surprise raid would have on relationships between ISP and Albers' office.
"After some discussion, Director Sobba suggested that Corporal Rouse go to the sheriff's residence and advise him of the search warrant after the agents were in the (command center) building," the memo reads.
Janiga also volunteered to go to Albers' home to "request the sheriff's assistance in the recovery" of documents. "This was suggested by the U.S. Attorney's office that has worked with Sheriff Albers in the past," the memo reads.
Rouse, in his report, says that upon approaching Albers' house, he noticed the sheriff was already driving away in his patrol car as the raid was under way. Rouse and Janiga followed Albers, who was talking to his office by radio.
"I got on Clearwater County's radio frequency and asked Sheriff Albers if he would please pull over," Rouse reported. Albers stopped and a conversation about the search warrant seeking documents took place along U.S. Highway 12.
"Sheriff Albers responded that the documents were always available for FEMA to look over and that all they ever wanted to do was cooperate and help out," Rouse reported.
Once at the command center, where other FEMA agents were busying carrying off documents, Albers tone reportedly changed.
"Sheriff Albers proceeded to become verbal with the FEMA agents. He stated that the citizens of Clearwater County were tired of them coming in and pushing them around, tired of their strong-arm tactics, and various comments to that effect," Rouse reported.
Despite those comments, Albers also served as a peace-maker at one point, according to the ISP documents.
"One of the county commissioners got very verbally aggressive with one of the FEMA agents and was demanding an explanation of the search warrant," Rouse reported. "He got aggressive enough in his demeanor that Sheriff Albers walked over and put his hand on his shoulder and physically turned him away from the FEMA agent ..."
Swayne was reported to also have arrived during the raid. "He looked over the search warrant, had a conversation with the commissioners and Sheriff Albers and proceeded to leave," Rouse wrote.
Amid it all, Rouse reported, "The FEMA agents were extremely professional. They went about their business with a minimum of discussion or talk with any of the people involved."
Santo also lauded the FEMA agents. "I felt the FEMA agents acted professionally and politely under hostile conditions and should be applauded for their efforts," Santo wrote.
Summing up the atmosphere surrounding the raid, Rouse wrote that a commissioner apparently agreed with Albers and also told the canine deputy to let his dog have at the FEMA tires.
"At that point," Rouse wrote, (the deputy) "did let the dog out and proceeded to walk directly over toward the FEMA vehicles with the dog following, which seemed to be the tone for the morning."