Rights of FBI Agent Guilty in Ruby Ridge Case Restored
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and the Clemency Board on Thursday restored the civil rights of the FBI agent convicted of destroying records during the investigation of the deadly 1992 shootout at Ruby Ridge in 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 1992 fatal shooting at the cabin of white separatist Randy Weaver.
Convicted felons cannot vote in Florida unless their rights are restored by the Clemency Board, made up of the governor and Cabinet.
Kahoe recounted the details of the shootout, his role in investigating the FBI’s actions and his decision to destroy a report to be sent to the U.S. attorney in Idaho. The report could have been used by lawyers representing Weaver, whose wife and son were killed during an 11-day standoff with government agents at Weaver’s rural cabin.
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