By Victor Thorn
Without much argument, the federal government’s biggest cover-up artist for the past two decades has been former Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director Louis J. Freeh. When one considers his involvement in concealing criminal wrongdoing in the 1992 Ruby Ridge ambush, Waco, Vince Foster’s murder, the Oklahoma City bombing (OKC), Hillary Clinton’s Filegate fiasco, Montana’s Freeman standoff, the Los Alamos espionage case of Wen Ho Lee, and even the 9-11 terrorist attacks, why would Pennsylvania State University’s (PSU) Board of Trustees appoint him to lead their internal investigation of the Jerry Sandusky child molestation scandal if for no other reason than to orchestrate another cover-up?
Writing for Newsmax in 2002, Charles R. Smith clearly highlighted Freeh’s ineptitude. “FBI Director Louis Freeh oversaw the longest run of FBI public disasters in its entire history.” Smith further explained how Freeh’s compromised role ate away at the very core of this bureau, altering it “from a federal law enforcement agency into a political joke.”
Another reporter, Howard Gleckman of BusinessWeek, echoed this sentiment even earlier in September 2000. “[Freeh] has overseen a bureau that has bungled investigations of high-profile criminal cases and repeatedly misled probers and judges in legal procedures.”
Even more disturbing was Freeh’s predilection to punish whistleblowers that stepped forward to expose illegal deeds within the government or other institutions. In light of this track record, how could anyone within the PSU system conceivably volunteer information if there already exists an atmosphere or framework that discourages such initiatives?
In the 1995 OKC bombing, it was Louis Freeh’s FBI that immediately and intentionally confiscated every videotape from the Alfred P. Murrah federal building after explosions partially destroyed the structure. To this day, they’ve refused to release this crucial evidence that would show who precisely exited the Ryder truck that morning which was parked in front of the building. If the most fundamental piece of evidence in this case has been concealed since 1995, will Freeh and his cohorts use a similar modus operandi to suppress witness testimony or other reports at PSU?
Likewise, following OKC, FBI officials were assigned to arrest dual foreign intelligence agent Andreas Strassmeir if he attempted to flee across the Mexican border. There were also abundantly clear indications that the Southern Poverty Law Center played a direct role in placing saboteurs within the militia enclave at Elohim City. Yet, in both instances, Freeh’s FBI dropped the ball, more than likely intentionally rather than through mere incompetence.
Again, in terms of PSU’s investigation of Sandusky—who has 52 different counts leveled against him—how can anyone place an inkling of trust in Freeh, especially since this case has so many explosive elements to it that could realistically bring down an entire university? Taken one step further, in a 2007 interview, Terry Nichols—an alleged co-conspirator in OKC—admitted that the attack was an FBI operation. In other words, it wasn’t merely a “sting gone bad,” but a deliberate plot to create a desired effect. Then, to silence witnesses, both Officer Terrence Yeakey and a prisoner named Kenneth Trentadue were murdered.
All of these incidents occurred when Freeh oversaw the FBI. But the troubles with this man don’t end there. Freeh served as vice chairman of extremely crucial PSU donor MBNA, that contributed more than $30M to the university over a 16-year period. In fact, Freeh negotiated contracts between MBNA and PSU.
There’s more. A close business associate of Freeh’s, Ric Struthers, served on the board of Sandusky’s Second Mile Foundation. Moreover, according to Philadelphia reporter Joseph DiStefano on November 21, 2011, “Struthers, a 1977 Penn State graduate, played a key role in managing the business relationship between the Penn State Alumni Association and MBNA.” DiStefano added, “Struthers collected more than $10M a year in stock and cash payments from MBNA in the bank’s final years.” When Freeh delivered a speech at PSU in 2005 to open a new business building, Struthers was in attendance after contributing $2M to the project. Needless to say, with such close ties, a definite conflict of interest arises.
Lastly, Freeh was appointed to lead the Sandusky internal investigation by PSU Board of Trustee member Kenneth Frazier, who is currently the chairman, president and CEO of Merck, a Big Pharma company. To show how incestuous this situation is, when Joe Paterno coached his final game at PSU to win the all-time victory record on October 29, 2011, none other than Sandusky sat in PSU President Graham Spanier’s luxury box at Beaver Stadium. Other Board of Trustees members were reportedly also present. Sandusky’s presence in this luxury box came after Spanier and the Trustees had been aware of a grand jury investigation of Sandusky since March 2011.
Victor Thorn is a hard-hitting researcher, journalist and the author of over 40 books.