Sunday, June 26, 2005

'Not Guilty' Verdict in Aryan Espionage Case

This story made headlines in winter 2003 because it linked allegations of espionage with the Aryan Nations compound in Idaho. The case came to a conclusion this week with a jury verdict of acquittal for both defendents on the espionage charges. However, one of the defendants was found guilty of lying to the government. Deborah Communings was found guilty of lying to the FBI when she claimed she did not know attorney Kirk Lyons.

This case matters as it demonstrates the connections and inroads made by the extreme racist right wing into the military and possibly more.

The SPLC notes in a seaprate article that Deborah Cummings was linked to Kirk Lyons, an attorney involved in many extreme right wing cases.

[begin SPLC snip]

FBI agents testified in January (2003) that an old acquaintance of Lyons', Deborah Davila, sent a box of highly sensitive military information in 1999 to what was described as Lyons' organization — presumably, the North Carolina-based Southern Legal Resource Center. The documents, with classified material that the agent said would "have a huge interest to militia and terrorist organizations," allegedly had been stolen by Davila's ex-husband, Rafael, a former military intelligence officer with ties to the radical right.

The investigators' report indicated that Lyons' organization subsequently mailed $2,000 in cash to Davila. But though the indictment of the Davilas mentions Lyons, he was not charged in the case.


[end SPLC snip]

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