CLIVEN'S MERRY CHRISTMAS

It's a rare occasion when you read good news on this blog.  As it so happens, this news is exceptionally good for an eastern-Nevada rancher named Cliven Bundy. 

Back in 2014, Cliven had a run-in with the Bureau of Land Management, (BLM), that was reportedly at the behest of one Senator Harry Reid and his son.  The case originally stemmed from an armed confrontation that capped a decades long dispute over Cliven Bundy's refusal to pay grazing fees to the BLM for using its lands. The 71-year-old rancher says his family has grazed cattle for free for more than a century in the area and insists public land belongs to states, not the U.S. government.  

Over many years, the BLM kept piling on grazing fees, fines and interest and showed up one day with an armada of heavily armed agents who tried to seize Bundy's cattle.  That move turned into a standoff when armed sympathetic ranchers showed up on Bundy's land to defend him.  The BLM, not to be outdone, brought in tanks and helicopters.  Violence eventually ensued.  

During this period, it was determined that a Chinese firm was trying to start a solar farm on the land being used by Bundy for grazing, and that Reid's son was the attorney for the investors.  Millions of dollars were at stake.  

Bundy and his two sons eventually ended up in jail, charged with a litany of crimes.  The two sons were subsequently released, but Bundy remained behind bars and a trial started in Las Vegas last month.  In the interim, a whistle-blowing BLM employee came forth with information that the prosecutors had hidden evidence from the defense team about gross misconduct on the part of the BLM and FBI agents before, during and after the actual event itself and subsequent investigations.  That information was given to the jurors in the case and the Judge, openly upset with the misconduct, declared a mistrial.  Six men who acknowledged carrying assault-style weapons faced a trial and a retrial. In other related action, two were acquitted, two were convicted of some charges and two are free after pleading guilty to misdemeanors to avoid a third trial. None was found guilty of conspiracy. 

Merry Christmas to Cliven and his family.  Hopefully, some BLM agents will soon face charges for their Mafia-style actions.  

And, Merry Christmas to you as well.