Good O' Boy Roundup Report - March, 1996


5. OIG interviews of other witnesses

To obtain as complete a picture of the Roundup as possible, we also interviewed the owners of local businesses and people who lived near the campground, river guides who led raft trips for Roundup attendees and who had attended the Roundup informally as guests of the attendees, and an array of vendors who served the Roundup. We also questioned local law enforcement agencies to determine whether any complaints had been raised about the Roundup. Finally, we spoke to DOJ employees in agency offices in relatively close proximity to eastern Tennessee -- and specially sought out minority employees -- to elicit their knowledge and perceptions about misconduct at the Roundup.

In addition to these interviews, we interviewed Rightmyer on two separate occasions, including an eight-hour interview that was transcribed by a court reporter. It became apparent during the course of the investigation that certain persons had strong motives to make allegations in an effort to discredit the ATF and other federal law enforcement agencies. To determine whether these motivations had caused persons to falsify allegations, we interviewed individuals who had knowledge about how these allegations were brought to the media's attention, including two representatives of the National Rifle Association (NRA).

All told, either in person or on the telephone, we interviewed over 500 witnesses in an effort to obtain an accurate picture of the Roundup and to establish the truth of allegations concerning racist and criminal conduct.