BLM agent involved in Bundy standoff given pass by U.S. Attorney’s Office

A Bureau of Land Management agent who held a command position during the Bundy Ranch standoff over grazing rights in Nevada has been given a pass by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Utah on charges of mishandling evidence, according to the AP. According to a report made public last week, BLM Agent Daniel Love instructed another federal employee to take valuable stones being held as evidence and then passed them out “like candy” to colleagues and a contractor. The stones, called moqui marbles, are unique geological formations of iron oxide that form in sedimentary rock. The stones were among thousands being stored as evidence in an investigation into whether they had been illegally collected from a national park. The entire collection was valued between $150,000 and $520,000. According to the AP, the employee told investigators he had a “bad feeling” about taking the stones from the evidence room, but followed the instructions because Love was a law enforcement officer and “scary.” Love told the employee to take four of the best rocks from the collection that was stored in a number of 5-gallon buckets so  he could give them out as gifts. Another employee who had stones in his possession said Love was “giving them out like candy.” The report also found that Love told an employee to eliminate emails and other information that had been requested by then-U.S. Representative Jason Chaffetz, who was looking into the handling of Bundy Ranch fiasco. “We were deeply concerned he was manipulating the record. I’m glad they dove deep into this,” Chaffetz told AP. “It’s against the law to change the federal record, particularly when you’re motivated to protect your own rear.”...more