Cliven Bundy refuses offer of release during trial

A federal judge on Wednesday offered to release a rancher and states’ rights figure from custody during his trial on charges involving an armed standoff that stopped a government cattle roundup three years ago in Nevada. But Cliven Bundy refused to leave jail while others are still behind bars awaiting trial in the case. Bundy, 71, didn’t state his reason in court. But his wife, Carol Bundy, noted in a courthouse hallway that two other sons, Mel and David Bundy, are approaching two years in federal detention. “It’s not over. It’s not done,” she said. Defense attorney Brett Whipple told reporters Cliven Bundy is a “very principled man.” The family patriarch could have joined son Ammon Bundy and co-defendant Ryan Payne in being freed during the trial. U.S. District Judge Gloria Navarro said they can be released Thursday to house arrest with GPS monitoring at homes of Bundy family friends. The judge also relaxed release restrictions for the eldest Bundy son, Ryan Bundy, who has been living for two weeks at a halfway house while serving as his own attorney. He will still have a GPS monitor but can split time between a friends’ home in North Las Vegas and his own home in Mesquite. The hearing came amid questions from defense teams about whether federal prosecutors have turned over complete evidence records about the conduct of FBI and other government agents during the standoff. Navarro did not say why she reversed her previous detention ruling...more