I promised further updates about Larry Keller and his battle with the EPA over an innocuous email he sent about Al Armendariz. As you’ll recall, Larry Keller was visited by two armed EPA agents in regards to an email he sent inquiring about the contact information of then regional EPA official Al Armendariz. I’ve posted an update at my blog which you’ll find at the link. In it, I release an excerpt of an email communication between Mr. Keller and a Mr. Sullivan at the EPA’s Office of the Inspector General.
In my original post here at Wizbang, one question that seemed to arise was about whether or not the EPA agents were indeed armed. They were, let me assure you. Here’s an excerpt from the email communication between Mr. Keller and Mr. Sullivan in which Sullivan and a Special Agent Hill from the EPA’s Atlanta office confirm the fact that not only were the two EPA officials that visited Mr. Keller armed, but EPA agents in general are armed. The wording in bold is the response of Mr. Keller to Mr. Sullivan:
However, uniformed officers do carry visible holstered firearms while on duty, which you noted in your message. The two EPA OIG special agents’ firearms were concealed at all times and they never displayed their weapons to you.
Keller – It was special agent Hill in your Atlanta office who informed me that agents are normally armed. If you re-read my email I never say that the agents displayed their weapons. Rather I say that they were armed having the knowledge from SA Hill.
The two EPA OIG special agents were sent to your residence on May 2, 2012, to determine the intent of the message sent by email on April 27, 2012, from lkeller@viainsights.com to gray.david@epa.gov, titled “Mr. Armendariz,” stating: Hello Mr. Gray – Do you have Mr. Armendariz’s contact information so we can say hello? – Regards – Larry Keller.As the two EPA OIG special agents explained to you at the time of the interview, Mr. Armnedariz, the EPA Region 6 Administrator, had received a number of threatening communications, and your email was viewed as cryptic and concerning. This e-mail was referred to EPA OIG for follow up investigation by EPA Region 6 because it was considered suspicious. EPA OIG did not “hack” into your email or website to obtain any document. The only message in our possession from your email account was the aforementioned April 27 message, forwarded to the OIG from EPA Region 6.
Keller – This is where our assessment differ significantly and your facts are simply not correct.
First, I called SA Hill three times and on May 7, 2012 he finally returned the call – he had been out of the country. In that call I asked him why me? He stated that orders came down from Washington, DC to check out every communication with Dr. Armendariz as there had been so many after his now infamous remarks caught on tape. Therefore, I came away with the sense that I was one among many which is not the case based on what I have learned.
Another interesting bit of information contained in this communication, is the charge levied by Special Agent Hill, that the order to check every communication with Dr. Armendariz came down from Washington, D.C.. The only problem is that Mr. Keller never actually communicated with Armendariz; he only inquired as to how he could.
The EPA appears to be stonewalling Mr. Keller, hoping that he’ll drop the case. Mr. Keller said today in another radio interview that he was not letting the incident go. More updates to come.
