'· .. IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 

FOR THE DIS'l'RICT OF OREGON 

UNITED STATES OF Al'1ERICA, 

Plaintiff, 

v. 

AMMON BUNDY, RYAN BUNDY, 

SHAWNA COX, PETER SANTILLI, 

DAVID LEE FRY, JEFF WAYNE 

BANTA, KENNETH MEDENBACH, and 

NEIL WAMPLER, 

Defendants. 

3:16-cr-00051-BR 

ORDER GRANTING STATE OF 

OREGON'S MOTION TO QUASH 

SUBPOENA OF GOVERNOR 

BROWN 

1 - ORDER GRANTING STATE OF OREGON'S MOTION TO QUASH SUBPOENA OF 

GOVERNOR BROWN 

Case 3:16-cr-00051-BR Document 1121 Filed 08/26/16 Page 1 of 4
BROWN, Judge . 

This matter comes before the Court on the State of Oregon's 

Motion (#1067) to Quash Subpoena of Governor Brown by which 

Defendant Ryan Bundy seeks to require Kate Brown, Governor of the 

State of Oregon, to testify as a witness at the jury trial in 

this criminal proceeding. For the reasons that follow, the Court 

GRANTS the Motion. 

"Heads of government agencies are not generally subject to 

subpoena, . and they may only be compelled.to appear and 

testify under narrow circumstances." United States v. 

Washington, NO. CR 11-61-M~DLC, 2012 WL 3061519, at *l (D. Mont. 

July 26, 2012) (citing Kyle Engineering Co. v. Kleppe, 600 F. 2d 

226, 231 (9th Cir. 1979)). See also United States v. Morgan, 313 

U.S. 409 (1941). "[T]op executive department officials should 

not, absent extraordinary circumstances, be called to testify or 

deposed regarding their reasons for taking official action." 

Bogan v. City of Boston, 489 F.3d 417, 423 (1st Cir. 2007). 

"This rule is based on the notion that '[h]igh ranking government 

officials have greater duties and time constraints than other 

witnesses' and that, without appropriate limitations, such 

officials will spend an inordinate amount of time tending to 

pending litigation." Id. (quoting In re United States, 985 F.2d 

510, 512 (11th Cir. 1993)). Extraordinary circumstances that 

2 - ORDER GRANTING STATE OF OREGON'S MOTION TO QUASH SUBPOENA OF 

GOVERNOR BROWN 

Case 3:16-cr-00051-BR Document 1121 Filed 08/26/16 Page 2 of 4
justify calling a high-ranking government official to testify 

exist when "high-ranking officials 'have direct personal factual 

information pertaining to material issues in an action,' and 'the 

information to be gained is not available through any other 

sources.'" Coleman v. Schwarzenegger, No. CIV S-90-0520 LKK JFM 

P, COl-1351 TE, 2008 WL 4300437, at *2 (E.D. Cal. Sept. 15, 

2008) (quoting Bogan, 489 F.3d at 423). 

Ryan Bundy contends he is entitled to require Governor Brown 

to appear and to testify as to (1) details of the law-enforcement 

response to the alleged events at Malheur National Wildlife 

Refuge (MNWR) in January and February 2016 and (2) public 

statements the Governor allegedly made regarding danger at MNWR. 

Bundy argues both of these factors impeded the employees 1 of the 

Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and U.S. Fish and Wildlife 

Service (USFWS) in the performance of their official duties, and, 

therefore, evidence thereof is relevant to negate the 

government's theory of the case. 

The Court notes Ryan Bundy has not demonstrated Governor 

Brown has any personal knowledge of the law-enforcement response 

to the events at MNWR that is not otherwise available from other 

sources, notably including the law-enforcement officials present 

1 As the Court has repeatedly explained in pretrial 

proceedings, however, the conspiracy crime alleged in Count One 

of the Superseding Indictment does not require proof that any 

"conspirator" actually impeded any such employee. 

3 - ORDER GRANTING STATE OF OREGON'S MOTION TO QUASH SUBPOENA OF 

GOVERNOR BROWN 

Case 3:16-cr-00051-BR Document 1121 Filed 08/26/16 Page 3 of 4
at the time who actually directed and carried out such 

operations. Moreover, even if it was relevant and established 

that Governor Brown's public statements may have impeded the 

USFWS and BLM employees in the performance of their duties, there 

is not any showing that Governor Brown is an appropriate witness 

for such assertions because there is not any showing that she 

even knows which USFWS or BLM employees may have heard such 

statements and, in any event, how they may have reacted to those 

statements. Ryan Bundy, therefore, has failed to demonstrate 

that sufficient "extraordinary circumstances" exist that would 

justify compelling Governor Brown to appear to testify in this 

case. 

Accordingly, on this record the Court GRANTS the State of 

Oregon's Motion (#1067) to Quash Subpoena of Governor Brown and 

QUASHES the subpoena served on Governor Brown by Ryan Bundy. 

IT IS SO ORDERED. 

DATED this 26th day of August, 2016. 

ANNA J. BROWN 

United States District Judge 

4 - ORDER GRANTING STATE OF OREGON'S MOTION TO QUASH SUBPOENA OF 

GOVERNOR BROWN 

Case 3:16-cr-00051-BR Document 1121 Filed 08/26/16 Page 4 of 4