Fox news reporting, enemies of the state. From new york here is john scott. Enemies of the state, the phrase conjures up perhaps the former soviet union where an allpowerful government crushes any individual who stands up against it. In truth even in a Representative Democracy such as ours, if the government goes after you, it can be a nightmare. Tonight, were going to show you several alarming stories in which government officials decide to take on private citizens. These people who didnt, and still dont believe they were breaking any rules, were suddenly in the fight of their lives. The full force of the government bearing down on them. And thats what makes it so scary. If it could happen to them, it could happen to anyone. We start in nevada where john roberts has the story of a family of ranchers who found their very way of life under attack. The western range lands, vast scenic and a battleground for what became known as the sage brush rebellion a fight that began decades ago between locals and the federal government over land use. The sage brush rebellion got its name from the type of vegetation on a lot of the federal land in the west. Ranchers are complaining that the bureau of land management, blm, doesnt identify with ranching problems. Wayne hage sr. Didnt plan to become the face of that we rebellion, but thats just what happened. He was just 2 when his parents sold their california ranch and bought Pine Creek Ranch in central nevada. In other words, he cant remember a time when his family hasnt had to fight the government. They bought it for a place they could raise family on the ranch and continue livestock business. The ranch itself is more than 7,000 acres. The purchase also included exclusive access to more than 700,000 acres of adjoining land administered by the federal government, socalled open range. Wayne took a couple of days to show us around. Do you really need that much property . Yes in this country it takes 320 acres to raise one cow for one year. Now they couldnt afford to purchase three quarters of a million acres, so instead they paid for their private piece of property and at the same time brought water and grazing. Thats the way its been done out here since the 1860s. These rights have been handed down through purchase or will for more than 100 years. And the reason place like pine creek is economically viable. However, that extra land is public property managed by the Forest Service and the blm. Thats where they say the problems began. Its not like they werent warned. My dad bought it knowing that there was a problem down there. But he had worked with the federal agencies in the previous ranch in california and got along with them. And he thought, well, you know, i can work with these folks. Come to find out you cant get along with somebody when theyre actually trying to take your property. Why would the government do that . The hages say the feds were trying to strip their rights in order to take control of the land. Partly for environmental reasons and the water which in a desert state is like gold. In fact, many western ranchers feel the government would like to end their way of life completely. No sooner had the hage family settled in and the government offered to buy the ranch. Hage declined so the government filed a claim for his water rights. Wayne sr. Wasnt having it. If the government wanted a fight, a fight is what it would get. He contested that claim starting a battle that would consume the rest of his life. In one 105day grazing season your family was visited by Government Employees 70 times received an additional 40 certified letters containing various citations and notices. Thats more than one visit by government in a sense for every day that you were out there grazing. Thats right. One of the violations that the government out of many miles of fence we have on the mountain, one of these staples was missing out of one wire in the entire fence. Where was that fence post . That fence post was right on top of that mountain. We sent a man to go up there to fix it. How long did it take . A full day. Pounded a little staple and get back down. Exactly. Is it fair to say Pine Creek Ranch was in violation many times . Probably to a strict t, yeah we fell in violation. There was no way to keep out of it. But to say were wee in violations of the general terms of the conditions these permits we were operating under compared to other nch ranchers absolutely not. In 1989 a fed up wayne sr. Published a book titled storm over range land. The hages claim that in response the government reacted by going after them even harder and by the end of 1990 had suspended one of the hages essential grazing permits. Observing effects of cattle grazing to the resources. The Forest Service made this video in 1991 laying out its case. Excessive grazing is causing some of these more undesirable species like kentucky bluegrass here. And they are tending to dominate the site now. The feds claim that hage cattle were overgrazing that allotment and the land needed a fiveyear rest to recover. They instructed the hages to remove their cattle. The problem, wayne says is that the government couldnt clearly identify the boundaries of the forbidden area. We were licensed to have cattle in the valley. But if cattle got up here in the mountains they were going to be in trespass. And theres no fence dividing the two. Theres 21 miles of unfenced boundary just on this portion alone. The Forest Service couldnt even tell us where the line was. But if a cow got on the other side of that line they were going to impound that cow without notice. That is exactly what happened. So the cows actually got on that side of the line. Yes. So you were in trespass. Yes, technically by the Forest Service regulations we were in trespass. On july 27th 1991 the Forest Service took action. The government was coming in to take our cows on an impoundment. Made a big production out of it. They had ten federal agents fully armed and fully ready to spoil for a fight. It didnt turn in to a hollywood style gunfight. Quite the opposite actually. For the hages it was a big dose of reality. In all the Forest Service impounded and eventually sold over 100 cattle. Then they sent hage a bill for the difference between the bill and the cost of confiscation. That was the final straw. It was virtually impossible to run cow anymore because there was no way to keep a cow on one side of the imaginary line. They liquidated their herd. Their cattle grazing business effectively shut down. There was only one option left, they sued the government claiming their property had been taken without compensation or due process. Just four months later as wayne sr. Was doing maintenance to get water to his private property, the Forest Service charged him with a felony. He cleaned a ditch. He cleaned a ditch . He did. The ditch was in disrepair. Now, you could not get water through the ditch. And then after we cleared those trees they came and arrested my father and took him down and convicted him of destroying government property. He was arrested, tried, convicted then went to the ninth Circuit Court of appeals. And overturned. Yes. The ninth circuit threw that case out. But the damage had been done. By the mid1990s the hages were basically broke and had lost all their grazing permits. Both mother and father had to find other jobs to feed the family. The stress was very significant, i think, for my mom especially. Ramona is one of waynes four big sisters. She had five kids, she was running this house. And then this situation with the government on top of it was very difficult for her. 1996 your mother passed away. At a young age complications from stroke. Your sister said she believes it was the stress of government harassment that contributed to your mothers death. Oh i believe very much. She was a very sweet lady. And very strong lady. But theres only so much a person can take. The hages last hope, the lawsuit against the government continued to wind its way through the system. Then in 2006 wayne hage sr. Who had fought so hard for his way of life lost a battle with cancer. Buried my mother, my father we buried a lot of people on this deal, people who had stood up and tried to do what was right. After a while it does get to you wears you down. The hage patriarch was gone but the fight was far from over. The torch had been passed from father to son. And the most amazing part of the story was still to come. Well return to the hages struggle with some surprising twists and turns a bit later. But next a government invasion isnt music to the ears of a friday night, buddy. You are gonna need a wingman. And with my cash back, you are money. Forget him. My Airline Miles will take your game worldwide. What im really looking for is i got two words for you rewards. Theres got to be better cards than this. [ male announcer ] theres a better way with creditcards. Com. Compare hundreds of cards from all the major banks to find the one thats right for you. Its simple. Search, compare, and apply at creditcards. Com. First rounds on me. Making guitars is a craft. And sometimes apparently its also a crime. John roberts took his act on the road to tennessee to bring us this story. Tommy shaw, lead guitarist of stix says this about gibson guitars. My source of guitars when i was little was my dream guitar. I still dream of gibson. The music the world agrees gibson in business for over a century, has three domestic factories. Two in tennessee and one in montana. This companys been around for a long time. It was founded in 1894. The one in memphis has daily tours so visitors can see a guitar made practically from scratch. But on november 17th, 2009 someone else showed up at gibsons door. Midmorning i get a call that Homeland Security was raiding our factory. Gibson ceo henry, a musician himself, has been running the Company Since 1986. I thought it was a joke because, you know, Homeland Security raiding a guitar factory just makes no sense. Armed federal agents showed up at gibsons nashville headquarters and their factory two miles away. Nashville manufacturing supervisor Carlton Sanders was on site that day. The agents came in and told us to back away from our desks. And i kind of vividly remember, you know, who are these people. They werent looking for bombs. They werent looking for terrorists. They were looking for wood. What did you find when you got to the factory . There were several dozen armed agents. And they were taking a lot of wood. And it was kind of a bizarre situation. The fish and Wildlife Service were there, along with Homeland Security. They claimed the wood imported from madagascar violated a conservation law known as the lacy act. But gibson said it was the same wood they used all along wood that many other Companies Use for their products. We had affidavits from the country of madagascar and their official saying that we complied with all of their laws, which the government took exception to. Then on august 24th 2011, nearly two years after the first raid, while gibson was still waiting for formal charges it happened again. I seen the bags on their sleeves and i was like oh, wow, here we go again. This time gibson accused of illegally purchaseing wood from india. The first thing that the officer in charge said was i need for you to cut off your Security Camera first and then i need you to shut down all your operations. That same day the feds simultaneously conducted a raid of the factory in memphis too. Thats when it became very clear to me that they were not doing well in court. We were showing the fact that we really had done nothing wrong. And i think they just jumped on any excuse to intimidate us. Last month agents raided the gibson guitar factory in tennessee. Speaker of the house john boehner took note of gibsons and decided the problem wasnt with gibson. Gibson, a wellrespected American Company that employs thousands of people. But with an overreaching federal government. Excessive regulations are making it harder for our economy to create jobs. Still in 2012 the company chose to settle with the government. Gibson paid a 300,000 fine, a 50,000 Community Service payment and also admitted to violating the law relating to madagascar. Forfeiting the wood seized in the first raid. We reached out to the department of justice, which pointed out that admission of criminal wrongdoing on gibsons part. But officials declined to speak with us about it. Homeland security deferred to u. S. Fish and wildlife, which led the investigation. They sent us a statement saying, every Law Enforcement investigation follows all legal procedures and focuses on illegal activities that represent a threat to wildlife and plant resources. We just wanted to bury the situation. Thats what it took to get government off our back okay. Today gibson is back to producing instruments as it always has. But is using extra caution purchasing its overseas wood. But it still doesnt take away the sting. Somebody chose us for some reason. And there was no good reason to choose gibson. We were harassed. Goods were seized. Our business you know, was injured. We had to pay lawyers. As for the controversial indian wood, the government eventually determined that gibson indeed purchased it legally. They returned the seized wood to the factory where gibson put it to good use. We put it into what we call the Government Series guitars which commemorated the raid and has been extremely wellreceived. Tommy shaw and i jammed on one. Are you the sort of guy who likes to stick his finger in the governments eye . No i mean, i like to make guitars. I like to build new things. When we return the oil industry in this country is going through something of a boom, but that hasnt prevented some people in it from getting busted. Welcome back. An oklahoma oil man thought he could help save the economy but ended up having to fight to save his company. Greg jarek reports. Meet harold ham hes the founder and ceo of Continental Resources, the 14th Largest Oil Company in america. A child of oklahoma sharecroppers, he went to work as a teenager in the oil fields there first as a roughneck then a wildcatter. In 2004 he led the charge in opening up the vast balkan gas fields and oil plains using unique techniques such as hydraulic fracturing better known as fracking. This new technology would allow america to become energy independent. It will. And weve had estimates made by experts in our field now that we could add as much as 3 to 5 Million Barrels of new oil per day. On july 18th 2011, ham was invited to the white house for a giving summit with other wealthy americans such as bill gates and warren buffett, who like ham had pledged to give away at least half their fortunes to charity. You had the opportunity to speak with president obama. I did. What happened . I wanted him to know for sure of the opportunity that we had. And we were creating a whole new renaissance of american oil and gas. And theres a lot of good things that come from that. Good middle class jobs, for instance. National security, balance of trade. And his reaction . He didnt want to hear it and he didnt hear it. It says so much about president obamas mindset of that discussion. Louisiana senator david vitter is the Ranking Member that has jurisdiction over energy issues. Hydraulic fracturing and the advent of cheap reliable american gas has been an absolute economic boom for our country. Thats exactly what president obama and his allies want to shut down. Hamms encounter with the president was not the first time hed been made aware of the administrations take on his industry. I was kind of like how the romans mediterranean. Thats a regional epa head hand picked by the white house caught on tape in may of 2010 explaining metaphorically how he planned to deal with noncompliant oil and gas producers. Theyd go into a little turkish town and later that year hamm got a firsthand taste of this philosophy. He appeared before the Oklahoma Independent Petroleum association at a meeting, right . What happened . He told the Group Straight on that im the new sheriff in town. That were going to use everything in the book to come after you. What was the reaction of the people there . Shock, disbelief, shock and awe. There had been abuses by federal agencies before, but in the obama epa is unfortunately at the top of that bad list in terms of really using overtly threatening behavior. Still at least until his meeting with president obama hamm had been hopeful he could change the mind of the administration. But while he couldnt get through to the president two weeks after that white house summit the department of justice got through to him. On august 2nd 2011 they brought criminal charges against his Company Continental resources. The crime . Killing a bird. One bird. One bird. Hamms company was charged with violating the Migratory Bird treaty act of 1918. After a special agent of the fish and Wildlife Service found this dead bird in a reserve pit used to collect the waste and mud from drilling. One bird died, allegedly. Allegedly. Because of your operation. Yes. And the department of justice is going to go after you criminally to prosecute. Yes. That prosecution by the Justice Department is another clear example of a political antioil and gas agenda on steroids. The u. S. Fish and Wildlife Service said the charge against Continental Resources had nothing to do with fracking, but only reflected the companys failure to take steps to protect birds. But to hamm the Administration Simply didnt like what he was doing and they were