Lyons

It’s true, Black Mountain Attorney Kirk Lyons has represented the Ku Klux Klan and militant anti-tax leaders, but the local attorney finds it laughable that his name would even appear on an FBI indictment which charges two U.S. citizens with espionage.

Lyons was named but not charged in the indictment. The indictment says former Washington Army National Guard officer Rafael Davila, 52, and ex-wife Deborah Davila, 40, allegedly attempted to sell national security secrets.

Lyons said he barely knew Deborah Davila, did not know Rafael Davila, and did not receive any classified documents from Deborah Davila. He is not charged with any crime.

"I can give you the biggest belly laugh I’ve got and that’s my response. It’s ridiculous," Lyons told the Black Mountain News in a telephone interview. "That gal’s not bright enough to be a top secret spy."

Authorities say Rafael Davila stole secret documents throughout his career as an intelligence officer in Spokane and Tacoma for the National Guard, and that his ex-wife sold some of the materials to anti-government groups.

The indictment alleges both Rafael and Deborah Davila had unauthorized possession of sensitive documents during 1999. It also says Deborah Davila lied to federal agents when she said she did not recognize the name of Kirk Lyons and was certain she never met him.

Lyons, who has worked as chief trial counsel of the Southern Legal Resource Center in Black Mountain since 1997, said he believes the FBI mentioned his name to Deborah Davila to try to trap her in a lie.

"Perhaps to protect her husband, she’s denied ever knowing me," Lyons said.

Prior to his marriage, Lyons said his wife, Brenna, and her family joined the Spokane Scottish Country Dancers in Washington State and met Deborah Davila (then Deborah Cummings) during dancing lessons.

Deborah Davila later attended his wedding, which was performed by Aryan Nations’ founder Richard Butler, Lyons said.

Then in the fall of 1991, Deborah Davila attended the Highland Games in Stone Mountain, Georgia with Lyons, his wife and his business associate David M. Holloway, Lyons said.

"That’s the last we ever saw of her," he said. "That was it, we got a Christmas card from her and that’s the first we had heard from her in eight years."

In court last week, Assistant U.S. Attorney Earl Hicks said the "case involves the sale of ‘top secret’ and ‘secret’ documents involved with the defense of the United States."

FBI agent Lee McEuen testified on Thursday of last week that Davila and his ex-wife had illegally obtained top-secret information related to U.S. nuclear, chemical and biological capabilities, according to an Associated Press report.

"More than 300 top-secret documents got passed," McEuen testified. "They are worth, on the black market, millions of dollars, and would be of huge interest to militias and terrorist organizations."

Court papers indicated Deborah Davila told the FBI she mailed a thick batch of documents to a North Carolina post office box where, a mysterious male caller told her, the documents would reach Lyons. Federal authorities said she mailed the documents and then received $2,000 by mail.

Lyons said he never received any secret documents from Deborah Davila and says if the FBI thought he had any secret documents that his office would have already been searched.

Lyons said he contacted FBI agents in Asheville last week when he learned his name was listed in the indictment. He said he asked FBI agents to clear his name in the case. FBI agents also interviewed his wife, sister-in-law and brother-in-law, Lyons said.

Local activist Monroe Gilmour said he’s carefully tracking news of the indictment and any link it may have to Lyons.

"We are observing it and are documenting what has been found," said Gilmour, a coordinator with WNC Citizens for an End to Institutional Bigotry. "It’s too early to tell what the facts are going to be. It’s one more strange association that merits watching."

Lyons can only guess as to why his name appears in the indictment.

"I think some pawn scum level undercover snitch has suggested to the FBI that they must have known about Deborah being at our wedding and they decided to play the white supremacist card," Lyons told the Black Mountain News. "My name is just being used as a cat’s paw right now. It offends me that anybody would think I would betray my country during time of war or anytime."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.