Under a brief, but rapid-fire cross-examination, Ammon Bundy denied leading the occupation of a national wildlife refuge and defended receiving a U.S. Small Business Administration loan.
Bundy, 41, who's on trial for conspiring to impede Interior Department workers from doing their jobs at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, was quickly reminded Thursday by Assistant U.S. Attorney Ethan Knight that he had earlier testified that he was the leader.
Bundy said he was not a leader in the way Knight considers him to be. The man who led followers to the refuge for the 41-day standoff with law enforcement said he teaches "core principles" to people and lets them govern themselves.
Those principles, spoken of in great detail during three days of testimony this week, include Bundy's belief that the federal government can't own land within a state's borders, except for limited purposes.
Knight closed his 15-minute cross-examination by getting Bundy to acknowledge receiving a $530,000 U.S. Small Business Administration loan, a move to show Bundy isn't opposed to the federal government when it can help him profit.
Bundy said he supports the federal government, but not its management of land within states.