FBI posed as journalists to get evidence on Bundys. Now it could hurt their case

Trial stemming from a 2014 standoff could be derailed by a ploy to pose as a 'fake film company' and an ethics scandal involving a BLM officer and Burning Man

FBI agents posed as journalists and tricked the Bundy ranching family and their supporters into giving on-camera interviews that prosecutors may use in upcoming trials, according to defense attorneys and court records.

The FBI's "fake film production company" and "wide-reaching deceptive undercover operation", as lawyers described it in a court filing, is one of multiple controversies that some say could derail the government's prosecution of Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy, his four sons and a dozen of their followers. A recent Bureau of Land Management (BLM) ethics scandal involving tickets for the popular Burning Man festival could further hinder prosecutors in the high-profile trial, which began this week in Las Vegas federal court.