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FBI Drains Pond as Part Anthrax Probe (Assorted New and Semi-New Info from Brian Ross)
ABC News ^ | June 9, 2003 | Brian Ross

Posted on 06/09/2003 7:07:25 PM PDT by John H K

As the FBI began draining an entire pond today in its 20-month-old anthrax probe, investigators remained focused on one man in the hunt for the perpetrator, ABCNEWS' World News Tonight reported.

And today's unusual move appears to be the FBI's last, best shot at proving what it so far has been unable to prove, that former government scientist Steven Hatfill was the anthrax killer.

Five people died and more than a dozen others were sickened in the rash of anthrax attacks targeting Congress and media outlets in the fall of 2001.

The decision to drain the pond in Maryland's Frederick Municipal Forest was based on what federal officials say is no more than a growing circumstantial case against Hatfill, federal law enforcement sources said.

The FBI's working theory, sources said, is that Hatfill, who lived eight miles away in Frederick, Md., next to U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases where he worked, used makeshift lab equipment to put finely powdered anthrax in envelopes, and then dumped the equipment in the pond. Hatfill has vehemently denied any involvement in the anthrax attacks, and his spokesman reiterated that today.

"They can drain the Pacific Ocean and they're not going to find any evidence that Steve Hatfill was the anthrax killer because he's had no involvement whatsoever," said Hatfill spokesman Pat Clawson.

The Sweater Box Mystery

But the circumstantial case is continuing to develop. The FBI was led to the pond last year by bloodhounds, including one named Tinkerbell, tracking the scent picked up from Hatfill and the anthrax letters, federal sources said.

Over the Christmas holiday, FBI divers recovered what they think was a piece of the makeshift equipment used to load the anthrax, a plastic sweater box with two hand-sized holes cut in it, sources said.

Other circumstantial evidence that has sources said has led the FBI to continue its focus on Hatfill includes his presence in Florida, around the time an anthrax-laced letter was mailed to the American Media Co. in Boca Raton, Fla.

Also, sources said, Hatfill made an admission to the FBI that he was taking the powerful antibiotic Cipro at the time of the anthrax attacks, which he reportedly said was for a nasal infection.

Cipro is the treatment prescribed for suspected anthrax poinsoning, and was given preventatively to thousands of people at the peak of the anthrax attacks.

Still, none of that circumstantial evidence has produced an arrest, leaving the FBI draining a 1-acre pond, a process that is expected to take three to four weeks and cost $250,000.

"If the FBI had any facts tying Steve Hatfill directly into the anthrax case, I don't think he'd be out walking the streets right now," said Clawson.


TOPICS: Anthrax Scare; News/Current Events; US: Maryland
KEYWORDS: anthrax; antraz; hatfill; pond; tinkerbell; tinkerbelle
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Was on ABC News tonight.

It's a new article (Brian Ross, not just the AP article info) but I'm actually a little hazy on what is new in it....

1) I believe it's new that Hatfill admitted taking Cipro at the time of the attacks (though Cipro was mentioned in the vague accusations of Nicholas Kristoff(sp?) at the NYT.)

2) I've never seen it mentioned he was in Florida before or during the attacks (a little odd they mention "when the letter was mailed" since the FL letter was never actually found.)

3) Has the box found in the pond been specifically mentioned as a "sweater box" before by actual sources that may actually have a connection with people who saw the box? (showed a pic of one, not THE box, that is clear plastic and had holes cut in the end. Looks NOTHING like a "minnow bucket" though, of course.

1 posted on 06/09/2003 7:07:26 PM PDT by John H K
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Comment #2 Removed by Moderator

To: John H K
I hadn't heard points 1, 2, or 3 until now. I've been ignoring the pond-draining story because it sounds so preposterous and weird. That Cipro news really gives me pause.
3 posted on 06/09/2003 7:18:42 PM PDT by lainie
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To: John H K
Why are they draining the pond? I mean a box divers found could easily be lifted up to the surface? They are looking for much more than a box. My guess is also to dredge the sediment in the muck bottom for other stuff. Anyone who has ever done a dive knows that the average public resivior/lake/pond has an entire junkyard at the bottom.
4 posted on 06/09/2003 7:19:57 PM PDT by blackdog ("Hey Lhama, how about something for the effort?")
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To: John H K
This is just getting silly. Their investigation has hit a dead end and rather than backing up and seeking a new direction they're going wild trying to keep dead leads alive.
5 posted on 06/09/2003 7:21:01 PM PDT by Bogey78O (check it out... http://freepers.zill.net/users/bogey78o_fr/puppet.swf)
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To: John H K
Looks NOTHING like a "minnow bucket" though, of course.

You are right of course, it does not sound like a minnow bucket. It sounds like a part of a homemade "Minnow Trap". They are often made of clear plastic, and have holes at each end for the funnels, which are made of plastic or wire mesh, usually.

6 posted on 06/09/2003 7:21:07 PM PDT by marktwain
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To: John H K
The local FOX news showed the "fibbies" and the USPS Inspection Service out draining a pond. The "newsie" noted that Hatfil admitted having been to the pond in question on a Boy Scout trip.

Remember that the "fibbies" claim their hounds found Hatfil's odor in the area. Remember that the USPS would like to wrap this thing up quick and not investigate leftwing groups that may continue to have a grudge against them, particularly some of the executive level people who dabbled in SDS, YPSL and anti-Viet Nam War demonstration groups 30 years ago.

Someone should be running this investigation who does not have a vested interest in any of the possible outcomes.

7 posted on 06/09/2003 7:21:10 PM PDT by muawiyah
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To: John H K
The last we heard from Brian Ross, he reported Special Forces were about to seize bin Laden in the "triangle."

I wonder how much he's hyping this.

8 posted on 06/09/2003 7:22:52 PM PDT by cookcounty
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To: Badabing Badaboom
It is common practice for medical research people to take Cipro regularly, particularly if there is a chance they may have come into contact with nasty bacteria carried along by co-workers from other locations.

Odds are some of the folks researching the anthrax case are, as we speak, taking Cipro!

9 posted on 06/09/2003 7:23:43 PM PDT by muawiyah
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To: Badabing Badaboom
What's a plastic sweater box?
10 posted on 06/09/2003 7:25:00 PM PDT by aristeides
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To: John H K
You know for much cheaper than 250,000 the FBI can come dig me a pnd. I'd appreciate it a great deal. The benefit to the investigation will be about equal.
11 posted on 06/09/2003 7:25:20 PM PDT by Bogey78O (check it out... http://freepers.zill.net/users/bogey78o_fr/puppet.swf)
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To: blackdog
Why are they draining the pond? I mean a box divers found could easily be lifted up to the surface? They are looking for much more than a box. My guess is also to dredge the sediment in the muck bottom for other stuff. Anyone who has ever done a dive knows that the average public resivior/lake/pond has an entire junkyard at the bottom.

I suspect that some high mucketymuck at the FBI has staked his career on Hatfields guilt, and he doesn't care how much taxpayer money he has to spend in desparate attempts to find something to tag him with.

There also seems to be a pretty strong current in the FBI to find a homegrown connection to terrorism. It would help a great deal in justifying there existance, not to mention their close ties with the ultraleftist Southern Policy Law Center.

12 posted on 06/09/2003 7:25:54 PM PDT by marktwain
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To: John H K
How much "anthrax scent" can a dog tolerate before he dies? And how much of the stuff do they use to set him on the scent? Is the dog dead?
13 posted on 06/09/2003 7:26:54 PM PDT by cookcounty
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To: genefromjersey; Coleus
Ping
14 posted on 06/09/2003 7:28:20 PM PDT by Calpernia (Remember the three R's: Respect for self; Respect for others; Responsibility for all your actions.)
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To: John H K
If you flood the box to send it to the bottom, where does the contaminated air go? UP!

Why not just have a tank of chlorine or ozone connected to the box to disinfect it after use ?

15 posted on 06/09/2003 7:29:19 PM PDT by fso301
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To: Calpernia
Haven't they learned from Richard Jewel?
16 posted on 06/09/2003 7:30:19 PM PDT by Coleus (God is Pro Life and Straight http://www.freerepublic.com/perl/notify?detach=1)
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To: lainie
I haven't paid much attention to Hatfield but the fact that he was taking Cipro sets off my Suspicious Meter.
17 posted on 06/09/2003 7:31:04 PM PDT by Ditter
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To: John H K
It brings back memories. It's probably the pond I used to visit some 40+ years ago.
18 posted on 06/09/2003 7:31:07 PM PDT by RLK
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To: fso301
Or Clorox? Seems to be what the Iraqis used to disinfect those two mobile labs.
19 posted on 06/09/2003 7:31:15 PM PDT by muawiyah
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To: cookcounty
The dog was on Cipro. Entirely possible that the canine was the anthrax mailer based on FBI profilers track record.
20 posted on 06/09/2003 7:33:34 PM PDT by blackdog ("Hey Lhama, how about something for the effort?")
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