Free Republic

Judge’s Ruling Bars The Times From Using Sources’ Information in Defense Against Suit By NEIL A. LEWIS Published: November 18, 2006 WASHINGTON, Nov. 17 — A federal magistrate judge ruled on Friday that The New York Times may not rely in any way on information its columnist, Nicholas D. Kristof, may have received from two Federal Bureau of Investigation officials in its defense of a defamation suit brought by a former government scientist. The judge, Liam O’Grady, issued the ruling as a sanction against The Times for refusing to disclose or force Mr. Kristof to disclose the identities of the...

Minute Entry for proceedings held before Judge Claude M. Hilton : Final Pretrial Conference held on 11/16/2006. Appearance of counsel. Jury Trial set for 1/29/2007 @ 10:00 AM before District Judge Claude M. Hilton. Dft requests that the following briefing schedule be set for Summary Judgment motions: Dispositive motions to be filed by 12/1/06; Responses by 12/15/06; Replies by 12/22/06; Motion hearing to be set for 1/5/07. Schedule approved by CMH but does not prevent Judge O'Grady from changing schedule if necessary. Dft's motion for use of evidence presentation system at trial - Denied. Video depositions permitted to be played....

WASHINGTON, Nov. 2 — A federal judge in Virginia on Thursday upheld a ruling by a magistrate judge that The New York Times must disclose the identities of three sources used by Nicholas D. Kristof for columns he wrote on the deadly anthrax mailings of 2001. The judge, Claude M. Hilton of Federal District Court, ruled that last month’s opinion was “not clearly erroneous or contrary to law.” The order is part of a case of defamation brought against The Times by Stephen J. Hatfill, who asserts that columns by Mr. Kristof suggested he was responsible for the attacks. The...

A federal judge has ordered the New York Times Co. to disclose the confidential sources used by Nicholas D. Kristof in columns that explored whether a former Army scientist was responsible for the deadly 2001 anthrax attacks. The ruling, made public yesterday, came in a lawsuit filed by the former scientist, Steven J. Hatfill, contending that the paper defamed him in a series of Kristof columns in 2002 that identified him as a "likely culprit." Hatfill has been identified by authorities as a "person of interest" in the anthrax-spore mailings that killed five people and sickened 17. No one has...

ORDER that Pltf's [83] Motion to Compel the Identity of Deft's Confidential Sources is GRANTED. Deft shall reveal the identity of Confidential Sources #2,#3 and #4, to Pltf no later than Wednesday, 10/25/06 (see Order for details). Signed by Judge Liam O'Grady on 10/20/06. Copies mailed: yes (Copies faxed by chambers) (pmil) (Entered: 10/23/2006)

Nobody has been arrested for the anthrax mailings of 2001, but many people have paid for the crime. Five died and at least 17 others got sick. The Federal Bureau of Investigation has been frustrated. Careers have crumbled. Taxpayers have gotten socked for billions of dollars to shore up bioterror defenses that some experts say still fall short. Now, an analysis from the FBI itself, buried in a microbiology journal, is raising more questions about the investigation. In the August issue of Applied and Environmental Microbiology, FBI scientist Douglas Beecher sought to set the record straight. Anthrax spores mailed to...

CHESTER, Pa. -- On Nov. 15, 2001, Irshad and Masood Shaikh found themselves standing under the darkest cloud imaginable: The brothers had become suspects in the worst bioterrorism attack in American history. An FBI SWAT team battered down their front door, pointed semiautomatic rifles at Irshad's wife and carried out the first raid on a private home in the federal investigation of the anthrax attacks. Agents in moon suits carted out the Shaikhs' computers, medicines and books and swabbed the television set for anthrax spores.

WASHINGTON - Lawyers for a scientist investigated in the 2001 anthrax killings have questioned at least two journalists and are subpoenaeing other reporters, seeking the identities of their confidential government sources. Through a lawsuit, Steven Hatfill is trying to track down suspected leakers at the FBI and the Justice Department who made Hatfill the focus of news coverage regarding anthrax-laced letters mailed to members of the press and to two United States senators. Hatfill's lawsuit alleges violations of the Privacy Act and his constitutional rights to due process and free speech. Newsweek magazine reporter Michael Isikoff and ABC correspondent Brian...

WASHINGTON (AP) The Supreme Court refused Monday to block a defamation lawsuit against The New York Times over columns that linked a former Army scientist to the 2001 anthrax killings. Authorities have never solved the mysterious mailing of anthrax-laced letters that killed five people and sickened 17 not long after the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks. Steven Hatfill, a physician and bioterrorism expert, was labeled a "person of interest" by then-Attorney General John Ashcroft, although he was never charged and has since sued Ashcroft and others. A federal judge had thrown out Hatfill's lawsuit against The New York Times over...

Anthrax whodunit: Is it a cold case file? By Stephen P. Freccero SAN FRANCISCO - A recent decision by the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit is an ironic reminder that one of the greatest whodunits in recent history remains a threat to the safety of Americans. Steven Hatfill, the man labeled a "person of interest" in the anthrax investigation, has been allowed to go forward with his defamation suit against The New York Times. Clearly the anthrax investigation still weighs on Mr. Hatfill far more than it does on anyone else - and that's a shame. The...

WEST PALM BEACH — Four years after the FBI launched the largest investigation in its history to unmask whoever sent anthrax-laced letters that killed five people and sickened 17 others, the widow of the nation's first anthrax-attack victim said the federal government has kept her in the dark. Breaking her four-year silence, Maureen Stevens said Friday that the agency has told her "pretty much nothing" and that if the FBI does find out who killed her husband, tabloid photo editor Robert Stevens, "I don't know if they will tell me." *** The FBI asked to meet with her next week,...

A federal appeals court on Tuesday allowed a former Army scientist to proceed with a libel lawsuit against The New York Times that claims one of the paper's columnists unfairly linked him to the 2001 anthrax killings. Steven Hatfill sued the Times for a series of columns written in 2002 by Nicholas Kristof that faulted the FBI for failing to thoroughly investigate Hatfill for anthrax mailings that left five people dead. In a 6-6 decision, with one judge not participating, the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals failed to produce a majority of judges needed to grant a rehearing and...

RICHMOND, Va. A former Army scientist will be allowed to proceed with a libel lawsuit against The New York Times. The federal appeals court's decision lets Steven Hatfill continue with his suit against the Times. It claims a columnist unfairly linked Hatfill to the 2001 anthrax killings. The initial columns written by Nicholas Kristof only identified Hatfill as Mister 'Z,' but the scientist was later named after he denied any role in the killings. In July, a three-judge panel of the court -- in Richmond, Virginia -- had overturned a federal judge's ruling to toss out the case. The case...

Anthrax terrorists outfox the FBI By Tim Reid Failure of inquiry has astonished Americans and angered widow FOUR years after the deadly 2001 anthrax attacks, which brought fresh terror to the US days after the September 11 hijackings, the biggest criminal investigation in American history has gone cold. The failure to solve one of the most baffling and sinister terrorist cases of modern times has not only led to intense frustration for the FBI, but has also prompted the British widow of one of the victims to sue the US Government. NI_MPU('middle'); Bob Stevens, a British picture editor from Berkshire...

FOUR years after the deadly 2001 anthrax attacks, which brought fresh terror to the US days after the September 11 hijackings, the biggest criminal investigation in American history has gone cold. The failure to solve one of the most baffling and sinister terrorist cases of modern times has not only led to intense frustration for the FBI, but has also prompted the British widow of one of the victims to sue the US Government. Bob Stevens, a British picture editor from Berkshire who worked in Boca Raton, Florida, was one of five people who died in and seventeen who became...

SET ASIDE the "what if" speculation about bioterrorism. It already happened, and the response to the first bioterrorism attack on U.S. soil is less than reassuring. Four years after mail laced with anthrax bacteria took the lives of five people, sickened 17 others, brought the U.S. mail system to its knees, and forced the evacuation and shutdown of Congress and the Supreme Court, whoever was responsible for the attacks remains at large. What's more, another major terrorist attack in the Washington region, as Post writers Sari Horwitz and Christian Davenport report, would result in the kind of chaos witnessed in...

In 4-Year Anthrax Hunt, F.B.I. Finds Itself Stymied, and Sued By SCOTT SHANE WASHINGTON, Sept. 15 - Richard L. Lambert, the F.B.I. inspector in charge of the investigation of the deadly anthrax letters of 2001, testified under oath for five hours last month about the case. But Mr. Lambert was not testifying in a criminal trial. He and his teams of F.B.I. agents and postal inspectors have not found the culprit. Instead, he and six other F.B.I. and Justice Department officials have been forced to give depositions in a suit over news media leaks filed by Dr. Steven J. Hatfill,...

Appeals court reinstates anthrax libel lawsuit Thu Jul 28, 2005 6:22 PM ET WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A federal appeals court reinstated on Thursday a libel lawsuit by former U.S. Army scientist Steven Hatfill against The New York Times Co. over a series of columns that he said implicated him in the deadly anthrax mailings in 2001. By a 2-1 vote, a panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a federal judge's dismissal of the lawsuit that claimed that columns by Nicholas Kristof published in 2002 defamed Hatfill and caused him emotional distress. "At this stage of litigation,...

A federal appeals court has reinstated a libel suit against the New York Times filed by a former Army scientist who claims one of the paper's columnists unfairly linked him to the deadly anthrax mailings in 2001. Steven Hatfill sued the Times for a series of columns written by Nicholas Kristof that faulted the FBI for failing to thoroughly investigate Hatfill for the anthrax mailings that left five people dead. The initial columns identified Hatfill only as "Mr. Z," but subsequent columns named him after Hatfill stepped forward to deny any role in the killings. Federal authorities labeled Hatfill "a...

'Missing from his (The Presidents Quantico) address, however, was any reference to the strikes on U.S. soil that occurred in the weeks after Sept. 11, 2001, from a biological agent called anthrax -- a grave, ongoing and unsolved threat.. A small amount of powder in five letters managed to kill five people in Washington, Florida and New York, and sickened... The U.S. postal system was brought to its knees in several cities... Congressional offices were evacuated. The cost of responding to the attacks on the U.S. Postal Service alone reached an estimated $1 billion, and that's not counting the additional...

The US Justice Department filed a motion Friday to quash testimony by wife of bioweaponeer William Patrick III in the lawsuit: Steven J. Hatfill, M.D. v. Attorney General John Ashcroft, The Department of Justice; The Federal Bureau of Investigation (et al). Headed by former federal prosecutor Tom Connelly, pro bono attorney's for Dr. Steven J. Hatfill, the former person of interest in the anthrax letters case, have been quietly doing battle behind the scenes with attorney's for the US Justice Department, in the United States District Court for The District of Columbia. Dr. Steven Hatfill's life was publically dismantled, rendering...

RICHMOND, Va. The federal appeals court in Richmond is scheduled to hear arguments this morning in an appeal filed by Steven Hatfill, a former researcher at Fort Detrick in Maryland. He wants the court to reverse a lower court ruling dismissing his lawsuit against The New York Times. He claims he was libeled by insinuations that he was responsible for the anthrax attacks that killed five people and sickened 17 others in 2001.

Qaeda Letters Are Said to Show Pre-9/11 Anthrax Plans WASHINGTON, May 20 -Al Qaeda operatives in Afghanistan began to assemble the equipment necessary to build a rudimentary biological weapons laboratory before the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, letters released by the Defense Department show.... The letters are among the documents recovered in late 2001 after the invasion of Afghanistan that United States intelligence officials have frequently cited as evidence that Al Qaeda was working to develop biological weapons.The letters...detail a visit by an unnamed Qaeda scientist to a laboratory at an unspecified location where he was shown "a special confidential room"...

By John D. Banusiewicz American Forces Press Service WASHINGTON, March 14, 2005 - Defense Department officials confirmed that a positive test for the presence of anthrax bacteria during routine mail operations today led to the evacuation of a Pentagon outbuilding. However, officials stressed, subsequent tests have been negative.

Dr. Steven Hatfill, the scientist named as a "person of interest" in the post-9/11 anthrax letters probe by the government, wants media outlets to identify the officials he alleges leaked unverified and damaging information to them concerning the FBI's investigation of him. Dr. Hatfill subpoenaed several news organizations Friday seeking information about the government sources they used to write stories linking him to the probe, the Los Angeles Times reports, naming the Washington Post, Associated Press and National Public Radio, among others. The subpoenas are part of a lawsuit that Hatfill has filed against the Justice Department and the FBI....

As many as 100 FBI agents, federal prosecutors and other department employees are likely to be asked—possibly as early as the next few weeks—to sign broadly worded statements waiving any confidentiality agreements they had with journalists about the anthrax case, Justice officials tell NEWSWEEK. The waiver statement was recently ordered by a federal judge at the urging of lawyers for bioterrorism expert Dr. Steven J. Hatfill, who has filed a lawsuit alleging that government officials leaked damaging personal information about him in an effort to connect him with the anthrax attacks.

A federal judge has dismissed a libel suit brought against The New York Times by bioterrorism expert Steven Hatfill, who claimed the newspaper falsely insinuated he was responsible for the deadly anthrax attacks in 2001. U.S. District Judge Claude Hilton also dismissed Hatfill's lawsuit against Times columnist Nicholas Kristof, who wrote several columns in 2002 on the FBI's handling of the anthrax investigation. Hilton ruled that Kristof's columns did not defame Hatfill, and that they accurately reflected the state of the FBI's investigation, in which Hatfill was labeled "a person of interest" by Attorney General John Ashcroft. Hilton's ruling, issued...

WASHINGTON, Oct. 21 - In a development that could undercut reporters' ability to obtain confidential information, Justice Department officials agreed Thursday to distribute to dozens of federal investigators in the 2001 anthrax case a document they can sign to release journalists from pledges of confidentiality. Lawyers for Steven J. Hatfill, a former Army bioterrorism expert, had sought the releases as a step toward questioning reporters about their sources in the case. Dr. Hatfill, who has been described by Attorney General John Ashcroft as a "person of interest'' in the anthrax investigation, is suing the government over leaks of a variety...

WASHINGTON - A judge approved bioterror expert Stephen Hatfill's bid Thursday to question journalists who published stories based on leaks relating to the 2001 anthrax attacks, so long as they aren't forced to violate confidentiality agreements with their sources. Also, under provisions of the unusual agreement, the Justice Department (news - web sites) will circulate waiver forms to its employees next month that would release journalists from any agreements to protect anonymous sources. If Justice employees choose to sign them, Hatfill's attorneys would then proceed to depose reporters. "I am not prepared to leave this at a status quo," said...

ALEXANDRIA, Va. -- The New York Times asked a federal judge Friday to dismiss a libel lawsuit against the paper filed by a bioterrorism expert named by the FBI as a "person of interest" in the 2001 anthrax attacks. Times attorney David Schulz told the judge that no reasonable reader would walk away from the columns in question with the impression that the newspaper was accusing Steven J. Hatfill of any crimes.

Judge admonishes government lawyers in anthrax lawsuit case

For more than two years, Steven Hatfill has lived life in legal limbo. Publicly branded a 'person of interest" in the anthrax case, he's never been charged with any crime. Now Hatfill is striking back, in a libel lawsuit against one of his many armchair accusers. Court documents show that Hatfill has filed suit against Donald Foster, an English professor at Vassar College who wrote about Hatfill in the October 2003 issue of Vanity Fair. Hatfill claims Foster and other defendants defamed him by leaving 'no doubt in the minds of reasonable readers that he was imputing guilt for the...

POINT PLEASANT BEACH, N.J. -- The family of Dr. Kenneth Berry, whose homes were raided in August during the FBI's anthrax investigation, fought outside a motel because it cracked under the pressure of the federal inquest, a lawyer said Friday. "The great pressure of being scrutinized by the federal government as a responsible party for the anthrax mailings I think would be enough to cause stress for the average citizen," said Clifford Lazzaro, Berry's lawyer.

Sources close to the investigation told FOX News that access to two USAMRIID (search) buildings that contain labs and are described as research "hot zones" has been limited. "The U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases is temporarily closing some of its laboratory suites in support of an ongoing FBI criminal investigation," a statement issued from Fort Detrick said. "The temporary closing of laboratory suites is not associated with any incident that could pose a public or occupational health threat. Normal research operations will continue in the remainder of USAMRIID laboratories." A federal judge is expected to decide soon...

The former Army scientist identified by authorities as a "person of interest" in the 2001 anthrax attacks sued the New York Times Co. and columnist Nicholas D. Kristof yesterday, claiming the paper defamed him in a series of columns that identified him as the likely culprit. The lawsuit, filed by Steven J. Hatfill in U.S. District Court in Alexandria, said Kristof identified him as the anthrax killer to "light a fire" under investigators in their probe of the anthrax-spore mailings, which killed five people and sickened 17. He accused Kristof of hurling "false and defamatory" allegations and the Times of...

Former Army Scientist Sues New York Times, Columnist By Jerry Markon Washington Post Staff Writer Wednesday, July 14, 2004; Page A07 The former Army scientist identified by authorities as a "person of interest" in the 2001 anthrax attacks sued the New York Times Co. and columnist Nicholas D. Kristof yesterday, claiming the paper defamed him in a series of columns that identified him as the likely culprit. The lawsuit, filed by Steven J. Hatfill in U.S. District Court in Alexandria, said Kristof identified him as the anthrax killer to "light a fire" under investigators in their probe of the anthrax-spore...

Distinct signature found in ’01 anthrax Discovery raises hope that source can be traced By Scott Shane Sun National Staff Originally published July 4, 2004 In a possible break for the FBI's investigation of the anthrax letters of 2001, scientists have discovered that the mailed anthrax was a mix of two slightly different samples, giving the bacteria a distinct signature that might make it easier to match with a source, according to two non-government experts who have been told of the finding. The discovery that bacteria taken from the letters all grew in the double pattern was made at least...

Sometime in February or March, officials at the Justice Department held a closed-door meeting with a federal judge in Washington, where they laid out what the government knows about the anthrax-letter attacks of 2001. Nobody is exactly sure what the department told the judge during that meeting. People familiar with the presentation say it was held under top-secret conditions; documents were escorted to the courtroom under the supervision of the U.S. Marshals Service, and the judge was not even allowed to keep copies of the papers that were shown to him. But at a hearing on March 29, the judge,...

Judge grants six-month stay in anthrax civil suit Wed April 28, 2004 JILL BARTON Associated Press WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - A judge delayed until June a lawsuit filed by the widow of a man killed by anthrax, siding with federal attorneys who argued the suit jeopardized the government's investigation into the 2001 attacks. Justice Department attorneys told U.S. District Judge Daniel T.K. Hurley they are at a crucial stage in the anthrax investigation, and that it's a matter of national security to delay the lawsuit. In a January court filing, the attorneys said six months could allow them to...

I recently found some interesting articles about anthrax, the domestic theory, and Hatfill that gave me some new ideas to consider. Foremostly, I found that the first comments espousing the domestic theory often arose in the context of a war on Iraq, or finishing the war, depending on how you look at it. For years the government tried to build the consensus to getting rid of Saddam. Before and immediately after 9/11 Bush made it clear he wanted to complete the job. Interestingly the first voice after 9/11 against finishing off Iraq and dissuading consideration that the anthrax was Iraqi...

U.S. Wants Anthrax Probe Suit Dismissed Monday March 29, 2004 6:46 PM By JONATHAN D. SALANT Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) - The government asked a federal judge Monday to dismiss a lawsuit by Dr. Steven J. Hatfill, a bioterrorism expert who claims his reputation was ruined when law enforcement officials called him a ``person of interest'' in the 2001 anthrax attacks. U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton said he would rule later, but did agree to a government request to further delay most trial preparations until October. In his lawsuit filed last August, Hatfill said Attorney General John Ashcroft...

Outside View: FBI Behind the Anthrax Curve Posted March 15, 2004 By Lawrence Sellin On Feb. 23, the Washington Times reported the FBI official in charge of the probe into the 2001 anthrax mailings said the investigation still has top priority among the bureau's unsolved cases but acknowledged the anthrax sender may never be caught. "Despite our very, very, very best efforts, we still might not be able to bring it home," said Assistant Director Michael A. Mason, who heads the FBI's Washington field office investigating the case. This is in stark contrast to the Nov. 17, 2001 comments of...

Link between ricin, anthrax mailings? WASHINGTON - The discovery of ricin in a Senate office building has prompted the FBI and other federal investigators to consider whether the case could be connected to the unsolved anthrax attacks of late 2001, which killed five people and sickened 17 others. Investigators and lawmakers stressed Tuesday that it was much too soon to determine if there is any link between the cases. But FBI and postal officials noted a number of superficial similarities. "That is obviously one of the main lines of inquiry that we're pursuing," one FBI official said Tuesday. "There are...

Judge doubts Hatfill suit will harm anthrax probe Scientist's claim that leaks wrecked his career elicits understanding at hearing By Scott Shane Sun Staff January 27, 2004 WASHINGTON - A federal judge said yesterday that he is not convinced that allowing a lawsuit by Dr. Steven J. Hatfill to proceed will endanger the FBI's investigation of the anthrax letters that killed five people in 2001. During a motions hearing, U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton expressed sympathy for Hatfill's claim that government leaks have wrecked his career, the basis for the suit he filed in August against Attorney General John...

<p>The CIA has been quietly building a case that the anthrax attacks of 2001 were in fact the result of an international terrorist plot.</p> <p>U.S. officials with access to intelligence reports tell us the information showing a terrorist link to the anthrax-filled letters sent by mail in the weeks after the September 11 terrorist attacks is not conclusive. But it is persuasive.</p>

<p>Bush was asked during a recent White House meeting whether American credibility was on the line in the search for illicit weapons.</p> <p>CNN's David Ensor examines claims that the Bush administration overstated the threat of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction (part 1).</p>

<p>The CIA has been quietly building a case that the anthrax attacks of 2001 were in fact the result of an international terrorist plot.</p> <p>U.S. officials with access to intelligence reports tell us the information showing a terrorist link to the anthrax-filled letters sent by mail in the weeks after the September 11 terrorist attacks is not conclusive. But it is persuasive.</p>

WASHINGTON - Disclosure of what the FBI knows about the deadly 2001 anthrax attacks could enable terrorists to engineer biological weapons to escape detection, the FBI says in documents filed in response to a lawsuit by a scientist labeled a "person of interest" in the case. Citing the criminal investigation and national security concerns, the Justice Department is trying to persuade a federal judge to delay the lawsuit filed by Dr. Stephen J. Hatfill, who contends the government invaded his privacy and ruined his reputation by leaking information to the media implicating him in the attacks. Hatfill has denied any...

<p>WASHINGTON — Disclosure of what the FBI knows about the deadly 2001 anthrax (search) attacks could enable terrorists to engineer biological weapons to escape detection, the FBI (search) says in documents filed in response to a lawsuit by a scientist labeled a "person of interest" in the case.</p>

When the anthrax mailers penned the message, "YOU CAN NOT STOP US. WE HAVE THIS ANTHRAX," the threat included a chilling nuance that remains largely unrecognized. "ARE YOU AFRAID?" asked the attackers. "Yes," should have been the answer, according to some biodefense experts, who think that the anthrax spores mailed to Senators Thomas Daschle (D-- SD) and Patrick Leahy (D--VT) in the fall of 2001 represented the state of the art in bioweapons refinement, revealing telltale clues about the source. This view is controversial, however, because others dispute the sophistication of the Senate powder, and a schism now exists among...