"I really can't blame them for taking this tack,"
They have to, otherwise why would the judge not let the pase go on? Hatfill's lawyers said they weren't interested in other people being investigated, and would agree to some limits.
They're covering up. By October they can claim a year's worth of work after the Matsumoto science article shook the trees.
Agreed. What gets me though is that they're dealing with not just one trial, but two trials and two different judges. Assuming that this whole entire thing is really what it seems and on the up-and-up, wouldn't you think that even a couple of pliant judges would eventually start to catch on after a little while? You can only stretch out a fish tale so far, even to a dummy. And if the government is lying in their secret classified reports they're only risking bringing even further trouble on themselves down the line.