Dr. Nass notes the “overtime” before the first wave of letters is suspiciously the same over three days: 2 Hours, 15 minutes. Excerpt from Firedoglake’s timeline.
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Spring 2001: Ivins taken off Special Immunization Program
September 7, 2001: Ivins put back on Special Immunization Program
September 14, 2001: Ivins works late for 2 hours 15 minutes
September 15, 2001: Ivins works late for 2 hours 15 minutes
September 16, 2001: Ivins works late for 2 hours 15 minutes
September 18, 2001: Less lethal “media” anthrax letters postmarked
...
September 28: Ivins works late for 1 hour 42 minutes
September 29, 2001: Ivins works late for 1 hour 20 minutes
September 30, 2001: Ivins works late for 1 hour 18 minutes
October 1, 2001: Ivins works late for 20 minutes
October 2, 2001: Ayaad Asaad interviewed about claim he was a bioterrorist; Judy Miller’s Germs published; Ivins works late for 23 minutes
October 3, 2001: Ivins works late for 2 hours 59 minutes
October 4, 2001: Ivins works late for 3 hours 33 minutes
October 5, 2001: Ivins works late for 3 hours 42 minutes; Bob Stevens, photo editor of Sun newspaper, dies
October 2001: Ames strain at Iowa State destroyed with consent of FBI
October 9, 2001: Ivins works late for 15 minutes; Daschle and Leahy letters postmarked
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The good doctor thinks these identical times are a clerical error.
I think not.
I think they are a clerical malfeasance, of a mild sort, and more likely, Ivins did not do the overtime on those days.
I bet dollars to doughnuts Ivins had monthly or quarterly hour requirements for his job, that he missed a lot of days do to his troubles, and a helpful clerk entered bogus overtime to prop up his friend. Kind of like Hillary’s time records at her law firm.
Happens all the time. Since he was probably on salary, no overtime payouts would be a consequence. No money harm, no foul.
Here is what Dr. Nass says about Matsumoto
12. Ivins cursed about giving journalist Gary Matsumoto information requested in a Freedom of Information Act request. Matsumoto is a most peculiar journalist. We had a number of conversations. He would not get off the phone, sometimes staying on for an hour or more. He would harass me, in an attempt to shape the story. He worked very hard, trying to force me to say that the only problem with anthrax vaccine was its squalene adjuvant, although there were many reasons to question that assertion. I hung up on him more than once, exasperated, and no doubt I used some foul language describing our conversations to others.
The outrageous thing is the U S Attorney and FBI coming out and trashing a dead guy who cannot defend himself. Up front they concede it was a highly unusual step to speak about a case where the target had died and there was not a conviction or even charges filed BUT...we want to put the case in its best light now because the good Doctor cannot show how badly they bungled this investigation. The government can crush anyone. Ask Richard Jewell. These people are gutless wonders.
I think not.
I think they are a clerical malfeasance, of a mild sort, and more likely, Ivins did not do the overtime on those days.
I bet dollars to doughnuts Ivins had monthly or quarterly hour requirements for his job, that he missed a lot of days do to his troubles, and a helpful clerk entered bogus overtime to prop up his friend. Kind of like Hillary’s time records at her law firm.
Happens all the time. Since he was probably on salary, no overtime payouts would be a consequence. No money harm, no foul.
Dr. Ivins' place of work is under high security: Not only are people's times in the building recorded, but people's whereabouts as well. There is no way anyone entered bogus times for him.
It is not at all unusual for a scientist to spend extra hours at work, or to work odd hours, at night, on weekends, and holidays. Science is not a 9 to 5 endeavor. He could have been doing a time course experiment, where experimental manipulation or sampling has to be done at specific times, and that easily accounts for the same amount of overtime worked on 3 consecutive days.
Dr. Ivins was a friendly man, who would say hello whenever he saw me, at work or at the gym. He didn't behave in a manner that would set alarm bells ringing. The investigation, continuing long past the point when the FBI should have realized they weren't getting any new information, must have put him under a great deal of stress. How convenient, now that the stress led Dr. Ivins to tragically take his own life, to declare the case closed. It sure allows the FBI to save face, since they never did have a good lead on this one.
The thing that seem odd to me about the overtime is that it’s really not very much time to be developing a weaponized form of anthrax. One would think that a lot more experimentation would be required. Even if one knew the correct procedure in advance to convert the liquid to such a virulent dry form, it seems like some trial-and-error would be involved that would eat up more time.