LSU's vice provost for academic affairs, Greg Vincent, is looking at the management practices of the entire division that oversees the biomedical research center, including its process for reviewing resumes of potential employees, Sands said.
Several questions have surfaced about Hatfill, including what appear to be exaggerations on his resume.
In discussing Hatfill's firing, Sands had said Wednesday that Guillot received an e-mail Aug. 1 directing him to "cease and desist" from using Hatfill on Justice Department-funded projects.
Hatfill was placed on administrative leave by LSU the following day, but Sands said Guillot didn't alert administration officials to the e-mail until Tuesday, when Hatfill was fired. Sands said the decision to put Hatfill on administrative leave and fire him was not connected to the e-mail.
LSU Chancellor Mark Emmert said Hatfill's firing wasn't a judgment of guilt but was in the "best interest of LSU."
LSU placed Hatfill on paid administrative leave on Aug. 2 after the FBI had searched his Maryland residence twice in connection with its investigation into the anthrax mailings last year. LSU is waiting for the results of a background check before it decides if Hatfill can keep his newly acquired, $150,000-a-year post as associate director of LSU's bio-terrorism training program for public-safety personnel.
In interviews, spokesmen for the State Department and for Science Applications International Corp., Hatfill's former employer, confirmed that Hatfill worked on an SAIC-State Department contract this spring, after LSU hired him. They said they did not know, or would not comment on, the circumstances of Hatfill's departure from SAIC. Privacy laws forbid SAIC from revealing that information, SAIC spokesman Benjamin A. Haddad said.
Hatfill's attorney, Victor M. Glasberg of Alexandria, Va., has said SAIC fired the scientist in March, citing the CIA polygraph results that were then already several months old.
His attorney has said that the continued association among Hatfill, the State Department and SAIC proves that some government officials and former work colleagues did not consider Hatfill a security threat, even after the CIA polygraph incident. The CIA test did not cover issues in the anthrax case, and its ambiguous results covered incidents from Hatfill's past in South Africa, Glasberg has told the Washington Post.
Contrary to claims he made on his resume, Dr. Steven J. Hatfill, now under scrutiny in the FBI's anthrax investigation, did not earn a doctoral degree and never served in the U.S. Army Special Forces, according to academic and military officials and records.
But the apparent fabrications did not prevent him from getting hired in 1995 by the National Institutes of Health and in 1997 by the Army's biological defense research center at Fort Detrick. The Defense Department also apparently failed to check his credentials thoroughly before granting him "secret" security clearance in 1999.
Because no one discovered the problems, Hatfill was granted access to the world's deadliest pathogens in his research at the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases at Fort Detrick, where he worked from 1997 to 1999.
The job history of Hatfill, 48, raises questions about the federal government's hiring procedures for sensitive jobs, particularly in the field of biological defense.
"Obviously, if this is true, he was not adequately vetted by the U.S. government to work with dangerous pathogens," said Elisa D. Harris, a senior research scholar at the University of Maryland who is studying how to regulate biological programs, including possible licensing of scientists to work with dangerous organisms.
So there you have it...Hatfill was already placed on administrative leave BEFORE the DoJ e-mail due to discrepancies in his resume. LSU admits it failed in it's review process of applicants. Mr. Hatfill was also previously fired from SAIC for the same reason...he was not able to get a security clearance because of questions about his past as listed on his resume. He was polygraphed by the CIA for his position at SAIC about his past MONTHS before any accusation was made by the FBI...he failed the test. HE ruined his chances for future Government employment by not being truthful about his past.
If the FBI and/or the media caused his termination like he says they did, why is he not suing SAIC and LSU for wrongful termination? Odds are still against him on that one as well considering it all goes back to the false resume, but the lawsuit that states the FBI ruined his reputation and kept him from pursuing his career interests has no merit whatsoever. Moral of the story...don't lie on Government applications. This is a very well known rule in the Government contracting arena, he should have known better. Y'all can take off the tin foil hats any time now...