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FBI Not Ready To Clear Hatfill
AP via Drudge | Laura Meckler

Posted on 08/12/2002 12:02:56 PM PDT by mercy

FBI Said Not Ready to Clear Hatfill

By Laura Meckler Associated Press Writer Monday, August 12, 2002; 1:26 PM

ALEXANDRIA, Va. –– Investigators probing last fall's anthrax attacks have no physical evidence linking Dr. Steven J. Hatfill to the crime, but they are not prepared to clear him, a law enforcement official said Monday.

Hatfill, whose name surfaced more than a month ago but has not been declared a suspect, went on the offensive over the weekend, saying he has cooperated with the investigation only to see his life and work destroyed through speculation and innuendo. He emphatically declared that he had nothing to do with the attacks that killed five.

His attorney accused the FBI of leaking defamatory information about him and promised to lodge a formal complaint with the Justice Department.

A U.S. law enforcement official said Monday that Hatfill has been straight-forward answering questions from investigators but a number of intriguing items from his past make them unwilling to declare him cleared of any suspicion.

Investigators continue to be frustrated by the absence of physical clues linking anyone to the mailings, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. The FBI has searched Hatfill's apartment in Frederick, Md., twice, as well as his car, a storage locker in Florida and the home of his girlfriend.

Among the reasons officials still remain interested in Hatfill:

–The anthrax letters contained a return address of a nonexistent Greendale School in New Jersey. Hatfill once lived in Harare, Zimbabwe, where there is a school known as Greendale School. That school is actually named for Courtney Selous, the namesake of the Selous Scouts, who fought for white rule in what was then called Rhodesia. Hatfill has said he fought with the Selous Scouts.

–On his computer, officials found the draft of a novel about a bioterrorism attack.

–In 1999, while working for a defense contractor, Hatfill commissioned a report looking at how anthrax might be sent through the mail. That report suggested there would be about 2.5 grams of anthrax in an envelope – and that's what was in last fall's mailings.

Law enforcement officials have described Hatfill, 48, as a "person of interest," not a criminal suspect, and said he is only one of about 30 people being scrutinized. Hatfill's name, however, is the only one to have emerged publicly in the investigation.

Since Hatfill's name surfaced, a variety of news stories have appeared questioning his record and his background, and TV cameras were on hand to document the Aug. 1 search of his apartment complex.

"I do not object to being considered a subject of interest by the authorities because of my knowledge and background in the field of biological warfare defense," Hatfill told reporters Sunday. "But I do object to an investigation characterized, as this one has been, by outrageous official statements, calculated leaks to the media, and causing a feeding frenzy operating to my great prejudice."

The high-profile defense continued Monday on NBC's "Today" show.

"Why would you want to single out someone for national attention if you do not have enough to charge them with a crime," spokesman Pat Clawson said.

Hatfill's attorney, Victor M. Glasberg, said Sunday he would file a complaint with the Office of Professional Responsibility at the Department of Justice.

"Material seized in what is surely the most important criminal investigation internally in this country in a long while is now being leaked," Glasberg said.

Speaking to reporters outside Glasberg's office, Hatfill fiercely denied having anything to do with last fall's attacks.

"I am a loyal American and I love my country," Hatfill said, speaking with determination and frequently pointing his finger in the air for emphasis. "I have had nothing to do in any way, shape or form with the mailing of these anthrax letters."

Hatfill, an American flag pin affixed to his lapel, said he had cooperated fully with authorities only to have defamatory information about him leaked to reporters.

Several questions have surfaced about Hatfill, including what appear to be exaggerations on his resume and his involvement in fighting for white rule in the former African colony of Rhodesia. Neither he nor Glasberg would answer questions about his past. But Hatfill did say that anyone's life can be "picked apart" for inconsistencies.

"I do not claim to have lived a perfect life," he said.

Hatfill emphasized that his background is in the study of viral diseases such as Ebola, not bacterial diseases such as anthrax.

He said he was routinely vaccinated against anthrax because of his work at the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute at Fort Detrick, Md., once home to the U.S. biological warfare program and repository for the Ames strain of anthrax that was used in the attacks. But he said he had not been inoculated since 1999 and had been susceptible to anthrax since 2000.

It is unclear how much residual protection he would have had from his earlier vaccinations.

–––

Associated Press Ted Bridis contributed to this report.

© 2002 The Associated Press

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TOPICS: Anthrax Scare; Front Page News
KEYWORDS: incompetence
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The FBI is incompetent. If Ashcroft doesn't fire people over this it's a crime. Richard Jewell all over again.
1 posted on 08/12/2002 12:02:56 PM PDT by mercy
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To: mercy
This guy's press conference yesterday made fools out of the FBI and thus the entire justice department. Just what we need in this time of national crisis. It's just failure after failure with the FBI. And nobody is ever fired. I'm losing all respect for Ashcroft.
2 posted on 08/12/2002 12:05:37 PM PDT by mercy
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To: mercy
....but a number of intriguing items from his past make them unwilling to declare him cleared of any suspicion.

Oh I get it. There isn't a shred of even circumstantial evidence connecting him with the anthrax attacks, but something he did 20 years ago has raised their flags. Well, that's brilliant. How do these Feds do it? Over 6 billion people on the planet and they managed to find the one that ran a red light 20 years ago. It must be him! Who needs evidence?
3 posted on 08/12/2002 12:09:42 PM PDT by Mohammed El-Shahawi
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To: All
This guy is more than likely working "with" the FBI than a suspect. Don't believe everything you hear and see.

The Anthrax MAKER is likely dead. The terrorists are of the "dead men tell no tales" philosophy.

The Mailer(s) may be a different case but the Anthrax trail likely ended with Atta's death.

4 posted on 08/12/2002 12:11:06 PM PDT by Sacajaweau
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To: Mohammed El-Shahawi
Ditto. Orders from on high to make the scenario fit the propaganda. It was domestic terrorism. Right. The most sophisticated anthrax ever created and some nutcase whipped it up in his garage.

State sponsored terrorism plain and simple but the administration decides to cover it up. Yes the administration. The FBI could not be alone on this. This is from the top or one step removed.

Makes me sick.
5 posted on 08/12/2002 12:16:09 PM PDT by mercy
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To: Sacajaweau
I thought of this. This guy fits a CIA profile to a T. But it's too sophisticated. The damage to American morale has absolutely no benefit. Gotta reject this scenario. FBI incompetence and grandstanding is obvious. Fools.
6 posted on 08/12/2002 12:19:03 PM PDT by mercy
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To: Sacajaweau
Speaking of grandstanding ... it's the exact mentality that led to the Waco disaster. Instead of learning the lesson, disbanding the ATF rodeo as was befitting ... the cowboy method is now rife within the FBI itself.

Get off your dimwit ass Ashcroft. You are a liability to the Bush administration.
7 posted on 08/12/2002 12:23:37 PM PDT by mercy
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To: Sacajaweau
You are pretty close to the truth there, is my guess. Of course, the FBI is not a monolithic entity, but rather a bunch of human beings, and the case officer here may well be both dogged and clueless. That would certainly be how I would handle it, if I were running the show. To what extent is Hatfill "in" on this little passion play? Hard to say. He seems sincerely indignant, but his appearances have so far been tightly scripted.

Anyway, this is obviously going to get batted back and forth for a few days, then Hatfill will be officially cleared and go back to his job and everyone will be forced to ask the question: well, gosh, who did send those anthrax letters, anyway? Which is really why this all happening now, of course. Unneeded props are being dragged off the stage, and the scene is being set for the denouement of the anthrax saga. And the real guilty party is going to turn out to be...?

8 posted on 08/12/2002 12:25:12 PM PDT by The Great Satan
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To: The Great Satan
"And the real guilty party is going to turn out to be...?"

The Tourist Guy?
9 posted on 08/12/2002 12:32:45 PM PDT by APBaer
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To: mercy
I heard a portion of the news conference yesterday afternoon. One of the arguments made by Hatfill's lawyer is that while there is a section of Harare called "Greendale" (probably hundreds if not thousands of towns called "Greendale" around the world), but there is NOT a "Greendale School" in Harare. This article appears to contradict that.
10 posted on 08/12/2002 12:35:14 PM PDT by blau993
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Comment #11 Removed by Moderator

To: mercy
Check whatever the government claims eight ways to ten, and it's likely still a lie.
12 posted on 08/12/2002 12:39:29 PM PDT by onedoug
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To: mercy
I have a more sinister view. Ashcroft et al. know exactly what happened and it's so politically explosive, they're covering it up. A "readiness exercise" gone dreadfully wrong? Deliberate acts by someone high enough and public enough that he is able to use the political fallout as blackmail?

This is one of the most rare, heavily controlled substances on earth. We know the very strain and where it had to come from. We know who worked with it and who their friends and families were. We know which post offices it went thru and the vectors of infection.

I'm skeptical that the same government which has apparently pre-empted several attacks since 9/11 is completely unable to develop a single credible lead in this case.

God help us.

13 posted on 08/12/2002 12:41:23 PM PDT by SteamshipTime
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To: onedoug
And there lies the great evil belied by this latest insanity in a seemingly never ending string. Our government is in the hands of fools. Disgusting.
14 posted on 08/12/2002 12:43:32 PM PDT by mercy
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To: mercy
FBI Not Ready To Clear Hatfill

LOL! I'll bet their not! After that news conference yesterday, you can bet they are running around desperately looking under every rock.

If they find something, I say give the Hatfill guy, the best liar of the year award!

15 posted on 08/12/2002 12:44:02 PM PDT by Joe Hadenuf
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To: SteamshipTime
Maybe Alex Jones is right. Heaven help us.
16 posted on 08/12/2002 12:45:07 PM PDT by mercy
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To: mercy
Hatfill, whose name surfaced more than a month ago but has not been declared a suspect,

A former FBI agent on said earlier that the FBI doesn't use the term suspect...

17 posted on 08/12/2002 12:45:26 PM PDT by ItisaReligionofPeace
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To: blau993
No it doesn't. The Greendale School talking point was originally floated by ABC News, and repeated in almost all the subsequent reports. There is no "Greendale School" in Harare. There is a Greendale suburb in Harare. That is all. This does not rise to the level of a coincidence, as you can verify very quickly by plugging the name of every city you've ever lived in the last twenty-five years into a search engine with the additional term "+Greendale." Now that the embellishment has been exposed, they are trying to save face by saying, well, okay, but there is a school in Greendale named after Courtney Selous, and Hatfill was supposedly in the Selous Scouts, so there is a connection to the phony Franklin Park return address after all, see?

Can you see how ludicrous this is? How desperate? Incidentally, Courtney Love had a band called Hole, and Mohammed Atta was an ass-hole, so that obviously ties the whole thing back to al-Qaeda, doesn't it?

18 posted on 08/12/2002 12:45:41 PM PDT by The Great Satan
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To: Joe Hadenuf
"I say give the Hatfill guy, the best liar of the year award!"

In the non professional, i.e.(non-politician), category.
19 posted on 08/12/2002 12:46:26 PM PDT by APBaer
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To: ItisaReligionofPeace
"FBI doesn't use the term suspect"

Perhaps they lost the term in one of their laptops?
20 posted on 08/12/2002 12:47:40 PM PDT by APBaer
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