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.
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Associated Press Ted Bridis contributed to this report.
© 2002 The Associated Press
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That's the fly in my argument's ointment, agreed. My only thought is that they may have initially suspected him (and maybe others) but later found evidence pointing elsewhere and just are stringing the old suspicion along as a helpful distraction. Or, perhaps the investigators don't know the whole story either and are being allowed to wander down a garden path. Admittedly a horrible way to treat a citizen but there are huge things (lives) at stake and the gov may not be willing to risk the agents in the field being a little leaky. As someone suggested vis a vis detaining illegals in the U.S. "we can always pay reparations later, best to be safe for now."
Still, I can't help but think there's something very big in play behind the scenes that will shock many people when it comes out.
I'd love it if you could back up this statement. But you can't. To think that "state sponsored" terrorists were able to make better Anthrax than the U.S. or Russia is absolutely laughable. Do you understand that the United States government has a lab where scientists work with Anthrax? Do you understand that it is finely milled and weaponized? If you do, it shouldn't be so hard for you to understand that someone who has access to these materials could have stolen some...
Uh, how far away did the 9/11 hijackers live from American Media, BTW?
I never said that 30 scientists were working togehter. The reason I mentioned this is because you made a commment about some redneck making it in his garage. I was attempting to explain to you that the FBI obviously doesn't that it was some guy in his garage. As for the modern weapons lab...yes, there is one actually. It's called Ft. Dietrich (sp). do you get it now, nutso?
At 230 mph it's an hour away. Oh, and 25 years ago he lived in a city which incorporates a suburb called Greendale, and it said "Greendale School" on one of the anthrax letters.
Wow, that's really incriminating! No wonder the FBI turned the spotlight on this guy!
Go away and ponder on the following:
What is the nature of warfare?
What is the nature of terrorism?
What is the nature of state-sponsored terrorism?
An excerpt:
US scientists have determined that the anthrax in the letters received in the United States came from the Ames strain, which was discovered in Iowa in 1980. The Ames strain is not the strain Iraq was known to be developing. According to Dr. Spertzel, Iraq was turned down when it tried to buy it. What Iraq is known to have procured was the Vollum strain, and it is reported to have also bought the Sterne strain and the A-3 strain from France's Institut Pasteur. However, the Ames strain is widely available, and Iraq had many procurement sources around the world.
Less well known is what happened at a series of meetings reported between the September 11 terrorists and Iraqi agents. It has been reported that an Iraqi intelligence official had met secretly - in Prague - one year before the attacks with Mohamed Atta, one of the hijackers on the first flight to hit the World Trade Center on September 11. The Czech interior minister confirmed another meeting in Prague between Atta and Iraqi agent Ahmed Khalil Ibrahim Samir al-Ani five months prior to the attack. And senior US intelligence sources were quoted as saying that in the spring of 2001, at least two members of al-Qaeda's September 11 hijacking team other than Atta also met known Iraqi intelligence agents outside the United States. Other press reports have linked Osama bin Laden to the Iraqi government in the days just prior to the attacks, as well as the years leading up to them and the days since.
Headline should read, "FBI Said Not Ready to be Sued Yet." There are several questions that remain unanswered such as, who leaked Hatfills personal information to the hyenas at the press ? Did his involvement with white rule in Africa have something to do with it ?
Why has the FBI not released all the information to the public and press on possible suspects ? Are they pulling another Unabomber investigation fiasco ?
Is the FBI sitting on information that the anthrax mailers were all Arab terrorists and that they are now dead ? Could some bureaucrat type be prolonging the investigation so that his/her project will not go away or lose funding ?
We the people need to know these things. Most if not all of our public instutions have proven time and again that they are incompetant of carrying out any program without public oversight.
I don't know either way, though it ought to be easily verified. If there is such a school, it proves little, though it does undercut Hatfill's lawyer and add a level of coincidence to the case against him, if ther is a case.
I have some sympathy for Hatfill, but I think this case is a long way from over, whether or not he is a part of it.
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