Posted on 03/09/2007 8:41:11 AM PST by jpl
(CBS) They followed him. They brought bloodhounds into his home. The attorney general identified him to the world as a "person of interest" in the first major bioterrorism attack in the nation's history.
But five years after letters sent through the U.S. mail containing anthrax killed five and injured 17, the FBI has yet to charge Dr. Steven Hatfill. In 2003, he sued the government.
The resulting depositions of FBI personnel and law enforcement records obtained by 60 Minutes provide an inside look into one of the FBI's biggest investigations ever and raise the possibility that the bureau may have a cold case on its hands.
Correspondent Lesley Stahl's report, which contains revelations from those depositions, will be broadcast this Sunday, March 11, at 7 p.m. ET/PT.
Hatfill, a scientist who worked at an Army laboratory where the strain of anthrax used in the attacks was stored, is the only "person of interest" named publicly in the case. He has maintained his innocence all along.
Hatfill is suing the government for destroying his reputation by, among other things, naming him "a person of interest." According to depositions taken for Hatfill's suit and obtained by 60 Minutes, the FBI official who oversaw the investigation says the bureau was looking at many more people.
"There were … 20 to 30 other people who were also likewise identified as 'persons of interest' in the investigation,' " the FBI's Richard Lambert says under oath.
60 Minutes has learned that today at least a dozen of those other people still have not been eliminated as so-called "persons of interest."
Hatfill charges in his suit that the FBI leaked information about him that was distorted and damaging. After the deadly mailings, evidence-sniffing bloodhounds reportedly "went crazy" at Hatfill's apartment, according to a Newsweek story.
60 Minutes has learned that the bloodhounds reacted similarly at the home and office of another scientist, too. And two of the dogs have been wrong on a number of occasions, including a serial rape case in which a man in California was arrested and jailed, based largely on the evidence from the dogs. He was ultimately exonerated with DNA evidence.
To quell the leaks, FBI Director Robert Mueller instituted a tactic known as "stovepiping," whereby the various squads assigned to the case stopped sharing information with one another.
In his deposition, the FBI's Lambert said he opposed Mueller's order because barring investigators from exchanging information "… would inhibit our ability to 'connect the dots' in a case of this magnitude …" just as it had leading up to 9/11.
Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, agrees that stovepiping undercut the investigation. He also charges that the FBI used the leaks to cover a lack of progress in the case.
"I believe … they wanted the public to believe that they … were making great progress in this case," he tells Stahl. "It's just turning out to be a cold case."
60 Minutes has also learned that the FBI's biggest hope to crack the case turned out to be a dead end created by one of its own investigators.
Early on in its investigation, the bureau was able to lift trace amounts of DNA from one of the envelopes used in the attacks. Agents hoped this forensic evidence would hold the key to solving the crime. But the amount of DNA recovered was so minute the bureau decided not to test it, fearing that doing so would use up the sample without yielding results.
The FBI then improved its DNA-testing technology so it could accurately test the microscopic sample. They then discovered that the DNA belonged to one of its own investigators who had contaminated the envelope.
Ping. Be sure to watch 60 Minutes this Sunday night!
Ping.
I still believe Hatfill is involved.
Just a hunch.
IIRC, CBS was more than happy to splash Hatfill's face across the TV.
He's not.
This should be interesting.
God help us if the Anthrax attack was just a pilot project.
The guy who is behind this was hung by the Iraqis last year. This was an Iraqi operation. Thats what I believe..
Whether he is or isn't, the point is the FBI seemed bound and determined to make him the perp at all costs................
The letters were given to Atta by Sadam's agent in the the Czech Republic. IMHO.
MAY have a cold case?
Uh, I think it's pretty definitely a cold case.
Can anyone tell me what these dogs were sniffing for?
Anthrax?
Post Cards?
Hatfill?
Did they confirm Hatfill lived in his own apartment? Sheesh.
Perhaps the first bioterror attack in this country occurred in 1984, perpetrated by the Rajneeshees - a cult from India. Its purpose was to gain political control of a county in Oregon. Afterwards, our government went to great lengths to cover it up. I don't know why.
Agree. It may be "cold" because this guy successfully buried his evidence.
I agree. The nature of the stuff is that only a handful of people knew how to make, and transmit this, efficiently. That's why Hatfill is such a suspect. He was involved in all sorts of training ops in the 1990s. It may only be that he showed someone how to do it who later turned out to be a terrorist, but it's suspicious.
My personal theory is that I believe that our government and the elites that control it are actually terrified by what they see as the rabble (meaning guys like you and me).
I think that they think that to acknowledge that we have attacked with biological weapons on our soil from outsiders would trigger a violent wave of vigilante justice against innocent dark-skinned people here at home.
I personally think that it's absurd, but to me it explains why these days the authorities always instantly rush forth to say "not terrorism" for pretty much every incident, even before they could possibly know for certain whether it was actually terrorism or not.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.