This search was done with a search warrant, which is fairly significant. The idea this is some vast deception to draw out the "real suspect" strikes me as wishful thinking.
I suspect they have something on him. I realize this is wildly unpopular on FR, him not being named Sayed Al-Hatfila and everything.
I predict people will jump all over the Iraq stuff but I suspect it's a red herring. And apparently he hasn't actually been there (though I've seen conflicting reports on that.)
It's unfortunate (and I really mean that, I'm not happy about it either) that this guy actually is apparently a white gun enthusiast with ties to the white Rhodesian government and apartheid South Africa. This is the guy that everyone on Democratic Underground has wet dreams about being connected to the Anthrax attacks.
1. Maybe they didn't ask him for consent in the first place? Did they ask and he said no? Is he in Louisiana?
2. Why check dumpsters? Did someone see him throw something out?
3. Does he have something else to hide unrelated?
4. "Sources said Hatfill took a polygraph but the results were inconclusive." --- I remember that...and the "lies" he told were about parts of his serving in Rhodessian forces and the like. Maybe there are "lies" related to anthrax, but those weren't leaked ...why not? And "inconclusive" -what does that mean, and about what?
5. "Sources said that while the June search was for traces of anthrax, the focus of the latest search was different, although they did not elaborate. The warrant allowed for a broader search, the sources said." --- Broader? Broader than Anthrax? What did he consent to the three or four previous times? Did he say "just look for anthrax?" Funny, I saw the feds hauling out lots of items from his home. This sentce is posed as if the "warrant" was "broader" than what the guy allowed.
6. He's on the "stand by" roster of persons to go to Iraq. So? Wouldn't most anyone in that business be? Doesn't he need a job? Why would he not apply directly to the group considering circumstances?
I'm not saying this isn't "the guy", but the spin is just spin.
It's not a popularity contest here on FR. We search for truth. Keep up the good reporting. Stop being so worried. If you think you are right, post it. Sometimes you have to go it alone. Be proud. Be strong. Be FRee. Be American.
It appears everyone who has worked in that lab and other labs have been asked to take polygraphs. Checking earlier articles...
I've searched this one. All I can find in the press is the statement by Hatfill that he passed it. And in one place, Kristof's "Mr. Z" piece in the NY Times, where he "hears" that Hatfill (presumably) was found to be "evasive".
My searches include CNN.
All this means is that they were searching trash bins outside his apartment, so, unlike the earlier searches, his consent wouldn't have been sufficient to authorize the search. (They were searching through a mix of garbage, including other people's. Hatfill's consent would be irrelevant to a search which included other people's trash; therefore, they needed a search warrant.)
Well of course you do...