[iwar] From counter-biowar expert to Ashcroft's whipping boy

From: televr (yangyun@metacrawler.com)
Date: 2002-08-11 07:07:56


Return-Path: <sentto-279987-5163-1029074878-fc=all.net@returns.groups.yahoo.com>
Delivered-To: fc@all.net
Received: from 204.181.12.215 [204.181.12.215] by localhost with POP3 (fetchmail-5.7.4) for fc@localhost (single-drop); Sun, 11 Aug 2002 07:15:08 -0700 (PDT)
Received: (qmail 21515 invoked by uid 510); 11 Aug 2002 14:12:37 -0000
Received: from n17.grp.scd.yahoo.com (66.218.66.72) by all.net with SMTP; 11 Aug 2002 14:12:37 -0000
X-eGroups-Return: sentto-279987-5163-1029074878-fc=all.net@returns.groups.yahoo.com
Received: from [66.218.67.200] by n17.grp.scd.yahoo.com with NNFMP; 11 Aug 2002 14:07:58 -0000
X-Sender: yangyun@metacrawler.com
X-Apparently-To: iwar@yahoogroups.com
Received: (EGP: mail-8_0_7_4); 11 Aug 2002 14:07:57 -0000
Received: (qmail 90932 invoked from network); 11 Aug 2002 14:07:57 -0000
Received: from unknown (66.218.66.216) by m8.grp.scd.yahoo.com with QMQP; 11 Aug 2002 14:07:57 -0000
Received: from unknown (HELO n18.grp.scd.yahoo.com) (66.218.66.73) by mta1.grp.scd.yahoo.com with SMTP; 11 Aug 2002 14:07:57 -0000
Received: from [66.218.67.190] by n18.grp.scd.yahoo.com with NNFMP; 11 Aug 2002 14:07:57 -0000
To: iwar@yahoogroups.com
Message-ID: <aj5r3t+e7m5@eGroups.com>
User-Agent: eGroups-EW/0.82
X-Mailer: Yahoo Groups Message Poster
From: "televr" <yangyun@metacrawler.com>
X-Originating-IP: 24.156.93.236
X-Yahoo-Profile: televr
Mailing-List: list iwar@yahoogroups.com; contact iwar-owner@yahoogroups.com
Delivered-To: mailing list iwar@yahoogroups.com
Precedence: bulk
List-Unsubscribe: <mailto:iwar-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com>
Date: Sun, 11 Aug 2002 14:07:56 -0000
Subject: [iwar] From counter-biowar expert to Ashcroft's whipping boy
Reply-To: iwar@yahoogroups.com
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
X-Spam-Status: No, hits=0.0 required=5.0 tests= version=2.20
X-Spam-Level: 


Ex-Army Scientist Denies Role in Anthrax Attacks
'My Life Is Destroyed' by Probe, Media

By Tom Jackman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, August 11, 2002; Page A01

Reporters bang on Steven J. Hatfill's door at all hours. An Internet
Web site labels him "Steven 'Mengele' Hatfill, Nazi swine." Cable talk
shows routinely discuss whether he is last fall's anthrax mailer. And
twice, the FBI has very publicly swept into Hatfill's Frederick apartment.

Hatfill was once a highly respected researcher and teacher of
biological warfare. Now he is doing neither. Since February, he has
lost one job and been suspended from another. He had seemingly
dedicated his life to combating biological terrorism, but his has
become the leading name in the investigation into the most dramatic
act of bioterrorism that America has ever seen.

Speaking out for the first time since his name became public, Hatfill
said he did not send the anthrax-laced envelopes that killed five
people last fall.

"I went from being someone with pride in my work, pride in my
profession, to being made into the biggest criminal of the 21st
century, for something I never touched," Hatfill said. "What I've been
trying to contribute, my work, is finished. My life is destroyed."

It is impossible to assess with certainty Hatfill's version of events.
FBI officials have declined to say publicly why they have raided his
home or discuss any other evidence.

Law enforcement officials have said privately that Hatfill is one of
as many as 30 "persons of interest" in the investigation, all of whom
are being examined because of potential access and expertise in
handling anthrax. Authorities say Hatfill has attracted particular
attention because of his work in the biological weapons program and
his general level of expertise with biological agents. They have
painted him as disgruntled and frustrated, with an inflated ego and
résumé -- the kind of person who might wage such an attack.

But Hatfill's attorney, Victor M. Glasberg of Alexandria, said the
reasons don't make sense. In fact, Glasberg said, when Hatfill worked
at the Army bioresearch lab at Fort Detrick, "he did not do anthrax
work. Steve has never worked with anthrax. He has never cultured
anthrax. He has never handled anthrax."

Hatfill hasn't been charged. But even so, Glasberg said, "Steve's life
has been devastated by a drumbeat of innuendo, implication and
speculation. We have a frightening public attack on an individual who,
guilty or not, should not be exposed to this type of public opprobrium
based on speculation."

Glasberg said Hatfill had no motive to commit bioterror. He said
Hatfill was not disgruntled or unhappy. "He was totally satisfied that
this was an all-out effort to move the [bioterror] program forward,"
Glasberg said. "You're going to find no expression of frustration."

Hatfill was initially interviewed by investigators in January, and
then given a lie-detector test as part of a wide-ranging FBI review of
the scientific community. Hatfill was told he gave satisfactory
answers on the test.

But his name kept resurfacing, both among scientists and on the
Internet, and the FBI returned for a two-hour interview in March, and
then a voluntary search of his apartment June 25.

The FBI search -- accompanied by reporters, cameras and hovering news
helicopters -- thrust Hatfill into an international spotlight. When
the attention died down, Hatfill decided to try to salvage his
reputation, and Glasberg approached The Washington Post for an interview.

On Aug. 1, four days before the scheduled interview, the FBI raided
Hatfill's apartment with a criminal search warrant, again accompanied
by the media, which had been tipped to the raid.

"My friends are bombarded," Hatfill said. "Phone calls at night.
Trespassing. Beating on my door. For the sheer purpose of selling
newspapers and television."

Hatfill, 48, still wanted to tell his side of the story. But during an
interview at Glasberg's office, Glasberg did most of the talking,
saying it was for Hatfill's protection in case authorities decide to
prosecute him. Hatfill sat next to Glasberg throughout the three-hour
interview, sometimes trying to answer and being told by Glasberg to
stop. Only when asked about the impact of the investigation did
Glasberg allow Hatfill to answer.

The FBI declined to respond to Hatfill's or Glasberg's statements.
"We've not confirmed anyone's identity," said Van A. Harp, head of the
Washington field office, which is leading the investigation.

Hatfill began his career as a medical doctor, receiving his degree
from a school in Zimbabwe and adding postgraduate degrees in microbial
genetics, medical biochemistry and experimental pathology from
colleges in South Africa. His 15 years in southern Africa, at a time
when apartheid still existed, has raised eyebrows among Hatfill's
accusers. Glasberg declined to discuss those years, saying it was
irrelevant to the anthrax investigation, but noted that Hatfill
developed his interest and specialty in viruses such as Ebola while in
Africa.

Hatfill's résumé detailing those periods has created another storm.
Hatfill claimed on a 1997 résumé that he served in the Army Special
Forces. Army records show that he enlisted in the Reserve in 1975,
served a year of active duty and attended -- but dropped out of --
Special Forces training. Glasberg declined to comment on Hatfill's
military record.

In the mid-1990s, Hatfill's résumé listed a doctoral degree. Glasberg
said Hatfill had submitted a thesis to Rhodes University in South
Africa and thought he had received the degree but later learned it was
never awarded. He amended the résumé in 1999 to "Ph.D. thesis."

Hatfill returned to the United States in the mid-1990s, working first
as a research fellow at the National Institutes of Health. In
September 1997, under a two-year grant from the National Research
Council, he began working at the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute
of Infectious Diseases at Fort Detrick, the Pentagon's top center for
investigating deadly pathogens.

At Fort Detrick, "there's bacteriology research and there's virology
research," Glasberg said. "They each have their separate labs. They
each have separate decontamination chambers. The lab Steve had access
to dealt with viral diseases. . . . The two were separate and didn't
mix. . . . He never worked with anthrax at Fort Detrick. He's a viral
guy. That [anthrax] is a bacteria."

Chuck Dasey, a spokesman for Fort Detrick, confirmed Hatfill's work
history. "It's true he didn't work on anthrax and was never issued
vials of anthrax," Dasey said. He said Hatfill was assigned to the
virology division as a research associate.

Before Hatfill's grant expired, he took a job with Science
Applications International Corp., a defense contractor with an office
in McLean. Glasberg said Hatfill became lead instructor for a course
in national preparedness for weapons of mass destruction, developed a
biological warfare curriculum for the State Department and helped the
Air Force design a biological weapons defense program.

In 1999, Glasberg said, a series of hoax letters claiming to contain
anthrax were mailed across the country. Hatfill realized that fire and
police departments didn't know how to respond.

Hatfill commissioned William Patrick III, a biological weapons expert,
to write a report on how to deal with anthrax sent through the mail.
"It was a public service," Glasberg said, and Patrick was paid only
$500. Hatfill and a colleague took Patrick's report to the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta and submitted it to its
bioterrorism preparation center. The CDC was working on the same
project, Glasberg said, and produced the same findings and
recommendations as Patrick.

The guidelines were distributed to fire and police departments,
published on the Internet and remain unchanged today, Glasberg said.
But the concept of a report on anthrax mail attacks -- two years
before last October's mailings -- intrigued the FBI. In particular,
Patrick's report discussed mailing 2.5 grams of anthrax powder, about
the same amount contained in the deadly anthrax letters.

Glasberg said Patrick used 2.5 grams because that was the amount of
talc he poured into an envelope, as a test, to see how much could pass
unobtrusively through the mails. Some media reports have called
Patrick's report a "blueprint" for the fatal mailings.

"That lacks any sense at all," Glasberg said. "There is zero data in
the report. It shows you what you do after it happens."

Boris Lederer, who worked with Hatfill at Science Applications
International, recalled his colleague's reaction when the anthrax
mailings occurred. "It was just shock and complete disbelief that this
was happening," Lederer said.

Because he had worked at Fort Detrick, Hatfill understood that he
would be questioned by investigators. Glasberg said that after Hatfill
took a lie-detector exam in January, the agent told him, "I'm
satisfied. I believe you had nothing to do with the anthrax."

But as the investigation ground to a halt, accusations about Hatfill
were relayed to investigators, which Hatfill rebutted in a two-hour
meeting in March. Among those allegations:

• That he had unfettered access to the Army bioresearch lab at Fort
Detrick after his grant ended in 1999. He did not, Glasberg said.
"After he stopped working there, he had to be escorted, like
everybody," Glasberg said. Dasey confirmed that.

• That he had been given a booster vaccine for anthrax. He did not,
Glasberg said. His last anthrax vaccination was in December 1998, and
he has not received a shot since then, making him as vulnerable as
anyone else, Glasberg said.

• That he removed cabinets from Fort Detrick that could be used to
culture anthrax. The cabinets, weighing more than 350 pounds, were
moved by truck to a training site for a military exercise and then
blown up, Glasberg said.

• That the "Greendale School" listed as a return address on the
anthrax mailings is in Harare, Zimbabwe, near Hatfill's medical
school. "To the best of our knowledge, there isn't any Greendale
School," Glasberg said. "There is a subdivision near Harare called
Greendale, but there are Greendales everywhere."

• That Hatfill was disgruntled at losing his security clearance. At
Fort Detrick, Hatfill never had nor needed security clearance,
Glasberg and Dasey said. Once at Science Applications International,
he got low-level security clearance for one project. When he was
detailed to work for the CIA on another project, a CIA lie-detector
test was ambiguous when he was asked about his days in Africa,
Glasberg said. His clearance was revoked pending an appeal.

Virtually none of Hatfill's work at Science Applications International
required a clearance, Glasberg said, but the company used its
revocation as a reason to fire Hatfill in February. He said the
company has since offered Hatfill settlement payments, which he
rejected, and more work, which he accepted.

In May, Esteban Rodriguez, a supervisor at the Defense Intelligence
Agency, wrote a letter lauding Hatfill's "unsurpassed technical
expertise, unique resourcefulness, total dedication and consummate
professionalism" in helping the military prepare for possible
biowarfare in Afghanistan.

In June, still with no anthrax suspect in sight, scientist Barbara
Hatch Rosenberg met with the staff of Sens. Thomas A. Daschle
(D-S.D.), Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.) and Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa).
Rosenberg is a biological weapons expert from the Federation of
American Scientists and had published two scathing letters attacking
the FBI's lack of results. Rosenberg said she has been careful never
to mention Hatfill's name, but several media reported that his name
was raised in the meeting, which the FBI also attended.

Several days later, agents asked for and received Hatfill's permission
to search his apartment. "They cart out 23 bags of stuff from his
apartment," Glasberg said. "They swab the walls for anthrax. And if
they came up with something, we don't know about it. The agent in
charge told Steve, 'This is on instruction from on high.' "

Next, the agents asked Hatfill to take a second lie-detector test.
Glasberg wanted to know why, and advised against it. He said the FBI
called Hatfill on July 31 and wanted to talk. Glasberg called the
agent and left a message offering to schedule a meeting. The next day,
the second search occurred.

Glasberg said Hatfill's father received a phone call from a reporter
the night before the search, warning him that "something significant"
was about to happen. The day of the search, Hatfill hired another
Alexandria lawyer, Jonathan Shapiro. Shapiro called Assistant U.S.
Attorney Kenneth Kohl to introduce himself, Glasberg said, and not
long after, Shapiro received a call from a reporter.

Channing Phillips, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office in
Washington, said his office was not speaking to reporters about
Hatfill. Glasberg said, "It's just absolutely clear this stuff is
being leaked to the press for the purpose of giving their
investigation high profile, to demonstrate the FBI is on the case,
without any regard to the consequences to this man."

Hatfill found a new job at Louisiana State University, teaching
federal agents and police how to handle bioterror for $150,000
annually. But after the second search, LSU put him on paid leave for
30 days.

At both Science Applications International and LSU, Glasberg said,
Hatfill has been laid off because they were in "the difficult position
of having to contend with unproved, defamatory allegations against
someone who's becoming increasingly visible."

Glasberg compared the case to that of Richard Jewell, the Atlanta
security guard who was a suspect in the 1996 Olympic Park bombing and
who became a household name even though he had done nothing wrong.
"One would think that incidents like Richard Jewell," Glasberg said,
"would alert the authorities to the importance of proceeding fairly
and discreetly in these investigations."

Staff writers Guy Gugliotta, Susan Schmidt and Dan Eggen contributed
to this report.

© 2002 The Washington Post Company 


------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~-->
4 DVDs Free +s&p Join Now
http://us.click.yahoo.com/pt6YBB/NXiEAA/Ey.GAA/kgFolB/TM
---------------------------------------------------------------------~->

------------------
http://all.net/ 

Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ 



This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.2 : 2002-10-01 06:44:32 PDT