Tables Turned In Anthrax Probe

(CBS)  Remember the anthrax scare? It was about four weeks after 9/11. Letters laced with powdery spores of the deadly bacteria were mailed through the U.S. postal system. In all, five people died, 17 fell ill. At first, everyone thought this was another al Qaeda terrorist attack.

But soon the FBI began keying on a so-called "person of interest" – Steven Hatfill – and launched one of the largest criminal investigations in its history.

As correspondent Lesley Stahl reports, the FBI has been going after this guy for five years, and yet he has got them in court: Hatfill has sued the FBI and Department of Justice for what he claims has been a campaign of leaking lies and distortions about him to the press.

Through the lawsuit, Hatfill's lawyer has not only obtained boxfuls of internal government documents, but he has also deposed nearly every major law enforcement official involved in the case. It is the latest twist in the FBI's yet unsolved investigation of the anthrax murders.

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A number of anthrax letters began appearing in the mail between late September and October, 2001. The letters were sent to news outlets – Dan Rather and Tom Brokaw got them. As did two U.S. senators. And two postal workers, who handled the poisonous envelopes, died.

Steven Hatfill, a medical doctor and an expert on viruses, was outed in a drumbeat of news reports that included aerial shots of the FBI seizing property from his apartment, including his trash.

And then-Attorney General John Ashcroft confirmed on television that Hatfill was a "person of interest."

But instead of the FBI nailing Hatfill, he filed his lawsuit claiming that with their leaks, the FBI and Justice Department had violated his presumption of innocence and destroyed his reputation.

"I 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," he said in August, 2002.

In the lawsuit, Hatfill is turning the tables on the FBI: the hunted is dragging the hunters into court. Top officials were deposed on videotape, like John Ashcroft, who was less than forthcoming.

"Is it appropriate for Department of Justice officials to suggest that Dr. Hatfill fits a behavioral profile of the anthrax killer?" Ashcroft was asked.

"I don't know," the attorney general replied.

"You don't know whether it was appropriate or inappropriate to disclose that kind of information?" he was asked.

"I don't know," Ashcroft responded.

Asked if he thought it was fair to Dr. Hatfill, Ashcroft said, "I don't know."

John Ashcroft answered "I don't know" to 85 questions in the four and a half hour deposition.

Hatfill came on the radar screen in the first place because he seemed to fit the FBI profile as an American scientist who had worked at a U.S. Army laboratory where the strain of anthrax used in the attacks was stored.

There were other – quote – "curiosities." For instance, he commissioned a study in 1999 of how emergency personnel should respond in the event of an anthrax mailing. He wrote a novel fictionalizing a bio-terrorist attack in Washington.

And there's an open question about how similar his handwriting is to that on the anthrax envelopes. But in his deposition, Richard Lambert, who oversaw the FBI investigation, said there were other people on the radar screen.

"There were 20 to 30 other people who were also likewise identified as 'persons of interest' in the investigation," Lambert said during the deposition.

Lambert couldn't identify the other people, acknowledging that his testimony could stigmatize those individuals.

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[jbkaufmann]

No mention in the 3-11-2007 60M piece/segment of the evidence in the linguistical-forensic analysis on the anthrax-bearing envelopes. How many people have the word "Greendale" in their everyday lexicon? Not many. My age: approx 60 yrs. This is the very first time I've EVER used the word "Greendale" in a communication. Yet for the anthrax killer this was very much part of his vocabulary. The killer was obviously not aware of the paucity of usage for this compound word here. It's not like the word "greenback," or "green beans," etc. It's a word you'd expect to find in a Keats or Byron poem. The fact is Doctor H. was eminently aware of this word, living in this Salisbury, Rhodesia suburb yrs back. Whether there is a "Greendale School" or not is irrelevant. His background shows his linguistic familiarity with the word. Although most Americans recognize the phrase, "In verdant pastures He gives me repose..." what person ever heard said: "In a lush greendale, He gives me rest..."??? This is a word (although seemingly common in componding) that reveals much because of its lack of USA usage. Kudos to the FBI for finding the guy. So there is resolution, if not prosecution/conviction. Unfortunately, the Tylenol killer of October, 1982 never left anything written.

[samael2014]

What really resonates with some cold, deep, dark feeling in the pit of my stomach is that whoever was responsible for the anthrax attacks more than likely was hatching this scheme BEFORE 9-11, was likely employed or working for the federal government, and what this all would clearly imply. Taking an antibiotic like Cipro certainly brings to light the kind of preparation and time someone who obviously knew how to handle anthrax would probably want to take to be able to have the first letters in the mail so soon after the 9-11 attacks (that date and what probably only Americans would associate euphemistically to an "emergency wake-up call" -- it always stuns me that more people wouldn't cognitively associate a domestic terrorist with choosing a date like that for such a brazen attack on America). Simply amazing how readily we ate it all up, the investigation into the attacks, the only living suspects kept secreted away from the public, the FBI investigation gone cold into something that should be just as frightening or more to the average joe public, a terrorist that can attack any one of us whenever they desire, without the need to penetrate America's vastly financed security and war on international terror since 9-11. A terrorist that has a very special set of skills and modus operandi, probably works or worked as an agent of the federal government with access to its supplies of anthrax, and remains very much at large with the FBI, FIVE YEARS later.

[drpzack]

ATTENTION, ATTENTION!!

Dr. Philip Zack! Dr. Philip Zack!
Dr. Philip Zack! Dr. Philip Zack!
Dr. Philip Zack! Dr. Philip Zack!
Dr. Philip Zack! Dr. Philip Zack!

Special Thanks to Mr. M.R.

[bushsux2]

The FBI should check out Phillip Zack, the person who was caught entering the anthrax lab at Ft. Detrick WITHOUT authorization. CAUGHT REDHANDED.

Maybe Sen. Grassley and the FBI should be sent this link http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/anthraxsuspect.html and google "phillip zack anthrax"

Forward the links to the Senator.

[richard mr]

Well I guess that we the watch list people will never know what the government has done to our lives, this big secret and the damage which it has calls. My Children will never know what all the government has done to me and others like me, my sister has just died and she never knew why they were going to so much trouble to destroy her brother's life. If the F.B.I. or the homeland security higher a surrogate to vandalize your property to physically attacked you we need to know about it, There are 150,000 people or more on the watchless and they deserve to know what was done to them by the government of the United States of America. The dreams that was never achieved because of the actions of the government, and the illegal action that was directed at us. I guess we will never know what really happened, the people who were affected by this watch list and the surveillance and wiretaps. We need to know what ever they are doing for some type of closure. I want to know what was done to me? I half outlined what I know that had happened to me on my website itsavideoworld.com I like to pursue legal action against the United States government for the hundreds of thousands of dollars I have lost but the secrecy a round this issue prevents me from doing that. I am a American citizen and I have the right to take legal action against my government but the documents I need is impossible for me to obtain.

[opiegrant-2009]

Here is the real suspect: http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/anthraxsuspect.html He will never be prosecuted, mainly due to political pressure from our "ally", Israel.

[therealnews1]

Dear Ms. Stahl,
As an American citizen, I appreciate your investigation of this act of terrorism taking place on American soil. In the interests of investigating all leads, please take the opportunity to research the involvement of Lt Col Philip Zack, a "person of interest" who had the means and the access to the strain of Anthrax used in these attacks. It would appear that the evidence is pointing in a different direction than that presented to date by most media outlets. The story should not be buried if we are serious about finding the source of our "War on Terror".
Thank you.

[postamerican]

Remember the anthrax scare??? It's been 2,001 days since WMD said he'd catch Weekend at Osama's! If I can find the anthrax terrorist, Dr. Philip Zack using GOOGLE, uh why can't the FBI? I look forward to seeing this Government and its Corporate State Controlled Media brought to justice for the lies, terror, and war crimes!

[vanderlust]

Follow the money!

Medical company selling cipro was broke, but was already refurnishing and upgrading computers long before the hulabaloo. My friends mom was a regional manager in france, she wondered about the insane purchases, untill the hulabaloo hit, she didn't want to talk about it any more... I did! :D

www.whatreallyhappened.com

[geo1671]

Remember the color alerts. Well this anthrax was another scare the *** out of the dumb American public.
You got to give credit to AIPAC Juice gangs--they were very successful and it did work. What is next is a Nuke case going off soon and blame this on Bugs Bunny.