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Justice Dept. to pay scientist $5.8 million in anthrax lawsuit The former Army scientist who for years was the prime suspect in the deadly 2001 anthrax mailings agreed Friday to take $5.8 million from the Justice Department to settle his claim that the government invaded his privacy and ruined his career. Steven Hatfill, 54, called a "person of interest" in the case by then-Attorney General John Ashcroft in 2002, said that label and repeated leaks of investigative details to the media damaged his reputation. For months in the anxious atmosphere following the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, Hatfill was subjected to 24-hour surveillance and identified as the leading suspect in the nation's first bioterrorism attack. However, he was never arrested or charged, and a federal judge presiding over his lawsuit said recently that there "is not a scintilla of evidence" linking him to the mailings. Former federal prosecutors knowledgeable about the investigation said the government's payout to Hatfill signifies that, in all likelihood, he will never be charged. The settlement calls for an immediate $2.82 million payment to Hatfill. Beginning in 2009, the government will pay Hatfill an annuity of $150,000 a year for 20 years, according to court papers. "Our government failed us, not only by failing to catch the anthrax mailers but by seeking to conceal that failure," Hatfill's lawyers said in a statement. The statement also blamed journalists for not questioning the motives of the government's statements or its tactics....
Fired Louisiana State Researcher Wins Settlement in Anthrax Terror Lawsuit At the height of the investigation, in 2002, Dr. Hatfill was fired from his position as associate director at Louisiana State University’s National Center for Biomedical Research and Training. The turmoil at the center surrounding Dr. Hatfill’s employment during the investigation, and a directive from the U.S. Department of Justice that Dr. Hatfill be barred from participating in any research paid for by the department, also led to the dismissal of Stephen L. Guillot, the center’s director. At that time, the Justice Department provided 97 percent of the center’s financing. Dr. Hatfill vigorously pursued his lawsuit against the federal government, winning a number of court orders compelling journalists to testify about where they had received information on the case. Though Dr. Hatfill was never officially deemed a suspect in the case, his public naming as a “person of interest” by the attorney general at the time, John Ashcroft, and high-profile searches and surveillance of his home placed the researcher firmly in the public spotlight....
Leaks, focus on single suspect undercut anthrax probe The federal investigation into the deadly anthrax mailings of late 2001 was undermined by leaks and a premature fixation on a single suspect, according to investigators and scientists involved in the case. More than six years after the mailings, no one has been charged, and the top suspect, former Army scientist Steven J. Hatfill was all but exonerated Friday when the U.S. Justice Department agreed to pay him $5.82 million to settle a lawsuit. The anthrax mailings killed five people, crippled mail delivery in some areas and closed a Senate office building for months, heightening anxiety on the heels of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Now, dozens of interviews by the Los Angeles Times and a review of newly available court documents reveal a flawed investigation marked by abnormal tactics and internal dissent. Behind the scenes, FBI agents chafed at their supervisors' obsession with Hatfill, who in 2002 was publicly identified by then-Atty. Gen. John D. Ashcroft as "a person of interest." The preoccupation with Hatfill persisted for years, long after investigators failed to turn up any evidence linking him to the mailings. Other potential suspects and leads were ignored or given insufficient attention, investigators said. One official who criticized Ashcroft for singling out Hatfill was rebuked by the FBI director's top aide. When Hatfill, now 54, landed a government-funded university job, the Department of Justice forced his dismissal. Ashcroft and FBI officials testified in the lawsuit that they knew of no precedent for such intervention. Investigators also questioned orders from their bosses to share confidential information with political leaders, a departure from normal procedure. The security of information within the probe was so lax that FBI agents found news helicopters racing them to the scenes of searches. One exasperated agent called the leaks to the media "ridiculous." When an official proposed using lie-detector tests to find the source of the leaks, FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III dismissed the idea, saying it would be "bad for morale," according to testimony by one of the lead agents on the case. Previously undisclosed deposition testimony by agents and their supervisors was gathered as part of the lawsuit Hatfill filed in 2003, alleging that the government violated his privacy and damaged his reputation and prospects for employment. A federal judge who reviewed details of the investigation, including still-secret FBI summaries, declared earlier this year that there "is not a scintilla of evidence that would indicate that Dr. Hatfill had anything to do with this." FBI leaders remained fixated on Hatfill into late 2006, agents said....
The Anthrax Letters Hatfill’s attorneys had filed a case against the Federal Government for violation of privacy rights. Hatfill will receive $2.825 million up front and $150,000 a year for 20 years. "I don't think anyone would believe the Department of Justice would . . . pay that kind of money unless they felt there was significant exposure at trial," said Brian Sun, a defense lawyer who represented nuclear scientist Wen Ho Lee in a leak case. (Boston Globe) Exposure? Yes, exactly what would be revealed if Hatfill’s case were to go on? In those days following 9-11 the American public was led to believe all sorts of things regarding the anthrax letters. One version was that the Middle Eastern terrorists who hijacked planes and directed them at the World Trade Center towers, were somehow implicated and may have even brought anthrax to the U.S. from a foreign land. But when our own scientists were employing DNA fingerprinting technology that was leading up to the doorsteps of military biological warfare laboratories in Utah and Maryland, the story had to change. Hatfill became the scapegoat. In a written statement, Hatfill's lawyers said, "We can only hope that the individuals and institutions involved are sufficiently chastened by this episode to deter similar destruction of private citizens in the future – and that we will all read anonymously sourced news reports with a great deal more skepticism." (International Herald Tribune) Chastised? The taxpayers paid the monetary price. The case is unsolved and agents involved in pursuit of the anthrax terrorists (FBI, postal inspectors) have not lost their jobs. The settlement with Hatfill stops further pursuit and revelations of government complicity in this case. Hatfill was never charged, just slandered. That is all that government need do, create public suspicion. Somehow, someone swiped anthrax from a military biological warfare laboratory and used it to kill 5 and infect 17. Someone who walks in and out of the doors at these military labs was involved. They are still at large, and probably still have access to the anthrax....
The Crucifixion of Steven Hatfill This link will take you to a five-part series done on the Hatfill case in 2002.