Hey, FBI: Put up or shut up

Tue, 08/05/2008 - 10:16am
Mark Wilson/Getty Images

Am I the only one who finds the FBI's steady drumbeat of leaks in the anthrax case a bit unseemly and, well, downright suspicious?

Since Fort Detrick scientist Bruce Ivins committed suicide last week, "law enforcement officials" and other anonymous sources have been feeding information to the press about his alleged responsibility for the anthrax mailings of 2001, which killed five postal workers and sent the country into a panic.

Here's what we've learned about Ivins, through anonymous leaks:

  • He had an alcohol problem
  • He was obsessed with the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority
  • He used a PO box, listed under a false name, to receive pictures of naked, blindfolded women
  • He spilled anthrax and didn't report it
  • He had a financial stake in anthrax vaccines
  • He threatened to kill a social worker and his coworkers
  • He wrote strange letters to newspapers
  • He had access to an anthrax dryer

Sounds like a creepy dude, yes. But it's the kind of suggestive information you leak if you don't want people to notice that your hard evidence -- scientific proof that Ivins was the guy -- is lacking and won't stand up in court. The FBI insists that they've got the goods, and they'll make their findings public tomorrow. We shall see.

UPDATE: Glenn Greenwald has much, much more.

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Solid points

Thanks for highlighting this, Blake. The FBI would do itself and the public a big favor to favor evidence over character assassination. Around half of your bullets above are tangential at best, and, if employed against Ivins prior to his suicide, might reasonably be thought to have contributed to his mental state. It would be surprising if Steven Hatfill had not contemplated drastic measures during his years as the "person of interest" in this case. None of this is to say that they haven't finally found the right person, but a legal case is far stronger than a smear campaign, which merely undermines the FBI's reputation. PublicOrgTheory

Interesting..

Time also has an article on this topic. Check it out too: http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1829495,00.html?cnn=yes - Scott