Legal News

DOJ Excludes Hatfill from Anthrax Involvement. Why Wait Till Now?

By Dan Slater

Jeffrey Taylor, U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, address the media about the anthrax investigation, Aug. 6, 2008. (AP Photo/Lawrence Jackson)

Last Wednesday, U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Taylor said of Bruce Ivins, the biodefense researcher who committed suicide as prosecutors prepared to indict him in connection with the 2001 anthrax attacks: “We believe we could have proven Dr. Ivins’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. We regret that we will not have the opportunity to present evidence to the jury.”

Two days later, Taylor (Stanford, Harvard Law) sent a letter to a lawyer for Dr. Steven Hatfill, a onetime colleague of Ivins, that officially “excluded” Hatfill from involvement in the anthrax attacks. Six years ago, the DOJ declared Hatfill “a person of interest” in the attacks.

Here are stories from the WaPo and the NYT.

Frankly, given Hatfill’s June settlement with the DOJ, we don’t know how much his official exoneration really moves the anthrax story forward. Yet, we would like to put the following question to the Law Blog community: Why, when the DOJ settled with Hatfill six weeks ago, did Taylor wait until now to officially exclude him from involvement in the anthrax attacks? Does Hatfill’s exoneration, coming now, strengthen or weaken the appearance of the Department’s case against Ivins?

Full post as published by Law Blog - WSJ.com on August 11, 2008 (boomark / email).