The Army Quashed Anthrax Investigation Led By Ft. Detrick Scientists (NYT)

[kpete]

NYT: The Army quashed an investigation led by Ft. Detrick's own scientists.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/04/us/04anthrax.html?_r=1&hp=&pagewanted=all

When institute scientists began their own review of the evidence, nervous Army officials ordered the inquiry dropped.

..........................

And it turns out that Ivins testified before a grand jury in 2007.

In May 2007, Dr. Ivins — assured by prosecutors that he was not a target of the investigation — testified under oath to a grand jury on two consecutive days. He answered all the questions about anthrax. Only once did he plead his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination, when he was asked about his secret interest in sororities.

Given the timing, I'd be curious why over a year passed and they got no closer to Ivins.

..............

But the biggest revelation of the story is that the most dubious (IMO) theory of the case came from the woman who first pitched Ivins as a suspect. You'll recall that the only logic the FBI offered for why Ivins would twice drive to Princeton to mail anthrax is that the mailbox was on the same street as an office for a sorority that he obsessed about?

Well, the person who first suggested he might be responsible did so, partly, based on her allegation that Ivins had stalked her because of her affiliation with the same sorority. That person is Nancy Haigwood, who knew Ivins from grad school at UNC.

much more (WOW)at:
http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2009/01/03/anthrax-again/#more-3317

[bleever]

1. Kickworthy,

eminently so.

[Caretha]

2. Very interesting

If we only knew the truth, it would probably shock us to our toenails.

[glitch]

3. So sick of bogus reality creators.

Their cookie cutter reality just isn't as good as the original. Sub par, mediocre, mundane, c, even d-grade, BORING; talking about Nancy Haigwood and her soap/lifetime channel stalker subplot here but really the whole scenario reeks.

[pilsner]

4. Ivins was a registered Democrat

and the antrax showed up in the offices of Majority Leader Tom Daschle and Chairmn of the Judiciary Cmte Pat Leahy's offices.

This was right when the Patriot Act was being considered by Congress and Daschle and Leahy were the only two members of Congress who could block the Patriot Act.

And then, the two senators offices were swarmed by Federal agents digging through their papers.

I'm not even gonna bother to read the NYT story as I'm sure they ignored those little tidbits.

[Muttocracy]

5. K&R nt

[LiberalHeart]

6. For all the research NYT says they did, this reads a lot like the old stories.

There's a new nugget here and there, but not many.

[leveymg]

7. So, what happened between the 2007 Grand Jury and 2008, when the FBI concluded Ivins was the suspect

Not much, that I can tell, other than the fact that Ivins conveniently suicided himself. Dead men can't defend their own reputations.

[mistertrickster]

8. Every anthrax expert that was interviewed said that one person couldn't have done it alone.

Strangely, that doesn't seem to mean much to the FBI who have to wrap this case up and pitch it in the "done" box.