http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A47994-2004Jul13.htmlBy Jerry Markon
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, July 14, 2004; Page A07
The former Army scientist identified by authorities as a "person of interest" in the 2001 anthrax attacks sued the New York Times Co. and columnist Nicholas D. Kristof yesterday, claiming the paper defamed him in a series of columns that identified him as the likely culprit.
The lawsuit, filed by Steven J. Hatfill in U.S. District Court in Alexandria, said Kristof identified him as the anthrax killer to "light a fire" under investigators in their probe of the anthrax-spore mailings, which killed five people and sickened 17. He accused Kristof of hurling "false and defamatory" allegations and the Times of engaging in "substandard and unethical journalism.''
In a series of columns in 2002, Kristof criticized the FBI for failing to aggressively pursue a scientist he at first identified as "Mr. Z.'' He wrote that the biodefense community had called Mr. Z a "likely culprit" and was "buzzing about Mr. Z behind his back," in part because the scientist was familiar with anthrax and was angered at the suspension of his top security clearance less than a month before the attacks.
... The lawsuit was the latest attempt by Hatfill, 50, to defend himself since Attorney General John D. Ashcroft publicly called him a person of interest in the anthrax probe in 2002. A former researcher at the Army's infectious disease research laboratory at Fort Detrick in Frederick, Hatfill last year sued Ashcroft and the FBI in federal court in the District. He accused the government of conducting a "coordinated smear campaign" against him. A federal judge in March granted the government's request to postpone the suit for six months because the investigation was at a critical stage.
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