FBI lab reports on anthrax attacks suggest another miscue Read more: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/201

[autorank]

Source: McClatchy

By Greg Gordon | McClatchy Newspapers

WASHINGTON — Buried in FBI laboratory reports about the anthrax mail attacks that killed five people in 2001 is data suggesting that a chemical may have been added to try to heighten the powder's potency, a move that some experts say exceeded the expertise of the presumed killer.

The lab data, contained in more than 9,000 pages of files that emerged a year after the Justice Department closed its inquiry and condemned the late Army microbiologist Bruce Ivins as the perpetrator, shows unusual levels of silicon and tin in anthrax powder from two of the five letters.

Those elements are found in compounds that could be used to weaponize the anthrax, enabling the lethal spores to float easily so they could be readily inhaled by the intended victims, scientists say.

The existence of the silicon-tin chemical signature offered investigators the possibility of tracing purchases of the more than 100 such chemical products available before the attacks, which might have produced hard evidence against Ivins or led the agency to the real culprit.

Read more: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2011/05/19/114467/fbi-lab-reports-on-anthrax-attacks.html#disqus_thread#ixzz1MxqNymxI


Read more: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2011/05/19/114467/fbi-lab-reports-on-anthrax-attacks.html#disqus_thread

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Greg Gordon hit it out of the park with this one. Later on, he says:

But the FBI lab reports released in late February give no hint that bureau agents tried to find the buyers of additives such as tin-catalyzed silicone polymers.

The apparent failure of the FBI to pursue this avenue of investigation raises the ominous possibility that the killer is still on the loose.

That's true. What is also true is the ominous nature of a tanked investigation, one in which it was known there were other/better suspects.

[EFerrari]

1. Nobody could have seen this coming.

And the man who assured Leahy that the science would prove the case is about to have his term at FBI extended.

[autorank]

5. Ironic subject field on your part, of course

This is the storyline, the ultimate one, for these investigations. What does it mean that they didn't pursue this evidence?

Greg Gordon did a great job in this article, I think.

[EFerrari]

6. He really did. Thanks for pointing him out.

:hi:

[autorank]

8. Like we didn't know that (NOT)

All those threads and the wonderful work by the woman you helped get the word out...that was good
work. It raised doubt and also questions about procedure.

When I saw this, I immediately thought of Ivins being followed around Fredrick MD, shouted at from
the cars following about his guilt. It's unbelievable as I write it.

"WASHINGTON (AP) — Before killing himself last week, Army scientist Bruce Ivins told friends that government agents had stalked him and his family for months, offered his son $2.5 million to rat him out and tried to turn his hospitalized daughter against him with photographs of dead anthrax victims.

The pressure on Ivins was extreme, a high-risk strategy that has failed the FBI before. The government was determined to find the villain in the 2001 anthrax attacks; it was too many years without a solution to the case that shocked and terrified a post-9/11 nation." MSNBC

And Hatfill got thesame treatment:

"Hatfill stated the FBI stalked him, invaded his privacy and leaked defamatory information about him, which destroyed his life. They followed his vehicle everywhere, frequently ticketed him for invented traffic offenses and sat on either side of him at restaurants, constantly and menacingly making their presence known." The Judiciary Report

And this: "As we await the National Academy of Science findings on the anthrax investigation, the critique of the investigation and conclusions continues. What follows is Dr. Nass’ response to the FBI case and conclusions."Anthrax Case Closing Challenged by Michael Collins

From Dr. Meril Nass, MD in the same article: "Actually, the 96 page FBI report is predicated on the assumption that the anthrax letters attack was carried out by a “lone nut.” The FBI report fails to entertain the possibility that the letters attack could have involved more than one actor. The FBI admits that about 400 people may have had access to Ivins’ RMR-1029 anthrax preparation, but asserts all were “ruled out” as lone perpetrators. FBI never tried to rule any out as part of a conspiracy, however.

"That is only the first of many holes in FBI’s case. Here is a sampling of some more.

"1. The report assumes Ivins manufactured, purified and dried the spore prep in the anthrax hot room at US Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID). His colleagues say the equipment available was insufficient to do so on the scale required."

[EFerrari]

11. FBI rented the house next door to the Ivins.

Someone mentioned that Ivins could barely get into his own driveway for all their cars.

The FBI owes the Ivins family a big fat apology. And they owe us one, too, for stalking this man to death on our dime.

[Eddie Haskell]

2. Kucinich letter on impeaching Cheney

http://politicallyconnected.org/kucinichletter/kucinichletter.html

I ask you to vigorously support the judiciary committee's
investigation of the need to impeaching Cheney

1.Failure of Justice Department to provide Congress any
requested information on the FBI investigation of the Anthrax attack
of 2001. The fingerprint of the Anthrax was that it came out of a
chain of US military facilities, the last one being Langley AFB, and
traces were found in the White House Mail room, while no letters
containing anthrax were opened there. Bush and Co started taking
Cipro, the anthrax antidote, on evening of 911, yet the White House
mailroom employees were not put on Cipro until it was found in the
mailroom two weeks after 911.

[buckrogers1965]

3. Sort of obvious why they didn't look

Because they didn't want to know where the evidence trail lead: to the highest levels of the Military and Security Services.

[Botany]

4. Did Powell know that the Anthrax came from the .....

..... the US ARMY when he gave his talk in front of the UN?

[AntiFascist]

7. Excellent analyzsis in this article also...

http://my.firedoglake.com/jimwhite/2010/03/20/most-likely-source-of-silicon-in-anthrax-attack-spores-argues-against-production-by-ivins/

"Note also from the Science report that the only other elevated (but not as high as the attack spores) silicon content spores analyzed came from Dugway, where we know that fermenters are available.

In conclusion, the finding of high silicon in the spores used in the anthrax attacks suggests that these spores were grown in a large fermenter that used an antifoam agent containing silica. Since Bruce Ivins did not have access to a large fermenter, fermenter growth would suggest that he could not have acted alone in the attacks."

[autorank]

9. Thanks for this

The record is clear. This revelation is devastating. So, of course, Meuller is in like Flynt.:shrug:

[AntiFascist]

10. Mueller was called on this back in 2001...

http://www.tetrahedron.org/articles/anthrax/open_letter_mueller.html

"As a Harvard-trained public health authority and independent investigator published in the field of using the FBI's motivational model for investigating serial homicides involving infectious agents, I want you to know that on Monday December 10, I released a 20-page detailed report to the press, to members of Congress, and to your bureau chiefs, which has largely propelled these recent mainstream media identifications of the Battelle Memorial Institute (BMI) and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) as your principle suspects in the anthrax mailings mystery...."

[autorank]

12. You know this subject well

If for no other reason than to end up getting the link above, I'm glad I posted this thread.

[AntiFascist]

13. Thanks so much for staying on top of this Autorank...

this story is way too important to be allowed to fade into oblivion. It's great to know that bloggers such as yourself and the journalists at McClatchy are there to keep us informed of developments, even 10 years after the event.

[autorank]

14. You piqued my interest again. Big time:)

[JackRiddler]

15. "The killer" is surely the killers, and that's what they want to cover up.

[Prometheus Bound]

16. No wonder they treat whistleblowing as espionage.

The truth must be pretty ugly.