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FBI Official Regrets Ashcroft’s Tagging of Hatfill as “Person of Interest” FBI Assistant Director Michael Mason said yesterday that he regretted that former U.S. Army biologist Steven Hatfill was publicly identified by U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft as a “person of interest” in the FBI’s investigation into the 2001 anthrax attacks (see GSN, Sept. 18). Mason, who took control of the bureau’s Washington field office this month, said he was disappointed that the anthrax investigation had been “beset by leaks” about the FBI’s interest in Hatfill. Mason also said that he objected to the person-of-interest label in any investigation and that he instead prefers to identify people only when they are formal suspects. Hatfill’s attorney Tom Connolly yesterday praised Mason’s remarks. “His comments are at least an acknowledgement of the obvious: that the FBI’s torrents of leaks and the attorney general’s unprecedented use of the term ‘person of interest’ was wrong,” Connolly said (Carol Leonnig, Washington Post, Sept. 30). Mason also said yesterday that there was a good chance the person who conducted the anthrax attacks might have desired only to raise alarms about the potential for bioterrorism, not to hurt anyone, according to Reuters. “I suppose the leading thought might be the person didn’t intend to cause harm, and did,” he said (Reuters/New York Post, Sept. 30). In addition, Mason said yesterday that the FBI has been unsuccessful in trying to recreate the process used to create the anthrax spores used in the attacks, according to USA Today. The FBI’s attempts at “reverse engineering” the process, however, did help “narrow” some aspects of the investigation and has led the bureau to believe that the culprit had special knowledge, Mason said. “We would not have that if reverse engineering had completely failed to provide us with any information or valuable leads,” Mason said (Toni Locy, USA Today, Sept. 30). Mason also suggested yesterday that the FBI might never solve the anthrax case, according to the Washington Post. “Whether or not we bring it to a successful resolution, it has been a remarkable investigation,” Mason said, praising investigators (Leonnig, Washington Post).
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