Global Security Newswire

U.S. Representative Rush Holt (D-N.J.) voiced heavy skepticism Friday about a federal investigation that determined that an Army scientist was the sole perpetrator of the 2001 anthrax mailings, the Washington Post reported (see GSN, July 31).

An unprecedented examination of genetic material found in the mailings helped investigators link the attacks to Bruce Ivins, formerly a veteran microbiologist at the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases at Fort Detrick, Md. Ivins committed suicide last July as federal prosecutors prepared to press charges against him.

"Our government -- and specifically, the FBI -- suffers from a credibility gap on this issue," Representative Holt told a National Academy of Sciences panel that launched a review last week of the "microbial forensic" analysis that connected Ivins to the mailings.

"I have fundamental concerns about how this was conducted and lingering doubts about the conclusions -- and a lot of others do," Holt told the Post. "I'd like to be able to assure my constituents in New Jersey that there is no longer a murderer at large, and that we're prepared to deal with the next bioterrorist attack."

Some of the tainted letters that killed five people and sickened 17 originated at post offices in Holt's district. The lawmaker sponsored legislation earlier this year that would establish an independent commission to carry out a wider review of the investigation.

A senior FBI official said the bureau had no doubts about the scientific basis for the case against Ivins.

"We at the FBI laboratory are confident in our conclusions," FBI Assistant Director Chris Hassell said during Friday's session.

Legal and privacy issues have kept the case open longer than anticipated, the Post reported. "We anticipate closing the case in the near future," said Justice Department spokesman Dean Boyd (Warrick/Johnson, Washington Post, Aug. 1).

On its second day of work Friday, the NAS panel heard from three specialists involved in the investigation, including the leader of the probe's genetic analysis, the Frederick, Md., News-Post reported.

The scientific review panel is not expected during its 18-month study to consider how the FBI identified Ivins as the sole suspect among dozens of scientists who possessed samples of an anthrax supply genetically linked to spores in the mailings.

"Really [the review] remains to be defined -- the scope of all materials we'll receive," said committee Chairwoman Alice Gast. The group would be able to request classified information, Gast noted (Adam Behsudi, Frederick News-Post, Aug. 1).