The Case Against Ivins

FBI evidence indicates that only the Fort Detrick scientist could have handled the anthrax.

By Mark Hosenball and Michael Isikoff | Newsweek Web Exclusive
Aug 6, 2008 | Updated: 4:33  p.m. ET Aug 6, 2008

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  • Posted By: SNIPER 308 cal @ 09/15/2008 6:23:03 PM

    Sorry, I'm bad about repeating repeating myself...

  • Posted By: SNIPER 308 cal @ 09/15/2008 6:16:27 PM

    I believe there should be more than circumstantial evidence by the FBI for them to push a man to the point of suicide. Sounds more like a case of SOP...FBI murder to me.

  • Posted By: SNIPER 308 cal @ 09/15/2008 6:12:30 PM

    I believe the FBI needs more than circumstantial evidence on a case to force a man to commit suicide. It sounds more like a cooked up case. And speeking of cases...hhhmmm...maybe a case of SOP, FBI Murder!

  • Posted By: Lazlo @ 08/07/2008 1:12:25 AM

    Comment

    • Posted By: georgejmyersjr @ 08/29/2008 9:03:59 AM

      Yes but the Iraqi admin was blamed and blamed by the press and by former Genreal Colin Powell (whose son was th Chairman of the FCC). Also the British East Anglia Univfersity was calumnied ("blackened" and "anthrax" is "black" in German I read, "...as coal" for for the "boo-boos" formed, still present in the hay in Antarctica provided for the Hmalayan ponies on Shackleton's almost disasterous expedition, proven by Princess Anne who brought back a sample back then in post 9/11 or is it 11/9 as they reckon in Great Britain?) for not "vetting" the Iraqi woman doctor who was studying anthrax there one of the few places in the world one can. It is a Asian health risk generally and is appearing more and more, like bedbugs, as more and more people move more and more material around apparently, i.e., wooden pallets on the ground, I've found. More recently an African-American drum maker recovered from it, brought in contact with a shipment of "skins" in NYC.

  • Posted By: JimmyTheGeek @ 08/21/2008 9:14:13 PM

    They let people have access to labs with lethal virus and bacteria without being accompanied by other people? They don't strip these people down naked and body cavity check them before they enter and leave work? I thought we were serious about security?

  • Posted By: solsen @ 08/06/2008 5:25:54 PM

    I don't believe it. What motive would he have, and why would it take all this time to find him? Who got the contract for the research and work on an Anthrax attack remedy? Nice timing too-Fear, money, and power. hmmmmm. Only went to a "certain few" of a "certain party" as well. Convenient-a insane man that commits suicide right before they get to him. phew!

    • Posted By: bkweaver@verizon.net @ 08/13/2008 8:29:19 PM

      solsen, those who knew Ivins and believe he may be guilty, suggest that he didn't intend to murder any of the postal workers. He didn't realize that the high speed mail sorter would aerosolize the anthrax. But there IS a pretty good motive, in mo, given that he wanted more of the vaccine that HE is partent holder on to be sold. I can't say I'm totally "convinced" of his guilt, but I am certainly not as doubtful as most people appear to be, on this list..

  • Posted By: olderwiser @ 08/07/2008 9:38:20 PM

    Here's what to do. Conduct a trial. Get the best public defender available and try the case. So far, only the government has presented evidence. None of their witnesses have been cross examined. The defense hasn't had the opportunity to present any evidence, either. Scientific evidence is always controvertible. An expert witness for the defense, the best available, needs to give his opinion of the evidence presented by the Government's expert.
    If the decedent is acquitted, then his family ought to institute a civil suit for damages. The previous "defendant" has been exonerated and the government has paid him over 5 million dollars in damages.
    The government was not able to make these "charges without a culprit" stick on him. They finally found a dead suspect to pin the case on.

    Make them try it. Then, we might believe all of this crap.

    • Posted By: bkweaver@verizon.net @ 08/13/2008 8:24:04 PM

      olderwiser, do keep in mind that Ivins himself had been shifting blame toward Hatfill. And the FBI isn't exactly the force that I'd "blame" for Hatfill's suit. It was actually the attorney general who sicced the press on Hatfill, and he was even part of the lawsuit. I suspect that the government settled in order to protect the AG

  • Posted By: Lazlo @ 08/07/2008 1:26:42 AM

    The FBI stated early in the investigations that the "Ames strain" is one of the most common strains in the world and was supplied to at least eight laboratories including three foreign. The DNA does not seem to be a very strong arguement. Also according to a FBI news release in November 2001 the particles were coated by a "product not seen previously to be used in this fashion before." Another FBI leak indicated that each particle was given a weak electric charge to cause them to repel each other making it easier to float in the air for better dispersation and inhalation retention. The potential lethality of the anthrax exceeded that available in the flask.

    • Posted By: bkweaver@verizon.net @ 08/13/2008 8:19:50 PM

      Lazlo, the Ames strain is the beginning step ... and it cost millions to find a way to be more specific. Just as we now have much better technology at our fingertips on DNA evidence, the technology has now advanced so that they can be more specific on the exact type of anthrax.
      And regarding the lethality, as I recall it, the FBI has suggested that Ivins didn't realize that being run through the high speed mail sorters would cause that charge. They speculated that he hadn't been aware of it, and it answers your last comment.

  • Posted By: adirondack_1 @ 08/12/2008 7:12:58 AM

    Saddam didn't get blamed! Initially everyone with a motive was a suspect. The strain, quickly identified, soon ruled out outside sources however through the FBI requesting samples from strains posessed bt US labs there was no initial match because Ivins witheld the samples from his, and his only RMR-1029, matching strain. GUILTY.

  • Posted By: david-fahey @ 08/10/2008 10:15:22 AM

    maybe the guy did it and maybe not. his suicide is not prof of guilt. remember the brit scientist that was wrongly accused and killed himself. or that with Irvin's death it was a convient way to close the case for the bushies. who failed to protect americans AGAIN(at least the L's who got anthrax powders)and blamed the wrong source(saddam/terrorist)for the attacks.

  • Posted By: Continuum @ 08/10/2008 9:35:52 AM

    Gee, I feel really safe now. The Famous But Incompetents hound a guy to his death. Then, these Keystone Cops say they have the right man. In Sunday's NYT, another list of "slam dunk" FBI suspects is identified. They too, were harrassed and hounded and in some cases destroyed. However, they didn't become the perfect suspect since they didn't commit suicide. How much do these Famous But Incompetents take of our tax dollars in order to play make-belive cops?

  • Posted By: cowboykarmaaa @ 08/09/2008 3:18:09 PM

    Strange how people in power believe they are above the Law and tend to get away with things! A case currently before the United States District Court, Sixth Circuit Ohio shows a link not only to the defendants but the United States Mag/Judge and U.S. District Judge in an alleged cover up all associated with a female alleged to be involved in an adult web site and a model in fine arts .......read more @ http://thefoundation.tripod.com/

  • Posted By: cowboykarmaaa @ 08/09/2008 3:16:58 PM

    Strange how people in power believe they are above the Law and tend to get away with things! A case currently before the United States District Court, Sixth Circuit Ohio shows a link not only to the defendants but the United States Mag/Judge and U.S. District Judge in an alleged cover up all associated with a female alleged to be involved in an adult web site and a model in fine arts .......read more @ http://thefoundation.tripod.com/

  • Posted By: jetoney @ 08/08/2008 10:29:00 AM

    I understand the motives for the bipartisan skepticism about the government's claims regarding the late Dr. Ivins. On the left are those who would not believe the Bush administration if it said that the sky was blue. On the right are those who refuse to accept that a lily-white, Christian American could possibly have committed a terrorist act. After all, there are still people who claim that Timothy McVeigh was acting under orders from Saddam Hussein or Osama bin Laden. If Ivins were Arab-American or Muslim, half of the comments on this site would be proclaiming the evidence against him overwhelming.

    I have no better idea whether Ivins was guilty than anyone else, but I do know this: there is stronger evidence against him than against many of the people being held by the U.S. military in Guantanamo Bay.

  • Posted By: mfenwick @ 08/07/2008 4:33:48 PM

    Ivans committed suicide? Oh, yes, so did the D.C. madam. How convenient! Now the feds are going to convict a man they killed. Well....

  • Posted By: SealTeam6 @ 08/07/2008 1:54:34 AM

    When the Feds offer his kid $2.5 million to rat on his father and then show his hospitalized daughter pictures of dead Anthrax victims telling her that these were some of the people that his father killed. (Not to mention the fact that) we have to take the FBI's word that the Anthrax was so unique it can only be attributable to Ivin's.
    I have a real issue with the Fed's, It has been a long held fact that these suits with security clearances are all about wrapping up a case at whatever the cost. It is no longer about the truth, its about closing an investigation and blaming someone, anyone at any cost.
    Most especially if the government has spent a lot of resources. It is interesting to note that they originally implicated another scientist but he has since been found innocent.
    Hopefully the Fed's will never target you or your family.

  • Posted By: SealTeam6 @ 08/07/2008 1:54:06 AM

    When the Feds offer his kid $2.5 million to rat on his father and then show his hospitalized daughter pictures of dead Anthrax victims telling her that these were some of the people that his father killed. (Not to mention the fact that) we have to take the FBI's word that the Anthrax was so unique it can only be attributable to Ivin's.
    I have a real issue with the Fed's, It has been a long held fact that these suits with security clearances are all about wrapping up a case at whatever the cost. It is no longer about the truth, its about closing an investigation and blaming someone, anyone at any cost.
    Most especially if the government has spent a lot of resources. It is interesting to note that they originally implicated another scientist but he has since been found innocent.
    Hopefully the Fed's will never target you or your family.

  • Posted By: bajan man @ 08/07/2008 12:32:20 AM

    The FBI proved (to themselves) beyond a reasonable doubt that Ivins is guilty. It???s easy to prove he's guilty after he's been hounded to death; he no longer can defend himself. I would not even think of believing the FBI about anything. I guess the image of how they harassed Eric Rudolph for the Atlanta Olympics bombing until they all but ruined his live - for a crime which he did not commit - is still too vivid in my mind. They also KNEW he was guilty.

  • Posted By: ejpshep @ 08/06/2008 10:13:46 PM

    what happened to innocent untill proven guilty?????????
    Seems all there is , is circumstantial evidence... to easyl ,,

  • Posted By: NoBS @ 08/06/2008 8:34:49 PM

    Also the FBI approaching his children that if they come forward the get 2.5 mio price money and a sportscar??? the therapists background she was a druggie in a motorcycle gang previously... To me this all smells like a perfectly mediated campaign... it just all fits together a bit too conveniently... everything... Timing is perfect of everything, every event, the attacks, the suicide, the complaint, etc etc...

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