The Hatfill Search

Aside from the fact that Steven Hatfill’s girlfriend kept her own bottle of Cipro hidden inside a Mason Jar full of coffee, the most interesting part of the searches conducted on Steven Hatfill in 2002 is his Florida storage locker. It appears to be a collection of Hatfill’s toys left over from his days in Zimbabwe and elsewhere.

  • Soldier of Fortune magazine
  • Flight computer
  • A confidentially marked document titled "Presentation Exercise Urban Guerilla Warfare" 
  • Infantry training manual
  • Military manuals and patches
  • Zimbabwe phone book
  • Blank diplomas
  • Passport
  • One foreign beret
  • Document labeled "Proposals for the Use of Biological Weapons and Unconventional Warfare Operations"
  • University of Zimbabwe letter
  • Subversive warfare manual
  • Jacket bearing Ames Research Center patch
  • Helicopter manual

In short, the storage locker contained a lot of evidence that fleshed out the story of the FBI’s confidential witness (whose name is redacted from the affidavit). Hatfill was a mercenary in the Rhodesian military in the late 70s, at a time when the Rhodesian government was using chemical warfare and anthrax attacks against rebels. He had complained that the US was not taking the threat of a biological attack seriously–and said that it would take a "Pearl Harbor" attack to get them to take it seriously. He had  been engaged with–and thought about–biological warfare for two decades.

In addition to those toys and that past experience with biological weapons, the affidavit in support of the warrants explains, Hatfill had admitted that he kept some anthrax simulant in his apartment, and the FBI had found that he had Cipro prescriptions from January, July, September, October, and November 2001.

He might not be the kind of guy I’d invite to a dinner party (then again, he might have some really fascinating stories), but he’s also not someone who had been tied to the anthrax letters. He had the capability, maybe even a motive (in the same way Scooter Libby did). But no apparent ties to the deed (note, seven bullet points following the "Scope of the Search" are redacted entirely).

And interestingly, the reference to the mock mobile-bioweapons lab (purportedly a mock-up of what Saddam turned out not to have) he constructed is mostly redacted. And the affidavit is careful to always refer to the US’ "former offensive bio-program." Is it possible that FBI agents investigating the anthrax attack were unaware that a recipient of a dummy attack had written an article just weeks before the attacks describing, "Earlier this year, administration officials said, the Pentagon drew up plans to engineer genetically a potentially more potent variant of the bacterium that causes anthrax"?

One final point. The affidavit describes "several textile fibers" recovered from … a redacted location, suitable for comparison purposes. If I’m not mistaken, this affidavit (submitted on July 31, 2002) was written around the time–but possibly just before–the evidence was recovered from the mailboxes in New Jersey. Were these fibers mentioned in Ivins’ affidavits?  

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29 replies
  1. BoxTurtle says:

    I see nothing illegal or even really questionable in that list, given Hatfill’s job.

    It IS interesting that his girlfriend kept a bottle of cipro around. Her story about when and why she got it might be enlightening. OTOH, if my girlfriend worked with anthrax daily I might well keep a bottle of cipro around.

    I’d bet good money that warrent wouldn’t stand up under court scrutiny.

    Consider what the Feds would find in the junk areas of your basement/locker. In my case, they’d find

    1) a mint condition 1st issue Playboy. Yes, I know what it’s worth.
    2) A copy of Kitchen Chemistry.
    3) Mao’s Little red book. (University reading assignment)
    4) Das Capitol. (Ditto)
    5) A mostly full jug of Hydrocloric acid. Great cleaner, if you know how to use it.
    6) A box of 9mm ammo that fits no gun in the house.
    7) A used Jack Daniels Whiskey barrel.
    The remains of a Hobbist Chemisty set.
    9) A ceramic bong in the shape of a dragon that likely still reeks after 2 decades.
    10) The NRA gun owners manual from the 1950’s. Gramps wouldn’t let me TOUCH his gun until I read it.

    I guess I’m going to jail….

    Boxturtle (Off the top of my head. Gotta clean there someday)

  2. JimWhite says:

    Hatfill certainly took a lot of Cipro. I know from personal experience that it can be extremely effective on sinus infections. His attorney is quoted in today’s NYTimes article:

    As an example of how innocent details can be made to look suspicious, Mr. Grannis said Dr. Hatfill was taking Cipro, a widely prescribed antibiotic, after sinus surgery in 2001.

    It would be interesting to know if all these prescriptions came from the same doctor. Proper precautions against resistance development would lead a responsible doctor to change antibiotics rather than prescribing the same one over and over. It seems that the FBI should have pursued this avenue very aggressively. Evidence of “doctor shopping” would suggest something altogether different from a single doctor following up on surgury.

    • emptywheel says:

      And as to his girlfriend’s Cipro, though, about half of my students in fall 2001 (many of them were from NY) had gotten themselves their own supply of Cipro. So it wasn’t exactly uncommon, for those who had the ability to strong-arm a doctor for it.

      • BoxTurtle says:

        Agreed. There’s Cipro in my house as well. Perscribed for something else, I kept the leftovers.

        However, keeping it in a mason jar full of coffee could use some explaining.

        Boxturtle (Coffee is a common tool for throwing off sniffing dogs)

    • BoxTurtle says:

      Not that you or I could smell. It never ceases to amaze me what a trained bloodhound can do, I wouldn’t be at all surprised if they could be trained for that.

      Most cops are on to that now and will check any opened container of coffee.

      Boxturtle (Why hide it? No crime in having it)

      • emptywheel says:

        My dog can apparently only smell bagels. Can’t even smell most doggie treats unless you point to them. How he ever survived for 3 weeks on teh street, I have no clue.

        • scribe says:

          Your dog probably lived on bagels while out on the street.

          On a weekend morning while walking my dog, I will have to stop and wrestle with her any number of times to get that pizza crust, bagels, and whatnot breadstuffs that she gets to before I can stop her. Last Friday, it was nine different pieces of pizza – and those were the ones I didn’t see in time. All tossed out by someone who doesn’t like crust while walking and eating their drunk food.

          God forbid they stopped at at McDs to load up on drunk food. My dog knows there is a French Fry Fairy who scatters them across the sidewalk just for her.

        • bmaz says:

          Um, don’t forget we are talking about the Hounds of Hatfill that were not certified and were responsible for over a million dollars of judgments and/or settlements from bad work on previous cases. They were the laughingstock of the forensic bloodhound community.

  3. Synoia says:

    “Hatfill was a mercenary in the Rhodesian military in the late 70s, at a time when the Rhodesian government was using chemical warfare and anthrax attacks against rebels.”

    I don’t see how anthrax could be effective in the Zim theatre. Nor do I know how one could determine if the anthrax was from a sick cow or goat, or scattered by humans. Same effecitvness for chemical weapons.

    I was in Zim/ZA in the ’70s, knew people in the Zim Army, Zi Police and SAP, and there were never any stories of this. Got any references?

  4. Synoia says:

    “Hatfill was a mercenary in the Rhodesian military in the late 70s”

    I doubt this, too. The Rhodies didn’t use many mercenaries. Congo, yes, Rhodesia & ZA, no. They both had a draft.

    And armed farmers.

    • Synoia says:

      If there were any US citizens in the Selous Scouts or the SADF, it was very low profile. It’s hard to keep that secret, especially in Zim, where there were not many people.

      And an Anthrax outbreak is common in Africa, especially in people who literally live with their livestock.

      If he were anywhere close to the SADF he had to speak Afrikaans. If not fluent, then at least at the conversational level. I was offered a job in the ZA Government, and one of the conditions was to take Afrikaans lessons. The SADF was much stricter, learn Afrikaans (praat die taal), it was the SADF’s command language.

      For example, the atomic bomb work at Pelinbaba was an open secret, and easy to discovery what was happening.

  5. bmaz says:

    I still haven’t had time to read through the stuff. Is it safe to say that the bottom line is they didn’t have squat on the guy for the actual crime?

    Cause that is sure what I am sensing here.

  6. emptywheel says:

    Yeah–and that what they have is based on one confidential informant whose identity they don’t want to reveal.

    I understand the reasons for that, but given the significance of this case and the backstabbing that went on among the scientists, you’d think they’d find a way to reassure us that that person was marginally credible.

    • bmaz says:

      Or that he really exists. They have been known to reverse engineer fictitious “CI”s from information they got themselves illegally you know. Also, for purposes of a warrant, there are certain standards under Aguillar-Spinelli, as modified by Illinois v. Gates, that delineate what is required for a tipster to truly be a “confidential informant”, and it ain’t just that they don’t want to disclose the name. This sounds like a big pile o bad affy to me.

  7. chrisc says:

    Thanks EW for posting the link to Judy, Judy, Judy’s 2001 piece. I’ve read it before. Rereading it today just seemed to make the anthrax case all the more puzzling.

    Because the piece was written by Judy, we have to question what was the purpose in her revealing that the US had a secret program to develop enhanced anthrax that probably violated international treaties. The timing of this piece is incredible. Just one week before 9/11 and 2 weeks before the anthrax attacks.

    The justification for invading Iraq was to rid the country of biological and chemical weapons. Which they did not have, but we did. So how does Judy’s piece fit in with the neocon groundwork for the invasion? Was it just to spread fear that Iraq had a super anthrax which justified our producing some for defensive purposes? Was it to flush out nay sayers and treaty lovers who might stand in the way of the coming invasion?

    I’ve often wondered how long it would take to plan and execute the anthrax attacks. The timing just after 9/11 seems to be too sinister to not be connected. Yet, that would mean that someone would have known the target date of 9/11 or else, they would have been able to crank the anthrax out within a week’s time.

    The other interesting aspect of Judy’s article is that the secret program was even a secret to President Clinton.
    Scary. Wonder if any of these rogue groups plan to carry on without President Obama’s knowledge.

    • JimWhite says:

      I’ve often wondered how long it would take to plan and execute the anthrax attacks. The timing just after 9/11 seems to be too sinister to not be connected. Yet, that would mean that someone would have known the target date of 9/11 or else, they would have been able to crank the anthrax out within a week’s time.

      The other interesting aspect of Judy’s article is that the secret program was even a secret to President Clinton.
      Scary. Wonder if any of these rogue groups plan to carry on without President Obama’s knowledge.

      Massive amounts of highly infectious material were in the RMR 1029 flask. Turning that into the attack material would literally only take a few hours.

      As for the rogue groups in DoD, they were leftover plants from Cheney’s first stint along with a few old Reagan-era codgers. And those plants are perhaps the best argument for not keeping Gates but getting a Democrat as Secretary who is not afraid to clean house. Why they would choose that date to voluntarily blow their cover through Judy, Judy, Judy is something I still haven’t worked out, unless someone in another agency was trying to defang them through exposure and fed the info to her.

  8. lysias says:

    The TV show “24″ was in production weeks before 9/11. (I learned that from a New Yorker article about “24″ and torture a couple of years ago.)

    What did guys in Hollywood already know?

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