Nadler: FBI’s Not Done on Amerithrax

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I know that Rush Holt has already called for further investigation in the anthrax case, but having a Sub-Committee Chair at HJC make the same call might carry different weight.

Congressman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), Chair of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, reiterated his call for an independent investigation into the 2001 anthrax attacks which killed five people and sickened 17.  He issued the following statement:

“Despite the FBI’s assertion that the case of the anthrax attacks is closed, there are still many troubling questions.  For example, in a 2008 Judiciary Committee hearing, I asked FBI Director Robert Mueller whether Bruce Ivins was capable of producing the weaponized anthrax that was used in the attacks.  To this day, it is still far from clear that Mr. Ivins had either the know-how or access to the equipment needed to produce the material.  Because the FBI has not sufficiently answered such questions, I join Congressman Holt in urging an independent investigation of the case.”

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36 replies
  3. DWBartoo says:

    One expects Nadler and Holt to “urge” well.

    Strongly worded letters will simply not suffice.

    And “weight” must NOT become, merely…”wait” …

    Perhaps Holt and Nadler would do well to consult with Jim White, who, I imagine, might well be able to help them frame the questions which NEED to be asked AND answered, even if that means that the case against Ivins is NOT left “closed” (which “decision”, at this point, is very close to being a clear dereliction of duty on the part of the FBI, and if such dereliction continues it must be understood as bordering on, if not fully joining, a conspiracy to cover up a crime, simply to save further embarrassment, or, more dangerously, to deliberately intend to keep incriminating truth from the public, for whatever reasons).

    DW

  4. earlofhuntingdon says:

    Slightly OT, but just to remind Mr. Holder, Mr. Obama and Mr. Emanuel, here’s what thorough investigations and a justice system looks like, Germany just tried and convicted four men for domestic terrorism:

    The planned attacks by the Sauerland cell changed Germany, showing the country was also vulnerable to international terrorism. The case ended Thursday with prison sentences for four would-be terrorists.

    And from the BBC on the same story:

    Four Islamists have been convicted by a court in Germany of plotting to attack US facilities in the country.

    If we tried, I bet we could do the same here, too. Demonstrating that the system works well and fairly, though, doesn’t seem as dramatic or lucrative as screaming Cheney-like that the sky is falling and that we must abandon ourselves to the dark side. With services provided, of course, by conveniently outsourced personnel.

    • Palli says:

      But, what about time served…surely confinement under torture should count for something? This is 2010 not 2002.

    • scribe says:

      Sccoped you by 4 hours on that (EW can vouch):

      German radio reports the sentencing of the conspirators in the Sauerland terrorism plot. By a German civilian court. The three ringleaders got sentences of 11-12 years, and a fourth “helper” got 5 years.

      This was the plot broken up a couple years ago in which homegrown German Islamists were going to bomb US military facilities in Germany using TATP. The German police executed an epic black-bag operation (as I recall it, with warrants) in which they removed the barrels-full of high-strength (35%, IIRC) hydrogen peroxide from the garage of the vacation house in which the plotters were staying, replacing it with hair-bleach strength (3%) peroxide (supposedly useless for making things go boom) while the plotters had gone shopping. The plotters’ objective is stated to have been to cause withdrawal of western troops from Afghanistan.

      The head of the German police union is praising the sentences of the Sauerland terrist group, hailing it as proof that the German Court system can deal with terrists and that their law enforcement will continue to be uncompromising in their efforts. This is the same guy who was criticizing the Constitutional Court the other day.

      • earlofhuntingdon says:

        Good on ya. Bears repeating, since America seems to have lost its legal way in a manner that profits (politically and financially) those who insist that they have found a new, improved way. Madison Avenue bunk.

  7. Jim White says:

    Heh, I just re-read Nadler’s statement. This part: To this day, it is still far from clear that Mr. Ivins had either the know-how or access to the equipment needed to produce the material is something with which I would concur. However, it’s unfortunate that he left in place the reference to “weaponized” anthrax, as the scientific opinions I’ve seen from respected independent scientists who looked at the spores tended to suggest that the only “weaponization” was the fact that the spores were extremely pure and dried.

  8. JTMinIA says:

    You all can look backwards to see what people with envelopes are standing next to a mailbox on some grassy knoll overlooking WTC Bldg 7, but I, for one, am going to keep looking forward. /s

    • skdadl says:

      Lol.

      I think of Nadler as one of my congresscritturs. I have a short list here of people who, eg, like him and Delahunt, have twigged as well to Arar’s case and just keep tugging away. They’re all welcome to asylum in my basement should that ever become necessary.

        • skdadl says:

          Well, it’s actually pretty raw right now, but it’s biggish. You do the reno, and the rent is free. You get here by sailing straight north across the lake from Lockport, NY, and points north. I can wait for you on the shore. They’ll never know.

        • john in sacramento says:

          My Congressman is Lungren (hack, hack, bleck, ptooie)

          Can I be an honorary Canadian? My Grandma was born somewhere around Thunder Bay Ontario. Don’t have a sailboat, but maybe I could sneak in while wearing my Toronto Maple Leafs t-shirt and making fun of George Bush ;-)

        • skdadl says:

          Oh, sure. But I can’t promise you that you’re going to like most of our guys much more than you like most of your guys. We didn’t use to be this bad, but at the moment, we are pretty bad. We still have a neocon government — at least you sort of kind of got rid of yours. (Didn’t you?)

          Things have actually been happening here, though, for the last couple of days, since Steve unlocked Parliament yesterday (we’ve been prorogued since before New Year’s). Some of it is quite funny. The Tories say they have been thinking about the national anthem and they know how to make it more gender-neutral, eg. So we’re all making fun of their proposal to replace “In all thy sons command” with “Thou dost in us command.” “Thou dost in us” — you can imagine.

          And then today they delivered this vicious right-wing budget. You think we’re nice guys, and actually, most of us are, but man, do we elect crummy politicians or what?

        • skdadl says:

          We knew that the airlines here were checking passengers against the no-fly list(s), but this is recent, that we’re just handing ourselves over to Homeland Security.

          Never run past Parliament: check. PMO refers questions to Transport Canada: check. Transport Canada defers to Public Safety (our version of Heimat Security): check. Public Safety guy fogs: check. The foot bone’s connected to the leg bone.

          Try googling “Public Safety Robespierre.” Just the name to make us all feel warm and cosy at night, eh?

          Me, I ain’t a-flyin’ any more. Surface isn’t going to be easy, especially since I have to take my husband’s ashes back to Scotland. If anyone has a boat …

        • Loo Hoo. says:

          The Tories say they have been thinking about the national anthem and they know how to make it more gender-neutral, eg. So we’re all making fun of their proposal to replace “In all thy sons command” with “Thou dost in us command.” “Thou dost in us” — you can imagine.

          Hip.

        • fatster says:

          He’s gotten downright chatty lately, calling around asking for our “views”. I do think Ami has him concerned. Good.

  9. mattcarmody says:

    Just for a refresher back to original questions re: interesting connections to the anthrax case.
    And whatever happened to those 14 microbiologists who died under mysterious circumstances in the days and months after 9/11, people who were renowned for sequencing things like viruses and strains of bacteria used in bioweapons?

    http://www.freepress.org/columns/display/3/2002/31

    • DWBartoo says:

      Thank you, Matt;

      From Fitrakis’ article dated January 14, 2002: “… the role of prominent individuals, Alibeck, Crowe, El-Habri and the Carlyle Group suggest that much of this is likely to be covered up.”

      An astute observation. To be ignored.

      Just like so many, many things …

      DW

    • Gitcheegumee says:

      Could Ivins Have Produced All of the Anthrax Spores Used in the …Feb 22, 2010 … The piece was about Porton Down,the UK bioweapons facility ,and the … Porton Down: Facts, Discussion Forum, and Encyclopedia Article …
      seminal.firedoglake.com/diary/31071

      Firedoglake » CIA/SERE Experiments Evidence of Attempt to Mislead …Sep 22, 2009 … or Ewen Cameron (as Hebb rolls over in his grave for linking the two), or of research at Britain’s Porton Down facility. …
      firedoglake.com/…/ciasere-experiments-evidence-of-attempt-to-mislead-on-olc-torture-memos/

      Emptywheel » With Justice Sotomayor Sworn In, Back to TortureAug 8, 2009 … the Mind — Sargant was with British intelligence, and apparently was CIA officer Frank Olson’s MKULTRA contact person at Porton Down). …
      emptywheel.firedoglake.com/…/with-justice-sotomayor-sworn-in-back-to-torture/

  11. TarheelDem says:

    When is Mueller’s term up? Seems like a good time to get a real investigator involved in this.

  12. klynn says:

    Jim White and Marcy’s,

    Thank you both for your recent work on this case. I trust your work has been a bit of the sunlight needed to bring about the calling on additional investigations.

  14. fatster says:

    Sen. Levin moves to block Blackwater’s $1 billion Afghanistan contract

    “A senior Senate Democrat said Thursday the Pentagon should consider barring Blackwater, now called Xe Services, from a new $1 billion deal to train Afghan police because of “serious questions” about the contractor’s conduct.
    . . .
    “In a separate letter to Attorney General Eric Holder, Levin called for a Justice Department investigation into whether Blackwater officials duped the Army into awarding a separate $25 million contract to train Afghan police by creating a shell subcontractor called Paravant.”

    Link.

  15. orionATL says:

    loo hoo @24

    involvement with matters involving crazy ( like a foxess) florida academic who offed several tenure committee members.

    previously, she had shot-gunned her younger brother and delahunt had
    been very lenient about persuing charges against the sister – in
    fact, he hadn’t.

    • skdadl says:

      Well, I’m sorry to read that. From what I’ve seen, he is very enlightened on foreign policy, and that must sometimes be hard in Washington — you don’t want to lose such voices.

  17. MarkH says:

    I hope it’s just WaPo nonsense. Otherwise we might as well hand the presidency to the Republican party and let them dictate everything.

    What precisely are we supposed to get in exchange for screwing things up?
    Somehow I doubt it’s votes on healthcare reform (as if we need ’em no).

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