- ALEXANDRIA, Va. (Reuters)
- A former U.S. Army scientist investigated by the FBI in its probe into
last year's deadly anthrax mailings said on Sunday he had nothing to do
with the attacks and lashed out at the government and media for unfairly
focusing on him.
-
- Steven Hatfill, a medical doctor and germ warfare expert,
held a news conference with his lawyer to respond to media reports and
government leaks he called character assassination that ruined his reputation.
-
- "I have had nothing to do in any way, shape or form
with the mailing of these anthrax letters and it is extremely wrong for
anyone to contend or suggest that I have," Hatfill said.
-
- "I have never worked with anthrax, I know nothing
about this matter."
-
- Hatfill said he was appalled at last year's "biological
terrorism," when a spate of anthrax-laced letters were sent in the
weeks following the Sept. 11 attacks. Five people died of the deadly bacteria
and 13 others were sickened.
-
- "But I am just as appalled that my experience, knowledge,
dedication and service relative to defending the United States against
biological warfare has been turned against me in connection with the search
for the anthrax killer," he said.
-
- Hatfill's name has been mentioned in connection with
the anthrax mailings. FBI investigators have twice searched his house,
and both times the searches were reported in the media.
-
- Both Hatfill and his attorney said the scientist had
cooperated with the FBI in their investigation. Since he was willing to
cooperate, they said they were surprised the FBI had executed a search
warrant on Hatfill's home on Aug. 1 and that news of the search had quickly
become public.
-
- OFFICIAL COMPLAINT
-
- Hatfill, 48, was one of about 30 U.S.-based scientists
the FBI considers a "person of interest" in its investigation.
The FBI has never named Hatfill or called him a suspect but officials have
confirmed the searches of his home.
-
- Hatfill's attorney, Victor Glasberg, said he would file
an official complaint to the government about what he said were leaks involving
his client from the FBI and other law enforcement authorities regarding
the investigation.
-
- Glasberg said ABC News had told him they obtained a copy
of a novel Hatfill was writing on bioterrorism. He said the only way the
manuscript could have been obtained would be from the hard drive on Hatfill's
computer which was seized by the FBI during a search of his home.
-
- Hatfill has also been questioned several times by federal
investigators and undergone a polygraph test in connection with the probe
into last fall's mailing.
-
- Glasberg suggested the leaks about the searches could
have been made because FBI felt pressured to show it was making progress
in its investigation.
-
- The FBI has been trying since October 2001 to identify
who was responsible for the attacks in which anthrax-laced letters were
sent to two U.S. senators and to the news media.
-
- Hatfill worked for the Army Medical Institute of Infectious
Disease, center of the nation's biological warfare defense research, at
Fort Detrick, Maryland. He also worked at Science Applications International
Corp., a defense contractor.
-
- But while he is an expert in viral agents he said he
has no experience with bacterial agents like anthrax.
-
- Hatfill also received training for would-be United Nations
inspectors examining Iraq's weapons of mass destruction, a U.N. spokesman
has said. But Iraq has not let inspectors return since they left in December
1998.
-
- Hatfill said he was surprised that FBI agents thought
he might have brought anthrax to his home.
-
- He said he, like all researchers working in his area
at Fort Detrick, had been vaccinated against the bacteria. But he said
he had not received the yearly booster -- required to maintain immunity
-- since 1999.
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