WASHINGTON — The FBI is declining to release at least 15,000 pages of documents related to the now-deceased prime suspect in the 2001 anthrax attacks despite lingering suspicions that the bureau has accused the wrong man.
In August, the FBI and Justice Department identified Bruce Ivins, a former microbiologist at the U.S. Army’s biological weapons research center at Fort Detrick, Md., as the “only person involved” in the attacks, which killed five people and terrorized the nation.
But David M. Hardy, section chief of the FBI records management division, notified McClatchy Newspapers that his office could not immediately release the records because there were “investigative leads still open” and the FBI needed to withhold the documents in order to protect confidential sources, privacy, law enforcement techniques and a suspect’s right to a fair trial.
McClatchy had filed a request for the documents under the Freedom of Information Act, which generally permits release of records of a dead person. Ivins committed suicide in July.
In a letter received by McClatchy on Tuesday, Hardy said the FBI has identified a “significant number” of documents related to Ivins that have not yet been released and is still searching for other relevant records.
The investigation, known as Amerithrax, is not officially closed. But when it is, Hardy said, the FBI will release documents on a “rolling basis as soon as practicable.” The FBI has eight requests for records related to Ivins.
Lucy Dalglish, executive director of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, said she was not surprised by the decision because open-records exemptions give the FBI broad latitude to cite the need to protect law enforcement efforts.
“This is a situation where it’s probably going to be years before we figure out what they’ve got,” she said.
