WASHINGTON — Pharmacy records and writings initially led the FBI to Army scientist Steven Hatfill in the 2001 anthrax attacks, Justice Department documents released Tuesday show.
Responding to a judge’s order, the government released 78 pages of affidavits and search warrants in the now- closed case of Hatfill, who was cleared of the attacks this year. The documents raise questions about Hatfill, but provide no evidence that he masterminded the biological attacks that killed five people.
Ultimately, the government focused on another Army scientist: Bruce Ivins, who killed himself in July as prosecutors prepared to charge him in the case. Both Ivins and Hatfill worked at the Army’s infectious diseases laboratory in Frederick, Md.
The documents released Tuesday build a case against Hatfill on largely circumstantial evidence. An FBI affidavit cites interviews and a never- published book by Hatfill to show he knew how to treat anthrax infections and how easy it would be for terrorists to acquire, produce and use the toxin with “deadly consequences.”
