Anthrax suspect's attorney chides FBI's 'evolving' case

WASHINGTON - While the FBI and federal prosecutors are confident the case against the sole suspect in the 2001 anthrax attacks would have been proven beyond a reasonable doubt, Bruce Ivins' attorney says the government is not providing enough information to allow the public to judge for itself.

Attorney Paul Kemp tells WTOP the FBI and prosecutors are tweaking the case against Ivins in a way that wouldn't be allowed in court.

"They get to control the flow of information and are doing so selectively and speculatively in a way that they're trying to implicate Dr. Ivins."

Ivins, a Fort Detrick researcher, took a fatal dose of acetaminophen July 29 as prosecutors prepared to indict him for murder. Five people were killed and 17 injured during the anthrax scare shortly after the Sept. 11 attacks of 2001.

Given the government's ability to control evidence, Kemp doesn't think Ivins will ever be judged fairly in the court of public opinion.

"I bet if you asked Steven Hatfill in 2002, 'Is there any hope that your name will be restored?' He would have said, 'No, I don't think so. Not when you have all the might and weight and finances of the federal government.' If you asked him today, he'd say 'My reputation still has not been restored, no matter what sum of money they agreed to pay me. My reputation is worth far more than any dollar amount that anybody could place on it.' So, I'm not optimistic."

Hatfill was a "person of interest" in the anthrax investigation. He later sued the government and settled for $5.8 million.

Channing Phillips, spokesman for the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeffrey Taylor, declined to comment specifically on Kemp's allegations of an evolving case, but reiterated previous comments by Taylor, that prosecutors revealed some evidence because of "extraordinary and justified public interest in the investigation."

FBI spokesperson Debra Weierman declined to comment.

Top FBI officials and a handful of prominent scientists who aided the investigation presented more -- but not all -- of the scientific case against Ivins in a two-hour briefing Monday to try to quell suspicions of outside scientists, some of whom were friends of the suspect.

At times, the officials and scientists contradicted themselves, even down to the number of flasks containing the anthrax Ivins had. They eventually agreed it was one one-liter triangular flask capped with cheesecloth that linked Ivins to the attacks.

"Every day you can see this case evolving and it goes from, 'He's the only person who had access to the anthrax' -- to -- 'More than a 100 people had it, but we're convinced he is the one that did it.'"

(Copyright 2008 by WTOP. All Rights Reserved.)