If it turns out that Ivins' statement at group can be confirmed by other patients, doctors or recordings, or if he directly threatened violence in the messages that Duley claims the FBI has copies of, then all of this Duley crap is going to look very stupid and petty.

This violates the privacy and confidentiality privilege of the other members of that group therapy session WHO HAVE NOT ALLEGEDLY THREATENED TO HARM OTHERS, which is the cause of the exception. Unless they decide to come forward on their own by waiving their privilege, or some court orders them to come forward or just find to out who they are, if that is even possible, you may never hear from them. Very convenient.

It seems that anyone considering group therapy should be read their rights.

http://www.fredericknewspost.com/sections/news/display.htm?storyID=78270

In case, like me, you were wondering about Bruce Ivins' other brother.

You're just wrong about how her claims are being used.

My statement was not a comment on how the media and the government is using Jean Duley. It was my own evaluation prioritizing the information that has been offered.

She's being held up as a psychological expert who is in a position to assess his psyche and the likelihood that he is the killer.

I agree completely. I think it pretty obvious that the FBI encouraged Duley to file the restraining order so that the media would have a nice little package to sell the people on Ivins guilt. I actually think that the FBI's encouragement of Duley to get the restraining order could be interpreted as a threat. Are we really supposed to believe that the FBI thinks the Fredrick police are in a better position to protect Duley than the FBI? I don't think it is illogical to speculate that Duley interpreted the FBI's actions here as a direct statement that they were not going to protect her.

It's honestly mystifying to me how anyone could think that her judgment, credibility and professional credentials shouldn't be examined, given how the media is using her alleged professional expertise to paint Bruce Ivins as a homicidal psychotic.

If Ivins actually said the things at group that he is accused of saying, do you really believe there is going to be some kind of nuanced debate about whether Ivins was "crazy" or not? Do you think it will be effective strategy to argue that, despite Ivins' threats against his coworkers, so and so highly decorated psychologist says he is not crazy?

---

Glenn,

Returning to strategy again.

I think we agree on how and why Duley is being used by the FBI and the media. My question is:

How does attacking Duley-- and let's be honest here Glenn this is what you are doing-- move you closer to the truth.

All of the crap you posted about Duley is pretty good evidence that she is not some kind of conspiratorial mastermind. With that in mind, the problem here is the FBI and the media, not Duley. Think about it. Everything you use to smear Duley is evidence that a relatively unsophisticated person is being used by the FBI and the media.

Why would you attack her instead of the FBI and the media? It makes no sense.

I am going to ask again, do you have any hypothesis at all? Or are you just throwing shit against the wall hoping to see what sticks?

You do some great work Glenn, but your current post is very weak.

Precisely. You beat me to that observation. I can well imagine that the other members of that group are collectively holding their breath. The very first question anyone would ask is, Why were you attending that group? I imagine within that individual's social circle are people s/he would prefer never knew they were in that group - whatever the hell that group actually was.

I tell ya. If anything happens to the oft referenced psychiatrist, I'm gonna get really suspicious. And, it's hard for me to get more suspicious than I already am.

Problem is I can't think of any circumstances where the psychiatrist could be compelled to offer any information about Ivins at all. Like the magical words national security, I imagine patient confidentiality to be about the first words out of his mouth.

Glenn posted some important *facts* about Duley -- not "crap" -- that are important in assessing her credibility and credentials as a mental health professional. Compared to the credentials of the real mental health professional who knew Ivins intimately at Fort Dietrich, Jean Carol Duley, the self-described "theripist," is a joke. The FBI is leaning on a very weak reed indeed in bolstering its so far nearly non-existent case, and it is essential to know that.

Now, over in the AP links here at Salon we get the following tidbits designed to make Ivins look like a freak.

The top suspect in the 2001 anthrax attacks was obsessed with a sorority that sat less than 100 yards away from a New Jersey mailbox where the toxin-laced letters were sent, authorities said Monday. Multiple U.S. officials told The Associated Press that former Army scientist Bruce Ivins was long obsessed with the sorority Kappa Kappa Gamma, going back as far as his own college days at the University of Cincinnati.

The officials all spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the case publicly.

The bizarre link to the sorority may indirectly explain one of the biggest mysteries in the case: why the anthrax was mailed from Princeton, N.J., 195 miles from the Army biological weapons lab the anthrax is believed to have been smuggled out of.

What? How would all these officials know that Ivins had a thing for Kappa Kappa Gamma girls?

And then they add the disclaimer...

U.S. officials said e-mails or other documents detail Ivins' long-standing fixation on the sorority. His former therapist has said Ivins plotted revenge against those who have slighted him, particularly women. There is nothing to indicate, however, he was focused on any one sorority member or other Princeton student, the officials said.

Despite the connection between Ivins and the sorority, authorities acknowledge they cannot place the scientist in Princeton the day the anthrax was mailed. That remains a hole in the government's case. Had Ivins not killed himself last week, authorities would have argued he could have made the seven-hour round trip to Princeton after work.

http://www.salon.com/wires/ap/2008/08/04/D92BL9FO0_anthrax_investigation/index.html