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• Tuesday, August 5, 2008 05:48 PM

  Investigation to close, not so fast

  In regard to the discussion Glenn had with NJ congressman Rush Holt who said that it is easy to for the FBI to stonewall when an investigation is ongoing. Anyone want to bet how long it will take for the investigation to be closed. I’m taking six months. Note the statement in bold face of the para in this latest AP story that talks about the possible closing.

  Byrne, who retired from the lab four years ago, said FBI agents interviewed him seven to 12 times since the investigation began — and he got off easy.

  "I think I'm the only person at USAMRIID who didn't get polygraphed," he said.

  Byrne said he was told by people who had recently worked with Ivins that the investigation had taken an emotional toll on the researcher. "One person said he'd sit at his desk and weep," he said.

  Questions about the FBI's conduct come as the government takes steps that could signal an end to its investigation. On Wednesday, FBI officials plan to begin briefing family members of victims in the 2001 attacks.

  The government is expected to declare the case solved but will keep it open for now, according to two U.S. officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the ongoing investigation. Several legal and investigatory matters need to be wrapped up before the case can officially be closed, they said.

  Some questions may be answered when documents related to the case are released, as soon as Wednesday. For others, the answers may be incomplete, even bizarre. Some may simply never be answered.

  It is unclear how the FBI eliminated as suspects others in the lab who had access to the anthrax. It's not clear what, if any, evidence bolsters the theory that the attacks may have been a twisted effort to test a cure for the toxin. Investigators also can't place Ivins in Princeton, N.J., when the letters were mailed from a mailbox there.

  Richard Schuler, attorney for anthrax victim Robert Stevens' widow, Maureen Stevens, said his client will attend Wednesday's FBI briefing with a list of questions.

  "No. 1 is, 'Did Bruce Ivins mail the anthrax that killed Robert Stevens?'" Schuler said, adding, "I've got healthy skepticism."

  http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080805/ap_on_go_ot/anthrax_investigation

  —Retired Military Patriot Read Retired Military Patriot's other letters
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