Washington Post Calls for New Anthrax Investigation
US Marines with the Chemical Biological Incident Responce Force (CBIRF) working in hazmat gear as they decontaminate the Longworth House Office building of Anthrax. (Greg Mathieson/Mai/Mai/Time Life Pictures/Getty Images)
Last week it was the The New York Times; now The Washington Post has called for a review of the FBI’s investigation into the 2001 anthrax attacks — in part based on new evidence uncovered by FRONTLINE and our partners at ProPublica and McClatchy Newspapers:
… a joint investigation by PBS’s “Frontline” newsmagazine, the ProPublica online newsroom and McClatchy Newspapers raised additional questions about the accuracy of the FBI investigation. For example, the journalists revealed that Mr. Ivins handed over to investigators lab flasks that contained telltale markers found in the anthrax used in the attacks. This revelation appears to contradict FBI assertions that Mr. Ivins withheld or manipulated evidence.
Doubts about the investigation were bound to linger since Mr. Ivins killed himself before he could be tried. But the uncertainty is unacceptable. Congress should convene a panel of independent law enforcement specialists and scientists to pore over the evidence collected in the course of the FBI investigation — including classified information that was withheld from the NAS panel. Such an inquiry should attempt to get to the bottom of the 2001 attacks and assess the nation’s ability to prevent a similar attack.
Read the full editorial here. And if you missed The Anthrax Files, watch it here.
