The Anthrax Files

THE LATEST

Exclusive: New Photos of Anthrax Suspect’s Lab

January 30, 2012, 11:00 am ET · by Lauren Ezell

Rarely seen photos — obtained by FRONTLINE under the Freedom of Information Act — of Dr. Bruce Ivins’ office, locker, the hot suite and the machine the FBI says he could have used to make the dried anthrax spores used in the attacks.

Government Settles Anthrax Suit for $2.5 million

November 29, 2011, 6:48 pm ET · by Mike Wiser FRONTLINE; Greg Gordon, McClatchy Newspapers; and Stephen Engelberg, ProPublica

While denying negligence by one of its premier bio-weapons labs, the government has agreed to pay $2.5 million to settle a wrongful death suit filed by survivors of the first fatality victim of the deadly 2001 anthrax mail attacks, court papers revealed Tuesday.

$50 Million Anthrax Lawsuit Settled

October 31, 2011, 5:27 pm ET · by Sarah Moughty

“Justice has been served,” the lawyer for the family of Robert Stevens, the first victim of the 2001 anthrax attacks, told … Continue reading →

The FBI Responds To “The Anthrax Files”

October 28, 2011, 7:27 pm ET · by Mike Wiser FRONTLINE; Tom Detzel, ProPublica

After editorials in The New York Times and The Washington Post called for new investigations into the 2001 anthrax attacks, the FBI issues a statement defending its conclusion that Army scientist Bruce E. Ivins was behind the letters that killed five people.

How Prepared is the U.S. For a Bioterrorism Attack?

October 27, 2011, 2:44 pm ET · by Gretchen Gavett

In mid-September 2001, a retired Air Force colonel successfully smuggled an anthrax-like substance into the White House. This warning could … Continue reading →

Secret Reports: With Security Spotty, Many Had Access to Anthrax

October 25, 2011, 11:36 am ET · by Greg Gordon McClatchy, and Stephen Engelberg, ProPublica

The Army laboratory identified by prosecutors as the source of the anthrax that killed five people in the fall of … Continue reading →

Washington Post Calls for New Anthrax Investigation

October 24, 2011, 11:08 am ET · by Sarah Moughty

Last week it was the The New York Times; now The Washington Post has called for a review of the … Continue reading →

NYT Calls for New Anthrax Investigation

October 18, 2011, 9:55 am ET · by Sarah Moughty

Evidence that Dr. Bruce Ivins is the anthrax killer is looking “increasingly shaky” says a New York Times editorial published … Continue reading →

Live Chat: Inside the FBI’s Anthrax Investigation

October 12, 2011, 11:00 am ET

Read the full transcript of our live chat with “Anthrax Files” reporters Mike Wiser (FRONTLINE), Stephen Engleberg (ProPublica), and Greg Gordon (McClatchy).

“A Chilling Report on Several Fronts”

October 11, 2011, 1:48 pm ET · by Sarah Moughty

That’s The Baltimore Sun‘s David Zurawik on The Anthrax Files, our season premiere airing tonight on PBS (check local listings or watch it … Continue reading →

The Anthrax Files: The Essential Documents

October 10, 2011, 11:57 pm ET

FRONTLINE closely examined more than 27,000 pages of FBI documents for this investigation. Here are some of the key documents … Continue reading →

The Bruce Ivins I Knew

October 10, 2011, 11:56 pm ET

A goofball scientist, practical joker or a man with a “dark side”? How people who knew him remember Dr. Bruce Ivins…

Rachel Lieber: The Case Against Dr. Bruce Ivins

October 10, 2011, 11:55 pm ET

Because of his suicide, Assistant U.S. Attorney Rachel Lieber never got a chance to try her case against Dr. Bruce Ivins in front of a jury, but she is confident she could have convicted him for the anthrax attacks. Here she tells FRONTLINE how she would have done it.

Edward Montooth: “The Mandate Was to Look at the Case With Fresh Eyes”

October 10, 2011, 11:54 pm ET

In 2006, Montooth was brought in to shake up the FBI’s investigation of the anthrax attacks. He says he’s “very comfortable” with the evidence that Dr. Bruce Ivins was the perpetrator: “What we see today is exactly what we wanted to avoid. We wanted a trial so that the public could see it and make their own informed decision. With that suicide, ultimately when he died, that took it away.”

Nancy Haigwood: “I Had a Gut Feeling It Was Bruce”

October 10, 2011, 11:53 pm ET

Dr. Bruce Ivins developed an interest in Haigwood in the 1970s, when the two were graduate students at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. His interest became more intense when he found out that Haigwood was a member of the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority. In early 2002, Haigwood contacted the FBI about her suspicions that Ivins might be involved in the anthrax attacks.

Claire Fraser-Liggett: “This Is Not an Airtight Case By Any Means”

October 10, 2011, 11:53 pm ET

Director of the Institute for Genome Sciences, Fraser-Liggett was brought into the investigation to try to trace the DNA found in the anthrax attack letters back to its source material. Based on her team’s research, the FBI zeroed in on a flask controlled by Dr. Bruce Ivins. But while Fraser-Liggett believes the scientific evidence is “very solid,” she is not convinced the government has made its case against Ivins.

Paul Keim: “We Were Surprised It Was the Ames Strain”

October 10, 2011, 11:51 pm ET

In October 2001, Northern Arizona University microbiologist Dr. Paul Keim identified that the anthrax used in the attack letters was the Ames strain, a development he described as “chilling” because that particular strain was developed in U.S. government laboratories.