Statement of Dr. Steven Hatfill at October 5 Accuracy in Media conference in Virginia: Hatfill: Thank you ladies and gentlemen. I appreciate the kinds words. Mr. Kincaid. The subject of this seminar is Accuracy in Media. And that's something that I've become very interested in in the last year. Like many Americans I trusted that the news that would be presented to me on television and in the newspapers would be filtered and have some degree of accuracy. I took this for granted. I remember Walter Cronkite as a child. Walter Cronkite would never lie to me. Since this case has become public, I find that the accuracy in the media is extremely questionable in some cases. ABC News is reporting a Brian Ross story aired on ABC News at the time of my first consensual apartment search was a travesty of the truth. The Greendale connection. There is no Greendale school in Zimbabwe and never has been. [Note: a "Greendale" school was a return address on the anthrax letters, and ABC News and other media said that Hatfill lived near such a school in Zimbabwe] The interviews leading up - the preparation for that broadcast -- very prominent BW experts were interviewed. They didn't give the statements that Brian Ross wanted. So he brought in another guy and labeled him a biological weapons expert - a man that has limited knowledge in the field. The report that I helped create - to help first responders deal with the numerous anthrax hoaxes that were occurring in the country - was turned against me said that it was a blueprint for the anthrax letters attack - complete rubbish. A year ago at this time I was involved in theoretical studies helping to determine means by which we could protect our ports and harbors from large scale biological events. Several months ago I was involved in designing and implementing 46,000 first responders in how to handle biological incidents. Now I sat at home and watch CNN. As Mr. Stix mentioned, [Note: writer Nicholas Stix was on the panel] I also grew up watching the FBI and Efrem Zimbalist Jr. I have profound respect for them. In fact, I made them the hero in my much-maligned novel that has not been published. I made the FBI the hero of this. This is the novel that was supposed to deal with letters being sent to Congress with anthrax which in fact actually deals with Madcow disease and nothing related to anthrax -- emerging infections. Well, I'm busy rewriting the book. A lot of what I can see in the FBI's investigation of me has been driven by the press. An article appears in some newspaper that I have a secret mountain cabin. What's the next question I'm asked by the FBI? Do you have a secret mountain cabin? And on down the road. Attorney General Ashcroft for his own reason seems to have broken standing FBI policy and named me as a person of interest, although I'm not a suspect. Well my life has changed. My reputation has been destroyed on four continents. I'm unemployed. But what upsets me the worst - my country's getting ready for war and I'm left on the sidelines. Question: litigation? A: Hatfill: I have a number of lawsuits in preparation -- rest assured -- extending on many different continents. Q: What are your suspicions about where the anthrax came from? A: Hatfill: Throughout this entire year I've tried to sit on the fence. There are times when I think it could be domestic. There are times when I think it's foreign. I don't know. I don't have enough information. I haven't seen the powder. I don't have enough scientific evidence to make any sort of determination except that when these deaths happened I think we all thought it was terrorism -- it was a follow- on to 9/11 and I for one was shocked when the FBI declared that this was a domestic incident. I thought they were out of their minds. It's hard to make any decision unless you have the evidence. I haven't seen the powder. I can't comment on it - its sophistication or anything else. I don't have enough data to make a firm conviction. However, I believe if it had been domestic after the millions of dollars and thousands of man hours that the FBI has put into this, I think those people would be in jail now. And I think the fact that there is no suspect points us towards perhaps a foreign power or a terrorist group involved - just simply by the process of elimination. Q: Ironically, you should be part of the investigation to find out the source of the anthrax and instead you're the target. A: Hatfill: What happened - well, the country's top active expert in dried biological warfare agents - Bill Patrick - who had been polygraphed by the FBI and brought into their inner circle-they had the bloodhounds out sniffing him the other day. So I don't know. I didn't know it could be like this in the United States. We've gone nuts. We eat our own here. Q: Reaction of the bloodhounds? A: Hatfill: I'm not supposed to answer things against…but let me tell you something. They brought this good-looking dog in. I mean, this was the best-fed dog I have seen in a long time. They brought him in and he walked around the room. By the way, I could have left at anytime but I volunteered while they were raiding my apartment the second time, I volunteered to talk with them. The dog came around and I petted him. And the dog walked out. So animals like me (laughter). FROM WASHINGTON THIS IS MEDIA MONITOR WITH REED IRVINE AND CLIFF KINCAID HEADLINE: SCIENTIST PLANS LAWSUITS AGAINST THE MEDIA Dr. Steven Hatfill has announced that lawsuits are planned against those who accused him of involvement in the anthrax letters case. Speaking at an Accuracy in Media conference, Hatfill also said that, with his background in biodefense, he should be helping prepare the American people for terrorist attacks. "What upsets me the worst," he said, his voice cracking with emotion, is that "my country is getting ready for war, and I'm left on the sidelines." Hatfill has the expertise to help prepare America for biowarfare waged by countries such as Iraq or international terrorists. He understands how to save lives. But he has been run out of two jobs because of the campaign against him. Hatfill said, "A year ago at this time I was involved in theoretical studies helping to determine means by which we could protect our ports and harbors from large scale biological events. Several months ago I was involved in designing and implementing 46,000 first responders in how to handle biological incidents. Now I sit at home and watch CNN." Described by Attorney General John Ashcroft as a "person of interest" in the case, Hatfill has been forced to hire a lawyer and hold two news conferences to deny that he is responsible for the anthrax letters in the fall of 2001 that killed five people. He has been tailed by the FBI and his apartment has been searched three times. Yet he is not a suspect, no evidence has been found, and Ashcroft admits the FBI isn't close to an arrest. In one of the most blatant media distortions in the case, Newsweek claimed that FBI bloodhounds went crazy around Hatfill, thereby linking him to the anthrax letters, but the scientist dismissed that, saying he had merely petted one of the dogs walking around him in a room. "Dogs like me," he joked. Hatfill's appearance caught the attention of CNN, which noted his comments about lawsuits, and ran a story on its Web site. The CNN story said, "When asked who he believes is responsible for the anthrax attacks, Hatfill said, 'Throughout this entire year, I have tried to sit on the fence. There are times when I think it could be domestic. There are times when I think it is foreign. I don't know. I don't have enough information. I have not seen the powder. I don't have enough scientific evidence to make any sort of determination.'" While reserving complete judgment, pending a thorough scientific analysis of the evidence, Hatfill also said, "I believe if it had been domestic after the millions of dollars and thousands of man hours that the FBI has put into this, I think those people would be in jail now. And I think the fact that there is no suspect points us towards perhaps a foreign power or a terrorist group involved - just simply by the process of elimination." Hatfill revealed that the country's top active expert in dried biological warfare agents - Bill Patrick - who had been polygraphed by the FBI and brought into their inner circle -was now being targeted as well, and that bloodhounds were "out sniffing him the other day." "I didn't know it could be like this in the United States," he said. "We've gone nuts. We eat our own here." FROM WASHINGTON THIS IS MEDIA MONITOR WITH REED IRVINE AND CLIFF KINCAID HEADLINE: SCIENTIST RIPS THE MEDIA Dr. Steven Hatill, whose career and reputation have been ruined by media coverage of the anthrax letters case, told an Accuracy in Media conference on October 5th that he once believed the media were fair and accurate. "Like many Americans I trusted that the news that would be presented to me on television and in the newspapers would be filtered and have some degree of accuracy," he said. "I took this for granted." He knows better, he said, because the media have falsely depicted him as the anthrax killer of five people. He is fighting back with a planned series of lawsuits but those could be in the courts for years. In the meantime, he has lost two jobs, and his services as an expert on biowarfare have been denied to the American people, who stand vulnerable to biological and chemical attacks waged by countries such as Iraq or international terrorists. For the first time publicly, Hatfill directly confronted several of the accusations made in an effort to link him to the deadly letters. He attacked a Brian Ross story on ABC News that said he lived near a Greendale school in Zimbabwe in Africa. This was said to be incriminating because a Greendale school was listed on the return address on some of the letters. "There is no Greendale school in Zimbabwe and never has been," Hatfill said. Hatfill said he was partly responsible for a report on how government "first responders" to a biological or chemical attack could deal with the anthrax hoaxes that were occurring in the U.S. This was designed to help America prepare for the real thing. And yet it was "turned against me [and the media] said that it was a blueprint for the anthrax letters attack," he noted. He called the coverage of this matter "complete rubbish." It was also reported that Hatfill had written an unpublished novel on anthrax letters being sent to congress - another blueprint of what actually happened. In fact, he said it dealt with mad cow disease and other emerging infections and the FBI was the hero of the book. "I made the FBI the hero of this," he said. "Well, I'm busy rewriting the book." "A lot of what I can see in the FBI's investigation of me has been driven by the press," he said. "An article appears in some newspaper that I have a secret mountain cabin. What's the next question I'm asked by the FBI? 'Do you have a secret mountain cabin?'" That cabin turned out to be a home belonging to a Washington attorney where Hatfill and friends gathered for dinner and conversation. While Hatfill's life has been made miserable for many months, the FBI has failed to identify the real perpetrators of the anthrax attacks. On September 26th, however, National Security adviser Condoleeza Rice said that Saddam Hussein's regime was sheltering members of the Al Qaeda terrorist network in Baghdad and helping Osama bin Laden's operatives in developing chemical weapons. Equally significant, reports of the interrogation of American Taliban John Walker Lindh revealed that he was told in the camps in Afghanistan that the next wave of attacks after 9/11 were supposed to be biological, chemical or radiological weapons. That would include anthrax. Researcher says he'll sue over anthrax probe From Kevin Bohn (CNN) Sunday, October 6, 2002 Posted: 10:02 AM EDT (1402 GMT) ARLINGTON, Virginia (CNN) --A former Army bioweapons researcher who has been investigated in connection with last fall's deadly anthrax attacks said he is preparing several lawsuits related to his treatment in the inquiry. "I have a number of lawsuits in preparation. Rest assured," Dr. Stephen Hatfill said Saturday. "I have a number of lawsuits in litigation, in preparation, extending on many different continents." Hatfill has not been charged in the investigation and has steadfastly denied having any role in or any knowledge of deadly anthrax mailings. Anthrax-laced letters were sent to the offices of U.S. Sens. Tom Daschle, D-South Dakota, and Patrick Leahy, D-Vermont, and to TV network news offices in New York and may have been sent to other places. Five people, including two postal employees in Washington, died of inhalation anthrax. Hatfill's spokesman refused comment on who may be the target of any lawsuits or a time frame for filing them. His attorneys previously have said lawsuits were being considered. Hatfill had his apartment searched three times as part of the investigation into who mailed the anthrax letters in fall 2001. He has bitterly denounced the treatment he says he has received from the government and the media in relation to the anthrax inquiry, saying he has been the victim of innuendo and gossip. He and his spokesman have criticized U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft for describing Hatfill as a "person of interest" in the anthrax probe but for not clarifying what that term means. Authorities have not described Hatfill as a suspect in the investigation. Hatfill spoke Saturday to a conference sponsored by Accuracy in Media, a conservative media watchdog group. The former government scientist continues to look for a job. He was fired last month from a position at Louisiana State University where he helped train emergency workers to respond to bioterrorism attacks. LSU did not give a reason for the firing. A Justice Department official sent an e-mail to the program director in August directing him not to use Hatfill on any Justice Department-funded programs. Hatfill was working on one such program. The e-mail was sent right before Hatfill was put on administrative leave. A LSU spokesman has said that university officials only learned of the e-mail after the university already had decided to terminate Hatfill and that the correspondence had nothing to do with that action. When asked who he believes is responsible for the anthrax attacks, Hatfill said, "Throughout this entire year, I have tried to sit on the fence. There are times when I think it could be domestic. There are times when I think it is foreign. I don't know. "I don't have enough information. I have not seen the powder. I don't have enough scientific evidence to make any sort of determination."              Printer-friendly version Click here to be added to our mailing list.