Junto Boys

The FBI returns to Bio-weapons researcher Dr. Steven Hatfill as the prime suspect in the anthrax letters that arrived shortly after 911.

Bio-weapons researcher Dr. Steven Hatfill, sources confirm, remains the FBI's number one suspect in the attacks, even though round-the-clock surveillance and extensive searches have failed to develop more than what even Justice Department prosecutors describe as a "highly circumstantial" case."

"I am not the anthrax killer," said Hatfill, denying the accusations.

I'm leery about the FBI's investigation. The FBI was quick to accuse Richard Jewel of that Atlanta bombing during the 1996 Olympics and they later ate crow. The pressure is on them to find a scapegoat. The fact that intense surveillance hasn't turned up evidence is worrisome.

The FBI needs to have a victory after their other lapses. Arresting Hatfill for something other than evidence linking him to Anthrax would allow them to claim they got their man. That's not a direction I'd like to see the government move in. Constant surveillance should keep Hatfill at bay if he is guilty. Arresting him without evidence may give a free pass to the real culprit.

Hatfill may be guilty, because he had warned about this kind of attack for a long time, and he may have wanted to prove the possibility. But the government shouldn’t be in the business of suppressing their critics under the guise of danger unless they can prove that danger.