DOJ Leaks Name of Anthrax 'Person of Interest' Steven Hatfill, Destroying His Career
In 2002, DOJ and FBI officials repeatedly and illegally leaked to the media that biodefense scientist Steven Hatfill was a 'person of interest' in the 2001 anthrax letter attacks, despite never charging him. The leaks cost him his job and reputation; the government later paid him $5.82 million and publicly exonerated him.
Following the October 2001 anthrax letter attacks that killed five people, the FBI and DOJ conducted a massive investigation. By mid-2002, law enforcement officials began leaking to major media outlets that biodefense scientist Steven Hatfill — who had publicly criticized U.S. biodefense preparedness — was a 'person of interest.' Attorney General John Ashcroft named him publicly in August 2002. The leaks, which a federal judge later found to be illegal Privacy Act violations, cost Hatfill his job at Science Applications International Corporation and made him unemployable in his field. He was never charged. In 2008 the real perpetrator, Bruce Ivins, was identified just before his suicide. The Justice Department settled Hatfill's Privacy Act lawsuit in June 2008 for $5.82 million. The case illustrated how targeted government leaks to the press can effectively punish an individual — in Hatfill's case, one who had been publicly critical of government policy — while avoiding the due process protections of a formal charge.