Yesterday, the Justice Department released tons of materials related to its investigation of the 2001 anthrax letter attacks as it closed the books on the case. According to the Washington Post, "The records offer substantial support for the FBI's contention that biologist Bruce E. Ivins single-handedly prepared and mailed deadly anthrax spores that killed five people and terrorized a nation still reeling from the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington... [The documents] starkly portray the mental unraveling of the deceased Army scientist accused of committing the worst act of bioterrorism in U.S. history."
Ivins committed suicide in 2008, possibly aware that the FBI was closing in on him. The FBI believes that the anthrax in the 2001 letters mailed to NBC News anchor Tom Brokaw, the NY Post and two Senators was the same as strains that Ivins created. (Five people died and others were sickened by exposure to the letters.) While the FBI did look at 1,000 suspects, there's no conclusive evidence that Ivins was behind the attacks, and NJ Rep. Rush Holt (D) said, "Arbitrarily closing the case on a Friday afternoon should not mean the end of this investigation. The evidence the FBI produced would not, I think, stand up in court."
The NY Post combed through the documents and found that Ivins seemed to harbor bad blood towards the Big Apple. There appears to be a hidden code in the messages—the bolded letters spell out the nucleic acids that could represent "(1) 'FNY' -- a verbal assault on New York, and (2) 'PAT'":
"With respect to 'FNY,' according to numerous witnesses who knew him well . . . Dr. Ivins had a deep hatred for New York," investigators wrote in a report released yesterday... "In the aftermath of 9/11, Dr. Ivins sent [a former colleague] an e-mail where he essentially accused 'typical' New Yorkers of overplaying the tragedy and seeking attention, wondering 'what about those folks in Oklahoma City, they deserve sympathy too,' " the report said...
"Dr. Ivins strongly associated [the former colleague] with New York," the report said. "His communications with her . . . in the years that followed were replete with references to the New York Yankees, her favorite baseball team, not always in the kindest of terms."
According to the WaPo, "Pat is the nickname of a former co-worker to whom Ivins was said to have an obsessive emotional attachment."
You can see the documents from the DOJ here.
