FBI Ties Seized Library Computers to Anthrax Case
A week after removing two public-access computers from the Frederick County (Md.) Public Libraries’ C. Burr Artz Library, the FBI has obtained a court order to search the machines for clues to their July 24 use by Army scientist Bruce Ivins. A suspect in the 2001 anthrax letter attacks who killed himself July 29, Ivins was under surveillance by agents who observed him going to the library and accessing a website about the case, according to a search warrant request granted August 7 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
The warrant specified that what is being sought was electronic evidence of “threats to witnesses related to the anthrax investigation, and obstruction of that investigation,” allegedly by Ivins. The court document reveals that FBI agents observed Ivins visiting the Artz branch on the evening of July 24 and using library workstations 41 and 54; it goes on to specify that “Special Agents of the FBI observed Dr. Ivins reviewing a website dedicated to the Anthrax Investigation and examining e-mail accounts.”
The New York Times reported August 8 that the need for a court order to examine the library computers was the reason why investigators did not close the case after unsealing hundreds of documents two days earlier. The affidavit stated that the FBI was hoping to find electronic files or e-mails about plans to commit suicide and/or murder.
Posted on August 8, 2008. Discuss.