Evidence vs. Beliefs
Compiled on April 3, 2011
by
Ed Lake
Some of the arguments from the Anthrax Truthers have become truly repetitious and silly.  Since they absolutely refuse to discuss more than one item of evidence at a time, I decided to make a list of all of the FBI's items of evidence that I can find and to show how those items are viewed by the Anthrax Truthers.  It's possible I may have missed some items, but here's the list I developed:



FBI/DOJ Evidence
 Anthrax Truthers' Response
1
 Ivins was fascinated with secret codes.  He put a hidden message in the anthrax letters he sent to the media.
 There was no hidden message in the letters, and, if there was, it was written by someone else.
2
 Ivins tried to destroy the book and magazine he used to encode a hidden message in the media letters.
 That's not proof of anything.  Many people own that book and magazine.
3
 The hidden message in the media letters related to two of Ivins' colleagues, one by name (PAT) and the other by attacking her favorite city (FNY).
 It's just a coincidence.  It doesn't prove anything.
4
 Ivins had used similar DNA-based coding in an email sent to a colleague.
 It's just a coincidence.  It doesn't prove anything.
5
 The anthrax letters were placed in the mailbox nearest to the Kappa Kappa Gamma (KKG) office in Princeton, NJ.  Ivins had an obsession with the KKG sorority. It's just a coincidence.  It doesn't prove anything.
6
 Ivins used ZIP Code 08852 on the senate letters.  That ZIP Code is for Monmouth Junction, NJ, where Ivins' family on his father's side came from.  And, Monmouth College in Monmouth, IL, is where the KKG sorority was founded. It's just a coincidence.  It doesn't prove anything.
7
 Ivins had traveled through Princeton, NJ, with his parents he was a child, but, when asked during the investigation, he told investigators that he'd never been to Princeton.
He just forgot.  Everyone forgets things.
That's not proof of anything.  It's just a coincidence.
8
 Ivins' father graduated from Princeton University.
 It's just a coincidence.  It doesn't prove anything.
9
 Ivins frequently drove long distances to mail things so they couldn't be traced back to him.
 That doesn't mean he sent the anthrax letters.
10
 Ivins frequently drove long distances at night without the knowledge of his wife and family.
 That doesn't mean he sent the anthrax letters.
11
 Ivins drove long distances to burglarize KKG sorority houses, stealing ritual books and coding materials.
 That doesn't mean he sent the anthrax letters.
12
 Ivins repeatedly harassed KKG member Nancy Haigwood as a result of an obsession that lasted for thirty years. That doesn't mean he sent the anthrax letters.
13
 Two of Ivins' psychiatrists believed he should never have been allowed to work with anthrax.
 That doesn't mean he sent the anthrax letters.
14
 Ivins' first psychiatrist (from 1978 to 1979) immediately thought of Bruce Ivins as a possible suspect when she first read about the anthrax attacks.
 That doesn't mean he sent the anthrax letters.
15
 Ivins' second psychiatrist (from February to May 2000), Dr. David Irwin, diasgnosed Ivins to be "homicidal, sociopathic with clear intentions." That doesn't mean he sent the anthrax letters.
16
 In June of 2000, Ivins told his psychiatric counselor that he planned to poison a "young woman" if she lost a soccer game.  The counselor called the police, but no one knew who the young woman was.
 That doesn't mean he sent the anthrax letters.
17
 The young woman won the game.  Ivins didn't poison her.  But the counselor quit her job because others disagreed about how dangerous Ivins was.
 That doesn't mean he sent the anthrax letters.
18
 In early 2002, Nancy Haigwood identified Bruce Ivins as someone who could have committed the anthrax attacks. That doesn't mean he sent the anthrax letters.
19
 Ivins had multiple motives for the attacks.
 Ivins had no motive for the attacks.
20
 At the time of the mailings, Ivins believed that the Ames strain was used in labs all over the world and was totally untraceable.
That doesn't mean he sent the anthrax letters.
21
 Ivins contracted an infection on his hand around the time of the attacks and failed to report it, although it was required that he report any infections.
 That doesn't mean he sent the anthrax letters.
22
 The infection on Ivins hand was cured with the antibiotic the CDC recommends for anthrax.
 That doesn't mean it was anthrax.
23
 Ivins had no alibi for the times of the mailings.
 The FBI won't release the information we need to prove Ivins had an alibi.
24
 Ivins couldn't explain the long hours he worked in his BSL-3 lab at night and on weekends at the time the anthrax letters were being prepared.
 The FBI won't release the information we need to prove Ivins was doing routine, regular work.
25
 The anthrax spores used in the attacks were not "weaponized" and could easily have been made by Bruce Ivins.
 The attack anthrax was "weaponized" in a very sophisticated way, and Ivins didn't know how to "weaponize" anthrax spores that way.
26
 Ivins suggested to the CDC that Bob Stevens could have contracted inhalation anthrax from various natural sources, even though Ivins knew such sources couldn't give anyone inhalation anthrax.
 That doesn't mean he sent the anthrax letters.
27
 In an email to a colleague written just days before the anthrax mailings, Ivins used terms similar to what were in the anthrax letters.
It's just a coincidence.  It doesn't prove anything.
28
 One target of the media mailing was The National Enquirer.  Ivins wrote about the National Enquirer in emails before the attacks, and he had a stack of Enquirers in his office.
 It's just a coincidence.  It doesn't prove anything.
29
 The anthrax letter sent to the National Enquirer used an obsolete address.  The stacks of Enquirers in Ivins' office contained that obsolete address.
 It's just a coincidence.  It doesn't prove anything.
30
 "Greendale School" was the second line of the return address on the senate letters, and Ivins had just donated money to a cause related to an incident at a Greendale School in Wisconsin.
 It's just a coincidence.  It doesn't prove anything.
31
 The Greendale School incident in Wisconsin involved a 4th grader.  The first line of the return address on the senate letters was: "4th Grade"
 It's just a coincidence.  It doesn't prove anything.
32
 One of the targets of the senate mailing was Senator Daschle, who had been critical of the anthrax vaccine Ivins had helped develop.
 It's just a coincidence.  It doesn't prove anything.
33
 Senator Leahy, the other target of the senate mailing, was concerned about the civil rights of Muslims being questioned after 9/11, and this upset Ivins.
It's just a coincidence.  It doesn't prove anything.
34
 On September 22, 2001, before the anthrax letters were found, Ivins joined the American Red Cross and mentioned his expertise in anthrax research (which he'd never mentioned before).
 That doesn't mean he sent the anthrax letters.
35
 On September 26, 2001, before the anthrax letters were found, Ivins wrote to Mara Linscott, "You should feel good about having received anthrax shots."
 It's just a coincidence.  It doesn't prove anything.
36
 Ivins controlled the flask that was the source of the spores used to grow the attack anthrax.
 That doesn't mean he sent the anthrax letters.  Other people also had access to the flask.
37
 Ivins had all the necessary skills and equipment for making the attack anthrax.
 That doesn't mean he sent the anthrax letters.
38
 Ivins submitted a sample to the FBI from Flask RMR-1029 in February 2002 that was improperly prepared and could not be used as evidence.
 That doesn't mean he sent the anthrax letters.  It was just a mistake.
39
 The other samples Ivins prepared for the FBI in February 2002 were all properly prepared.
 That doesn't mean he sent the anthrax letters.
40
 The replacement sample submitted in April of 2002 was apparently not from Flask RMR-1029.  He falsified evidence.
 That cannot be proven conclusively.  That doesn't mean he sent the anthrax letters.
41
 In December of 2001, Ivins performed an unauthorized cleaning of areas where he may have left evidence behind.  He destroyed evidence.
 That doesn't mean he sent the anthrax letters.
42
 In April of 2002, Ivins performed a second unauthorized cleaning of areas where there may have been evidence.  He again destroyed evidence. That doesn't mean he sent the anthrax letters.
43
 Ivins lied about why he did the unauthorized cleanings.  The areas he cleaned didn't match with his explanations.
 That doesn't mean he sent the anthrax letters.
44
 In attempts to mislead the FBI, Ivins identified many of his colleagues as potential suspects in the case.
 That doesn't mean he sent the anthrax letters.
45
 Ivins deleted all of his emails from 2001 from his work computer and claimed he didn't know how it happened.  (Some of the emails were recovered from other computers.)
 That doesn't mean he sent the anthrax letters.
46
 Ivins attempted to intimidate potential witnesses in the case.
 That doesn't mean he sent the anthrax letters.
47
 In later years, Ivins said that, if he sent the anthrax letters, he didn't remember doing it.
 That doesn't mean he sent the anthrax letters.
48
 Before his suicide, Ivins stated that he planned to murder his co-workers for what they'd done to him and go out in a "blaze of glory."
 That doesn't mean he sent the anthrax letters.
49
 Ivins committed suicide so he wouldn't have to stand trial and be found guilty.
 Ivins committed suicide because the FBI was harassing him.
50
 The case against Ivins is solid.
 There is absolutely no evidence of Ivins' guilt.

There might be some question about whether or not the case against Ivins would be solid enough to convince the dumbest and most stubborn jury imaginable, but there is no question that there is an abundance of compelling evidence that Bruce Ivins was the anthrax mailer.

And, anyone who thinks that "lack of sufficient evidence" means someone is actually innocent of the crime, and that someone else must have done it, is ridiculously mistaken.
© 2011 by Ed Lake
All Rights Reserved

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