Judge orders Hatfill search warrant made public

U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth this week said the government’s search warrants and supporting documents relating to former Army scientist Stephen Hatfill and his then-girlfriend Peck Chegne should be made public.

The New York Times and the Los Angeles Times asked for the materials to be released, contending the public has a right to know why investigators wanted to search Hatfill’s house and on what basis the courts agreed to allow those searches.

“The anthrax investigation was one of the most complex, time-consuming and expensive investigations in recent history,” Lamberth said. “As a result, the American citizens have a legitimate interest in observing and understanding how and why the investigation progressed in the way that it did.”

Five people were killed and 17 sickened when anthrax was mailed to Capitol Hill lawmakers and members of the media just weeks after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Then-Attorney General John Ashcroft identified Hatfill as “a person of interest” in the investigation, and an FBI search of Hatfill’s apartment was televised live.

Hatfill worked at the Army’s infectious diseases laboratory at Fort Detrick from 1997 to 1999. He was cleared in the anthrax attacks and awarded $5.8 million in settlement of a lawsuit accusing the Justice Department of violating his privacy.

Bruce Ivins, the Army scientist eventually accused of carrying out the 2001 anthrax attacks, committed suicide in July as prosecutors prepared to charge him in the attacks.

Lamberth also said Chegne’s search warrant material for her apartment and car also should be released, although she has not made her information public like Hatfill did with his lawsuit against the Justice Department. The judge said there were no “highly intimate or personal details of the kind that would present a compelling interest in not releasing the materials.”