Steven Holt: “As you may know, the Federal Bureau of Investigation announced last week that it is formally closing its investigation…”

“As you may know, the Federal Bureau of Investigation announced last week that it is formally closing its investigation into the 2001 anthrax attacks, a major bioterrorist attack on America. Those attacks are believed to have originated from a postbox in New Jersey, disrupting the lives and livelihoods of many of my constituents and yours. We already know that the FBI too quickly jumped to conclusions about the nature and the profile of the culprit or culprits and quickly zeroed in on one individual who later received a multimillion dollar settlement and apology for mistaken accusations. Subsequently, the investigators focused on another individual, who then killed himself. Although the FBI never produced any physical evidence tying that individual specifically to the attacks, they closed the case. Indeed, this investigation was botched at multiple points, which is why reexamining it is so important. Given that the samples of the strain of anthrax that was used in the attacks may have been supplied to foreign laboratories, we think it's prudent to have the Inspector General of the intelligence community examine whether or not evidence of a potential foreign connection to the attacks was overlooked, ignored, or simply not passed along to the FBI.”