Probe gets new leader
As the first anniversary of the anthrax mailings passed with the case unsolved, Mueller phased out the soon-to-be-retired Harp by promoting a senior FBI agent from San Diego, Richard L. Lambert, to supervise the investigation.
Lambert also tended the concerns of congressional leaders. He and Mueller met privately with Daschle, Leahy and several Senate staffers. Leahy later told Vermont students in an online discussion that some of the briefings he received "have been highly classified."
According to Lambert, he and Mueller advised senators and staffers that the information was sensitive and confidential. But he also acknowledged that he erred by revealing Hatfill's "status in this criminal investigation."
"It was inappropriate to discuss Steven Hatfill in the context of that meeting," Lambert testified. "Typically, the FBI does not discuss the identity of any persons concerning an investigation. . . . We typically disclose our facts in a courtroom."
Lambert described the labeling of Hatfill and the many leaks as potentially harmful to both Hatfill and to the investigation.
Nevertheless, for the next four years Lambert kept FBI and postal investigators focused on Hatfill, according to people familiar with the case.
Some dissatisfied agents sought a review of Lambert by the bureau's Inspection Division, which evaluates FBI operations. "There were complaints about him," one agent told The Times. "Did he take energy away from looking at other people? The answer is yes."
On Aug. 25, 2006, Mueller transferred Lambert off the case, naming him special agent in charge of the FBI field office in Knoxville, Tenn. Results of the Inspection Division's review of the complaints have not been disclosed, and Lambert declined to be interviewed for this article.
The fixation on Hatfill ran broadly through FBI leadership. Eberhart, the biohazards expert, testified that when he retired in late 2002, "Dr. Hatfill was our main focus."
Now, many who have been involved with the anthrax case say they fear it will never be solved.
Said Peter Setlow, a University of Connecticut biochemist who has served as a consultant to the FBI:
"They're not going to ever catch him until somebody confesses on their deathbed or something like that. You're not going to find a smoking gun."
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david.willman@latimes.com
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Times researcher Janet Lundblad in Los Angeles contributed to this report.
