Behind the Bastards

Episode: How The FBI Botched the 2001 Anthrax Scare (Part 2)

Host: Robert Evans
Guest: Courtney
Date Recorded: September 12, 2025
Published: October 7, 2025
Podcast Network: Cool Zone Media / iHeartPodcasts

Episode Overview

This episode continues the deep dive into the 2001 anthrax attacks and the disastrous FBI investigation that followed. Host Robert Evans and guest Courtney focus on the unraveling of the case, why the FBI fixated on an innocent man (Steven Hatfill), the atmosphere of national paranoia after 9/11, and how bureaucratic incompetence, media hysteria, and personal vendettas destroyed lives without ever solidly solving the crime. The episode explores the real impact on Hatfill, why the FBI stuck to its flawed theory, and what was ultimately revealed about the case years later.

Key Discussion Points

1. National Climate After 9/11 (00:05–05:00)

• Robert Evans opens with how his own journalism intersects with mass shootings and the psychological toll news reporting can have on reporters.
• The hosts recall the state of American society in the weeks after 9/11, marked by fear, paranoia, and a collective break in the public psyche.
  • “There was something that left everyone's souls. The light in their eyes was different. People fucking went... It was like somebody had flipped a switch.” — Robert Evans (03:00)
• Americans were primed for irrational fear, which set the stage for overreaction to the anthrax attacks.

2. The Anthrax Attacks Unfold (06:55–16:45)

• Less than three weeks after 9/11, Robert Stevens, a photo editor at the National Enquirer, becomes the first fatal victim of anthrax.
• The details of anthrax poisoning are discussed: inhalation anthrax is extremely rare and generally only caused by intentional weaponization.
• Early suspicion falls on Islamic terrorists due to the timing, but forensic evidence quickly narrows the pool.
• The Ames strain of anthrax is identified—a strain primarily kept by the US military’s bio-defense labs (at USAMRIID, Fort Detrick).
  • “Once they have identified… the AIM strain, it really can't be Al Qaeda at this point.” — Robert Evans (20:53)
• Discussion of how weaponizing anthrax requires significant technical expertise only possessed by perhaps “50 to 100 max” people in the country.

3. The FBI Fumbles the Investigation (22:18–39:05)

• The FBI, led by Robert Mueller as Director, is slow to catch on that the perpetrator must be a domestic bioweapons expert rather than a foreign terrorist.
• Early efforts focus on irrelevant clues, such as the blocky handwriting and odd return addresses on the anthrax letters.
  • “He gets obsessed with the writing on the letters… the handwriting… thinking the killer will return to gloat on a computer sting website.” — Robert Evans (33:16)
• Notably, the investigation was run out of the same field office also managing the 9/11 case, resulting in overworked agents with insufficient scientific backgrounds.
• Experienced bioweapons scientists, like James R.E. Smith, contact the FBI to point out the reality, even volunteering themselves for investigation given the narrow suspect pool.
• The FBI, wanting a win after missing 9/11, is hungry for PR and quick conclusions.

4. The Steven Hatfill Witch Hunt (39:05–56:00)

• Steven Hatfill becomes the main suspect: a middle-aged white scientist with a sometimes adversarial relationship to coworkers, a complicated resume, and experience designing theoretical bio-disperal devices for the US military.
  • “Increasingly, the name Steven Hatfill starts coming up in their interrogations of other scientists.” — Robert Evans (41:13)
• Thin circumstantial “evidence” against Hatfill includes:
  • Lectures about bioterror scenarios
  • International travel overlapping with some mailings
  • A Malaysian girlfriend when one letter is postmarked from Malaysia
• The FBI, bolstered by scientist Barbara Rosenberg’s public memos and media speculation (notably by Nicholas Kristof in the NYT), turns the investigation into a full-blown public spectacle.
• The media hounds Hatfill relentlessly, with unnamed sources and innuendo fueling further suspicion and career damage.
  • "With Hatfill's face splashed all over the news...He stopped going out in public altogether." — Robert Evans (67:48)
• The Feds (and some reporters) lean into conspiracy thinking about Hatfill’s past in Rhodesia and supposed connections to prior anthrax outbreaks, despite no evidence he would be capable—or had the access—at the time.
  • “It's this classic like, well, he's a bioweapons expert now. So clearly when he was a child, he must have also been a bioweapons expert.” — Robert Evans (54:01)

5. The Toll on Hatfill: Harassment and Surveillance (61:28–66:15)

• The FBI employs “bumper lock” surveillance, trailing Hatfill 24/7 so obviously that it disrupts his life and career opportunities, even physically harming him (running over his foot).
• Hatfill loses multiple jobs and is repeatedly searched, arrested for trivial matters, and socially ostracized.
• The FBI publicly names him a “person of interest,” and his life becomes a nightmare; he begins drinking more and faces severe mental health consequences.
  • “I'd never really watched the news before, Hatfill says, and now I'm seeing my name all over the place and all these idiots like Geraldo Rivera saying, is this the anthrax animal? ...It was sanctioned torture.” — Robert Evans (68:40)
• He eventually sues the federal government and wins a substantial settlement, with some FBI agents later admitting the focus on Hatfill was partly to restore the Bureau’s reputation after 9/11.

6. The Real Lead—Still Unsolved (74:17–79:52)

• In 2007, a new team of investigators is brought in and quickly eliminates Hatfill based on the simple fact he never had direct access to anthrax.
  • “Despite his expertise...Hatfill had never in his entire life had direct access to anthrax.” — Robert Evans (75:16)
• The investigation finally turns to Bruce Ivins, an anthrax expert at USAMRIID, but he dies by suicide after being subject to similar FBI pressure.
• Even so, scientific review casts doubt on the FBI’s ability to conclusively tie Ivins to the attacks; to this day, the anthrax mailings remain officially unsolved.

7. Reflections on Justice, Trauma & Institutional Failure (79:52–80:55)

• Robert and Courtney discuss the personal and institutional fallout—the erosion of trust in the FBI, the cascade of ruined lives, and the dangers of government PR-driven investigations.
  • “How could this not blow your head up? The whole FBI and a lot of the security state outside of it being focused on just you, right? Like that would drive you crazy.” — Robert Evans (73:35)
  • “He’s not a happier, healthier man because this all happened to him.” — Robert Evans (79:52)
• The episode closes on a somber reminder that, despite years of pursuit, no one was ever officially charged for the anthrax mailings, institutional and media recklessness caused lasting harm, and the case remains a dark chapter in American investigative history.

Notable Quotes & Moments

• On public fear after 9/11
  “If you were old enough to be, like, really cognizant [during 9/11]...there was something that left everyone's souls. The light in their eyes was different. People fucking went...it was like somebody had flipped a switch.” — Robert Evans (03:00)
• On FBI's tunnel vision
  “They decide the fact that they don’t think he’s a good person means that he must have done this. And those are two separate things, right?” — Robert Evans (44:39)
• On media complicity
  “Hatfill’s reputation isn’t spotless...but basically, 100% of people, if the whole FBI started trying to uncover ugly things about them, would find some ugly things. It’s why it’s fucked up for them to do stuff like that.” — Robert Evans (67:48)
• On the cost to Hatfill
  “Once an energetic...professional who reveled in 14 hour work days, Hatfill now found himself staring at the walls all day. Television became his steady companion...You might as well have hooked me up to a battery. It was sanctioned torture.” — Robert Evans via Hatfill (68:40)
• On enduring uncertainty
  “We don’t know who did the anthrax attack. Ivins is the most likely name out there, but there’s...reason to doubt it was him.” — Robert Evans (77:08)

Important Timestamps

• 00:05–05:00 — Post-9/11 social climate
• 06:55 — First anthrax death: Robert Stevens
• 10:29–14:04 — Forensic investigation begins, Ames strain identified
• 20:52–21:46 — Elimination of Al Qaeda as culprit; focus on domestic scientists
• 22:18 — The FBI’s evidence blind spot
• 30:21 — FBI’s “Amerithrax” operation; focus on irrelevant details
• 39:05–47:10 — Hatfill’s career and how he became the focus
• 50:40 — FBI’s media leaking and Hatfill’s public ruination
• 61:28 — “Bumper locking” and the psychological campaign
• 68:40 — Hatfill’s complete psychological breakdown
• 74:17–76:00 — A new team exonerates Hatfill, focuses elsewhere
• 77:52–79:10 — Bruce Ivins and the investigation’s sad end
• 79:52–80:55 — Big-picture reflection and closing thoughts

Tone and Style

The episode maintains Robert Evans' signature irreverent but deeply-researched tone, with biting sarcasm, dark humor, and empathy for the wrongly accused. Courtney brings personal recollection and pointed commentary, contributing to a conversational but incisive analysis. The hosts grapple with the real human costs of botched justice and the institutional tendency to scapegoat for the sake of public approval.

Summary for New Listeners

This episode is a deep, at times darkly funny, and ultimately sobering look at how America’s most dramatic bioterror scare after 9/11 became a case study in government overreach and the personal destruction of an innocent man. Through firsthand reporting, historical context, and plenty of gallows humor, Robert Evans and Courtney break down what went wrong, why the anthrax case remains unsolved, and how the lessons of Amerithrax echo into the present. If you’ve ever wondered how an investigation can go so spectacularly off the rails—or how ordinary paranoia can mutate into state-sanctioned persecution—this is an essential listen.