Demand that the FBI Reveal How Much of Ivins’ Anthrax Sample was Taken by Other People

George Washington’s Blog
Tuesday, Sept 9, 2008

The FBI’s August 18th briefing revealed that originally there were two flasks containing the RMR-1029 anthrax spore batch. The two RMR 1029 flasks held a total of “about a liter” of concentrated anthrax spores.

Specifically, an official stated at the briefing, “It is a total of over 164 liters of spore production, concentrated down to about a liter.” Of course, “about a liter” could mean more than a liter.

However, by the time the FBI seized the RMR-1029 spore batch in April 2004, “it had been reduced into one flask — [a] one-liter flask of several hundred milliliters.” Specifically, FBI scientist Hassell said at the briefing:

“It was divided into two one-liter Erlenmeyer flasks, more or less equally. When we seized it, by that time it had been reduced into one flask — one-liter flask of several hundred milliliters. So there’s not two flasks in evidence, there’s just one.

Because there are 1,000 milliliters in a liter, “several hundred milliliters” could very well be less than “about a liter”. Indeed, “several hundred milliliters” could very well be half a liter or less.

In an interview reported by NPR, Dr. Ivins’ attorney, Paul Kemp, said that numerous people got samples from the RMR-1029 anthrax batch, but “nobody knows the quantities, how much, when they took it, what they did with what that they didn’t use.”

We must therefore demand that the FBI reveal how much of the original anthrax mixture in Ivins’ flasks was missing by the time the FBI seized the flask.

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