Anthrax case confidentiality may disappear

WASHINGTON, Oct. 22 (UPI) -- The Justice Department will distribute to U.S. investigators in a 2001 anthrax case a form they can sign to release reporters from confidentiality pledges.

Lawyers for Dr. Steven J. Hatfill, a former Army bioterrorism expert, had sought the releases as a step toward questioning reporters about their sources in the case, the New York Times reported Friday.

The Justice Department has called Hatfill, who is suing the government over leaks that suggest his guilt, a "person of interest" in the anthrax probe.

A letter will accompany the releases telling recipients that signing them is voluntary, the court decided Thursday. Waivers that are signed will be passed on to Hatfill's lawyers, who can then present them to reporters to try to persuade them to disclose who gave them information about Hatfill.

The federal district judge overseeing the Hatfill case, first allowed the plaintiff's lawyers to question reporters last March. But they have not yet sought to do so, maintaining that case law first required them to exhaust all other routes before pursuing journalists.