Steven Hatfill Quotes
Whether we're at war or have been attacked, the foundation of society is that you hold to the laws in place. I used to be somebody that trusted the government. Now I really don't trust anything.
Gates believed that ideally the government would have the trust of the people to access critical data, but that at the moment there are many who do not trust the government. Unfortunately, the FBI on many occasions have themselves broken the law and targeted people who had political and social viewpoints of which the FBI leadership did not approve. The CIA has on many occasions violated the law and repeatedly lied to Congress and even Presidents. The National Security Agency has also, in its zeal to carry out its mission skirted the law and the Director of National Intelligence blatantly deceived Congress and was exposed by the Snowden releases. Gates was an optimist and thought that the government could regain the necessary trust to allow it to have access to virtually all data in order to best protect society from things like terrorism with biological weapons.
Steven Jay Hatfill is an American physician, pathologist and biological weapons expert. He became the subject of extensive media coverage beginning in mid-2002, when he was a suspect in the 2001 anthrax attacks. His home was repeatedly raided by the FBI, his phone was tapped, and he was extensively surveilled for more than two years; he was also fired from his job at Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC). At a news conference in August 2002, Hatfill denied that he had anything to do with the anthrax letters and said "irresponsible news media coverage based on government leaks" had "destroyed his reputation". He filed a lawsuit in 2003, accusing the FBI agents and Justice Department officials who led the criminal investigation of leaking information about him to the press in violation of the federal Privacy Act.
