Investigators are working from a rolling list with anywhere from a half dozen to 20 people under scrutiny. Names stay on the list until they can be cleared, a process dubbed Operation Elimination. But the task has proven frustrating. Two weeks ago the FBI searched the apartment of one veteran researcher, Dr. Steven J. Hatfill. Authorities say he has adamantly denied any involvement in the attacks, and the search produced no evidence implicating him, causing field agents to pull back. Some agents would like to step up the pressure, but others are more cautious. “I don’t want it coming to us that we created a [Richard] Jewell,” said one senior law-enforcement official, referring to the man wrongly accused of planting a bomb during the Atlanta Olympics. The lack of progress has been dispiriting and some officials believe the FBI needs to start looking in other directions. But top bureau officials still insist they are making progress. “We’re light-years ahead of where we were months ago,” said one.
