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Subscribe to RSSSome congressional offices outside Washington and media organizations have received threatening letters containing a suspicious powdery substance that was tested and proved to be harmless, the FBI and the Senate's top law enforcement officer said Wednesday.
Sergeant-at-Arms Terrance Gainer said in a memo to Senate offices that the letters were sent to three state and home district offices. A district office of House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, received one of the letters, spokesman Kevin Smith said.
Alex Wong / Getty Images
A district office of House Speaker John Boehner received a threatening letter containing a suspicious powdery substance that was tested and proved to be harmless.
A federal law enforcement official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that so far fewer than 10 members of Congress had received letters.
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Letters were also sent to several media organizations. FBI spokesman Peter Donald said agents had responded to Viacom and at least one other location in New York. Preliminary tests showed that the powder did not pose a threat, he said.
"So far, none of the letters have contained a hazardous substance," FBI Special Agent Jason Pack said. "We are working with those law enforcement agencies affected to determine if the mailings are related. We take these matters seriously and will investigate fully."
The letters tell the recipients that there is a "10 percent chance you have just been exposed to a lethal pathogen."
Even though none of the letters that have been tested have contained harmful substances, Gainer told staff to be extra vigilant.
"The author of these letters has indicated that additional letters containing a powdery substance will be arriving at more Senate offices and that some of these letters may contain an actual harmful material," Gainer's memo to Senate offices said. "Although all letters received thus far have proved harmless, it is essential that we treat every piece of suspicious mail as if it may, in fact, be harmful."
The letters bore a return address from "The MIB" and were postmarked Portland, Ore.
The Portland return address on the letters appears to be phony. The combination of the address given — 2413 NW Burnside, ZIP code 97209 — does not exist.
The sender wants an "end to corporate money and 'lobbying,'" an end to corporate "personhood" and a new constitutional convention. The Associated Press obtained a copy of a letter.
The threats raised memories of post-9/11 incidents that rattled Washington. In mid-November 2001, authorities closed two Senate office buildings after anthrax attacks on Congress. Those attacks came after four people — two postal workers in Washington, a New York City hospital worker and a Florida photo editor — died from exposure to anthrax.
Also at that time, an unopened envelope sent to Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., resembled a letter mailed the previous month to then-Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D. The Leahy letter was discovered in the 280 barrels of congressional mail quarantined after a Daschle employee opened a powder-filled envelope.
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With all of the treasonous acts committed by our elected officials I am surprised this has not happened before. It is time that our government started putting the American people first and not some special interest.
I don't care what your politics are, this is just wrong. No letter gets to a Senator, Congressman or even a senior staffer unopened. Any attack sent through the mail just ends up hurting some civil service mail clerk working for $10.00 an hour.
In the old days, they had a word for people who attack by means of poison: COWARDS!!!
Perhaps if we weren't so quick to hurl pure hatred at anyone who disagrees with our side, mentally unbalanced individuals wouldn't be lured into thinking this sort of behavior is acceptable.
Think about that the next time you want to label the other party some grade-school name you think is clever or spew endless invective about their evil intentions, even wish death upon them. Someone in your audience may not be able to separate idea from action.
"You say you want a revolution
Well, you know
We all want to change the world
You tell me that it's evolution
Well, you know
We all want to change the world
But when you talk about destruction
Don't you know that you can count me out..."
John Lennon
It's still wrong to take the route of physically threatening or acting as if you're going to hurt another individual.
WHY????
Because there are sooo.... many other ways to fight back the right way.
I'm sure whoever this or these individuals are must be upset with our political leaders but heck, we all are and the majority of us aren't trying to hurt them because we are upset with them.
We know that there's a great deal of wrong going on with the decision making ability of our leaders in government and those who've been in our government.
We know that the the majority of them will sell us out to the highest bidder in a blink of an eye...
Knowing these things will help us to focus on the malfunctions that are and have been occurring within our governmental system.
It's a million & one ways to get things that aren't efficient to function more effectively without threatening harm or pain on others.
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This is only when that by which you are looking to change is the right thing.
If it's not the right thing, even if you win the battle you will lose the war.
Therefore, fight for what is considered to be the Right Thing but, always check yourself first before
starting.
This way You can never be made to look silly in the face of wrong!!!!
They get caught, they is going to be in a heap of trouble! Most any Federal Judge will give them at least 25-years even for Baby Powder and rightfully so! Sounds to me most likely the work of that there Hateful Racist Tea-Party here in the United States! The FBI and the U.S. Attorney's Office needs to start a serious investigation of that Gawd Awful Racist Hate group known as the Tea Party before its too late! Our Federal Government's Law Enforcement apparatus needs to get after that Racist Tea Party as soon as possible!!!
Actually it sounds more like the work of the cowardly Occcupy protesters who hide their faces and will not give their names. Tea Party people would just personally toss a pie or horse crap at them. They don't do anything anonymously. Even gay activists toss glitter on our @!$%# politicians in person.
Both of you just stop it.
You both know it's some loon. Can't you stop the sniping long enough to just be an American and a human being. Nothing, NOTHING makes this right.
Grow up, act like adults. Disagree about policies all you want but at least show some civility. Surly you were taught some civility? If you don't know the meaning, look it up.
Although no one in here would ever view this as acceptable I'm not at all suprised it's happening.
This is so not surprising to me.
A childish prank played on childish people.But i still hope they catch the person who did it and he does twenty years
I do not wish this upon anyone. But with all the bigotry, the calling every name in the book except the N word and not helping its average citizen, while bowing down to corporate person-hoods is not surprising
Some Crazy is tired of the corporate bull I see, it was only a matter of time.
Ahhhh, we're finally getting there. Getting to the point where some on the left are going to give up patience and reason and start acting like those on the right. Stay tuned.
True that, True that!!!
Are you sure? Things are running rough for Republicans right now - maybe this is a way to garner the sympathy vote. This may have Karl Rove's fingerprints all over it.
This kind of intimidation is wrong on every level of decency. However, members of Congress have threatened and bullied the citizens of this country for the past 3 years. Are we to assume that is acceptable?
Don't send mail with powder, probably baking flour and baby powder. It's a waste of a postage stamp. Maybe deliver a bag of flaming poop. It is not physically harmful, not using the USPS, the recipients will know what has actually been delivered. They will know how the citizens feel about their performance and what we think of their ridiculous policies and their intrusion into our personal lives.
Where is this smaller government and personal freedom the Tea-publicans screamed about to get elected in 2010? They have earned a flaming bag of their own BS
But it is only "teapublicans" doing the damage right?
The sheep all line up.....baaaaaaa
Your side is laughing at you if you believe one party is behind this.
Don't cry, when the gods are in your house they give you a great pet/ amimal.
Well, is hanging politicians for treason still on the books? If so we should hang them all that commit treason against the American people! Maybe we should slap their mama for letting them commit treason! No I am sure they are ashamed enough of them!
president obama!! is a very great man!! he has my vote again!!
President Obama did what is right!! That's a good man!!
You reap what you sow. Do your job, and do it for the people.
It sounds like someone is going to Gitmo.
Seriously though. Considering the behavior of congress lately I'm surprised there isn't a pile flaming pile of dog pooh on the steps of the capital building 24/7. People are angry that these jack-offs have done little more than hold the country hostage over inane things for years.
It is time for term limits for those that are SUPPOSE to serve in congress.
I guess it's a good thing that our Forefathers just sat around their pot-belly stoves commenting about their dislike of the Kings rule?
It's obvious Greek Citizens are acting to defend their existence, but where are all our Patriotic Citizens?
This isn't funny. It's serious stuff that could get you a very long prison sentence. It's called terrorism folks. We shouldn't need to do this kind of stuff in a democracy.
It is obvious that corporations, special interests and speculators are running the country. Americans need to wake up and stop being brainwashed sheep. You need to fight this corruption by ANY MEANS. Politicians need to understand that they are not above the law and that they have to work for the interests of ALL americans and not just a few.
Not to say that politics hasn't always been ugly, but there has been a steady decline in civility since the GOP started their witch hunt that lead to Clinton's impeachment. The right hated Clinton personally. The left hated Bush Jr personally. And now Obama. The logical conclusion, if we keep going this way is another assasination.
We seriously need to stop the personal attacks. We've become a voting block of pundits and wannabe politicians.
It used to be they lied, the media deciphered the lie and the populace got a clear story on each candidate. Now, we join in on the lies.