Posted on 02/03/2004 3:31:09 PM PST by Dog
Before the Senate Offices, Ricin-Laced Letter Was Also Sent to White House
Feb. 3 — As federal investigators try to trace the origin of suspected ricin found Monday in the office of Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, ABCNEWS has learned of an earlier, undisclosed incident in which a ricin-laced letter was intercepted on its way to the White House.
In November, a letter postmarked Chattanooga, Tenn., and addressed to the White House was intercepted at an off-site mail sorting facility in the Washington area, sources told ABCNEWS.
The powdery substance in the letter tested positive for ricin. However, the tests indicated that the poison was in a low-potency, granular form that posed no health risk, the sources said.
Late on Monday, authorities discovered a suspicious powder in the Dirksen Senate Office Building.
A number of tests have identified the substance as ricin, although final confirmation is still under way. Government health officials hope to have those results Wednesday.
Federal officials are also investigating an October 2003 incident in which a package containing ricin was left at a post office in Greenville, S.C. An accompanying letter, signed "Fallen Angel," complained about new federal trucking regulations requiring more rest for drivers. The letter described the author as "a fleet owner of a tanker company." The package contained a small metal vial packed with ricin, a potentially deadly poison derived from castor beans.
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