FBI Seeks Anthrax-Scare Culprit

washingtonpostinvestigations ^

[EdLake]

Ed Lake ... never appreciated the significance of the images in the paper and wrote them off.

When he reads this he will do so again.

Yup. The images that people see in the anthrax letters are like a Rorschach test. No two people seem to see the same things. The letters were inside plastic envelopes when they were photographed. So, reflections and imperfections in the plastic could be the source of the images people see.

Ed at www.anthraxinvestigation.com

[Prunetacos]

Ping

[EdLake]

I bring up this point in reference to Ed Lake's 10/22 posting at his site, about the relevance of the "copier", evidence.

The most relevant part of the "copier evidence" is that the FBI denied that there ever was such a thing. CBS and the Salon.com reporter did not name their sources when they reported that the copiers had been found in New Jersey.

I suspect that someone thought they had found the copier, but there was no solid scientific evidence to prove it was the correct copy machine.

Ed at www.anthraxinvestigation.com

[Prunetacos]

“The letters were inside plastic envelopes when they were photographed. So, reflections and imperfections in the plastic could be the source of the images people see.”

That’s what I thought you’d say, old boy. However, the images are within the copy paper, as anyone familiar with the details of printing and papermaking can tell you.

[Prunetacos]

Ping

[EdLake]

the images are within the copy paper, as anyone familiar with the details of printing and papermaking can tell you.

You might have an argument if many people could see the images and everyone saw the same thing.

But, only a few people could see images, and everyone who wrote me about seeing images on the anthrax letters claimed to see something different.

Ed at www.anthraxinvestigation.com

[Prunetacos]

The "misspelling" is a nice touch, don't you think? Remind you of anything?

THREATENING LETTERS HOAX Help Us Find the Culprit 10/23/08

A photograph of one of the letters. More than 50 identical or similar letters were sent to three different financial institutions in at least 11 states. See high resolution picture.

On Monday, a series of threatening letters filled with an unknown powder started showing up at financial institutions across America, causing a massive response and ensuing multi-agency investigation led by the FBI and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service in concert with state and local authorities.

Now, we’re releasing photographs of one of the letters and its envelope in the hopes that you might be able to help us solve

It’s a pending investigation, but here’s what we can tell you:

… So far, we’ve identified more than 50 letters, nearly all of which use threatening language identical to the text shown above. The letters have all been mailed from Texas and postmarked at Amarillo.

… Most of the letters contained some sort of powdery substance. All field tests to date have turned up negative—the powder appears harmless. Additional testing is taking place at regional laboratories.

… The letters have been sent to at least 11 states, including Arizona, California, Colorado, Georgia, Illinois, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Texas, and Virginia.

… The following three institutions have received letters:

* Chase Bank; * The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, or FDIC, an independent federal agency; and * The U.S. Office of Thrift Supervision, which regulates all federal and many state thrift institutions.

You can help. Please study the images above and see if you recognize the phrasing of the letter, the envelope label, or any other clue that you think might help investigators. The U.S. Postal Inspection Service is offering a reward of up to $100,000 for any information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible.

If you have any information about the letters or if you know who might have sent them, please contact authorities immediately in one of the following ways:

* Call the FBI toll free at 1-800-CALLFBI; * Contact your local FBI office; * Submit a tip anonymously on our website; * Contact the U.S. Postal Inspection Service at 1-877-876-2455.

Meanwhile, we’d like to remind everyone that sending a threatening letter with or without powder—even if it’s a hoax—is a serious crime. It demands a multi-agency response in each location, causing a drain on resources and diverting personnel from actual emergencies and other urgent situations.

“People who have mailed these kinds of hoax letters in the past have received some serious jail time,” says Special Agent Richard Kolko, Chief of the FBI’s National Press Office in Washington, D.C. “This investigation will continue until those responsible are arrested, and we appreciate the public’s support by providing information.”

[Prunetacos]

"You might have an argument if..."

I'm not making an "argument, Ed , I'm stating a fact.You're good with facts. Check with a printing & paper expert.

[Prunetacos]

MAILING OF THREATENING COMMUNICATIONS

The U.S. Postal Inspection Service is offering a reward of up to $100,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person(s) who prepared and mailed more than 50 letters on or about October 17 or 18, 2008, to financial institutions throughout the United States. The letters, which were mailed from Texas and postmarked at Amarillo, contained a powdery, nonhazardous substance and an articulated threat of bodily harm.

The letters were mailed to at least 11 states, including Arizona, California, Colorado, Georgia, Illinois, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Texas, and Virginia, and were addressed to the following three institutions:

* Chase Bank. * The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). * The U.S. Office of Thrift Supervision, which regulates federal and many state thrift institutions.

TAKE NO ACTION TO APPREHEND THIS PERSON YOURSELF. If you have any information about this incident, please contact the U.S. Postal Inspection Service at 1-877-876-2455.

All information will be kept strictly confidential.

[Prunetacos]

"I know some true nut cases in Texas, but I have no reason to believe they'd do anything like this"

One should not assume that the letters originated in Texas.

For example:

[JerseyJohn61]

Copy Fellas. I’ll post more soon.

[EdLake]

One should not assume that the letters originated in Texas.

Mail remailed by The Texas Remail Service gets mailed and postmarked at Cedar Park, Texas, which is near Austin.

I think if a remail service was used, the FBI would have figured that out fairly quickly -- although I'm not sure exactly how. And, I would think that these days a remail service would be very aware that they might be used for some kind of terrorist mailing, so they'd be on the alert for such a thing.

I don't assume that the letters were sent by someone who lives in Amarillo, but I don't have information I can use to make good guesses. I think I read somewhere that at least one of the letters mentioned the Oklahoma City bombing. If I were to pick a different city for where the mailer lives, that would be my first guess.

Ed at www.anthraxinvestigation.com

[EdLake]

I'm stating a fact.

Then you should have no problem proving what you say is true. Show us the proof. Why ask me to find it?

Ed at www.anthraxinvestigation.com

[Prunetacos]

“Then you should have no problem proving what you say is true.”

Any proof I provide will be dismissed by you regardless, as is your pattern with others.

I’ve given you the key words and you can find your own proof, if you’re so inclined.

In other words - I’m not playing that game with you :-)

[EdLake]

In other words - I’m not playing that game with you :-)

And I'm not playing that game with you. :-)

But you brought it up. And "proof" shouldn't require that I be the one who accepts it. If it does, then it's not "proof." It's just a belief that you are trying to get me to accept.

If you really had "proof" -- or even a valid argument - what reason could there be for not showing the world? Why must I be the one who has to do the research to prove your case - or be considered "closed minded" because I won't do it?

Or are we now playing the game called "Who's best at not playing the game?"

Ed at www.anthraxinvestigation.com

[Prunetacos]

Nice try :-)

[PAR35]

So if a couple of senators are threatened, it’s worth a $2.5 million reward, but if its Chase and the FDIC, it’s only worth $100K?

[PAR35]

It’s pretty obvious that its either an uninsured depositor or a shareholder at WAMU. The list of folks in that part of the world who meet that criteria shouldn’t be so long that the feds couldn’t check them all out.

[EdLake]

So if a couple of senators are threatened, it’s worth a $2.5 million reward, but if its Chase and the FDIC, it’s only worth $100K?

If five people are murdered and seventeen others are made ill, it's worth a $2.5 million reward. If it's just another HOAX in an endless barrage of HOAXES from a vast array of nut cases, then it's only worth $100K.

Ed at www.anthraxinvestigation.com

[Prunetacos]

washingtonpost.com October 27, 2008 Nation: Trail of Odd Anthrax Cells Led FBI to Army Scientist

Jason D. Bannan, left, supervisory special agent Scott Decker and supervisory special agent Matthew Feinberg took part in the FBI's anthrax probe.

In late October 2001, lab technician Terry Abshire placed a tray of anthrax cells under a microscope and spotted something so peculiar she had to look twice. It was two weeks after the country's worst bioterrorism attack, and Abshire, like others at the Army's Fort Detrick biodefense lab, was caught up in a frenzied search for clues that could help lead to the culprit. Down the hall, Bruce E. Ivins, the respected vaccine specialist, was looking, too.

Abshire focused her lens on a moldlike clump. Anthrax bacteria were growing here, but some of the cells were odd: strange shapes, strange textures, strange colors. These were mutants, or "morphs," genetic deviants scattered among the ordinary anthrax cells like chocolate chips in a cookie batter.

Unknowingly, Abshire had discovered a key to solving the anthrax case. But it would take nearly six years to develop the technology to allow FBI investigators to use it.

Ultimately the evolving science led investigators to Ivins and a strikingly original collection of anthrax spores that became the focus of the FBI's probe. In a series of interviews over the past month, FBI agents and scientists described, in ways that the bureau has not previously revealed, how the pieces of the forensic puzzle came together -- often in Ivins's very shadow -- and how they eventually concluded that the eccentric vaccine specialist was the culprit.

Ivins, the FBI discovered, had spent more than a year perfecting what agents called his "ultimate creation" -- his signature blend of highly lethal anthrax spores -- and guarded it so carefully that his lab assistants did not know where he kept it. When the FBI later asked Ivins for anthrax spores from his lab, he deliberately bypassed his prize spore collection, agents said, and gave them a false sample......"

Interesting article, as you point out on your site.

The highly posed, professional photo above speaks volumes as to the contents of the article - don't you think?

Trail of Odd Anthrax Cells Led FBI to Army Scientist