'I am KC': Same message on ricin-positive letters sent to Obama, senator - U.S. News

NBC News' Kristen Welker and WNBC's Jonathan Dienst discuss reports of a letter sent to President Obama containing a suspicious substance.

By Pete Williams, Kristen Welker and Erin McClam, NBC News

A letter addressed to President Barack Obama and another sent to a senator — both of which tested positive for the poison ricin — carried an identical closing statement, according to an FBI bulliten obtained by NBC News on Wednesday.

According to the FBI bulletin, both letters, postmarked April 8, 2013 out of Memphis, Tenn., included an identical phrase, "to see a wrong and not expose it, is to become a silent partner to its continuance."

 In addition, both letters are signed: "I am KC and I approve this message."

The letter to Obama was intercepted at an off-site White House mail facility and was being tested further, the FBI said. A federal law enforcement official said that the letter was “very similar” to one addressed to Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss.

Advertise | AdChoices

Federal officials told NBC News that they believe they know who sent the letters, but no arrest was made because authorities were waiting for further test results.

Ricin is made from castor beans and can kill within 36 hours. There is no antidote. Some threatening letters simply contain ground castor beans, resulting in a positive field test for ricin without the concentrated poison. Results from full laboratory tests are expected in the next 24 to 48 hours.

Filters at a second government mail screening facility also tested positive for ricin in preliminary screening Wednesday.

An FBI official told NBC News that the agency did not initially believe the letters were related to the attack on the Boston Marathon on Monday.

Authorities also for a time cleared the atrium of a Senate office building Wednesday, removing suspicious envelopes and a package, before reopening the offices. Capitol police were also investigating a suspicious package at the office of Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala. Shelby’s staff had not been evacuated.

The Wicker letter had no return address. The FBI confirmed the preliminary positive test on it Tuesday. That letter was intercepted at a postal facility in Maryland that screens mail sent to Congress, and never reached Wicker’s office.

Other senators were made aware of the Wicker letter during a briefing Tuesday evening on the bombing in Boston. Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., said that the person who sent Wicker the letter writes often to elected officials.

People can be exposed to ricin by touching a ricin-laced letter or by inhaling particles that enter the air when the envelope is opened. Touching ricin can cause a rash but is not usually fatal. Inhaling it can cause trouble breathing, fever and other symptoms, and can be fatal.

At a hearing Wednesday on the Postal Service’s finances, Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe said that while there have been ricin scares in the past, the recent discoveries were unprecedented.

“There's never been any actually proved that have gone through the system,” Donahoe said. “But we've got a process that we make sure that our employees know -- We can actually track the mail back through the system to double check from an employee health standpoint."

Field tests are conducted anytime suspicious powder is found in a mail facility, and the FBI cautioned that field tests and other preliminary tests can produce inconsistent results. When tests show the possibility of a biological agent, the material is sent to a laboratory for full analysis.

Robert Windrem, Kasie Hunt, Kelly O’Donnell, Richard Esposito, Jeff Black, Mike Viqueira and Dr. Kristina Krohn of NBC News contributed to this report.

This story was originally published on Wed Apr 17, 2013 11:34 AM EDT

via usnews.nbcnews.com