Ricin sent to Trump, Pentagon
Three envelopes of poison intercepted
Three envelopes containing what appeared to be the deadly poison ricin were sent to President Trump, Secretary of Defense James Mattis and Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson, officials said Tuesday.
One “suspicious envelope” was sent to Trump Monday and intercepted before it could reach the White House — while the letters to Mattis (inset) and Richardson were delivered to an off-site mail facility near the Pentagon where they were screened, officials said.
“We can confirm that we are working jointly with our law-enforcement partners to fully investigate this matter,” the Secret Service said in a statement.
“Further, all threats directed towards the president, or any Secret Service protectee, are treated seriously and fully investigated.”
Both Pentagon letters tested positive for ricin Tuesday, according to defense officials.
Fox News reported that the envelope to Trump also contained what officials suspected was the deadly poison.
The substances will undergo further testing.
The Pentagon letters triggered alarms as they underwent a security screening off site, according to MilitaryTimes.com.
A defense official told CNN that Mattis and Richardson were the intended recipients.
“On Monday, the Pentagon Force Protection Agency detected a suspicious substance during mail screening at the Pentagon’s remote screening facility,” Army Col. Rob Manning, a Pentagon spokesman, said in a statement.
“The envelopes were taken by the FBI this morning for further analysis,” he said, adding that all US Postal Service mail received at the screening facility Monday was under quarantine and posed no threat to Pentagon personnel.
Ricin, a highly toxic compound extracted from castor beans, has been used in terror plots and is lethal even in tiny doses if swallowed, inhaled or injected.
It is a staggering 6,000 times more potent than cyanide.
If ingested, it causes nausea, vomiting and internal bleeding of the stomach and intestines, followed by failure of the liver, spleen and kidneys, and death by collapse of the circulatory system.
Ricin-laced mail has been sent to politicians in the past, including to then-President Barack Obama and then-Mayor Mike Bloomberg in May 2013.
Those packages were sent by former actress Shannon Guess Richardson, who had minor TV abnd movie roles.
She was trying to frame her estranged husband, and used lye, castor beans, syringes and needle, buying the ingredients in his name. She was sentenced to 18 years in prison.