An envelope that has been addressed to #Trump contained a substance suspected to be #ricin and appears to be connected to similar envelopes that were sent to the #Pentagon.
Two pieces of mail delivered to the Pentagon mail facility on Monday have initially tested positive for ricin, officials told @CNN. A Secret Service spokesman said that “the Secret Service can confirm receipt of a suspicious envelope addressed to the President on Oct. 1, 2018.”
“The envelope was not received at the White House, nor did it ever enter the White House,” the spokesman said. A source familiar with the ongoing joint federal investigation said that based on preliminary investigative activity, the White House and Pentagon letters were believed to be connected and the substance in question was a very crude castor bean concoction that authorities were not technically calling “ricin” until the chemical is further tested.
Ricin is a highly toxic compound extracted from castor beans that has been used in terror plots. If ricin is 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.
Officials say the two suspicious envelopes sent to the Pentagon were addressed to Secretary of Defense James Mattis and to chief of naval operations, Adm. John Richardson. Officials added the mail facility is in a separate building on the grounds of the Pentagon, and the two pieces of mail that tested positive never entered the Pentagon building.
The FBI has issued a statement saying it has taken possession of two suspicious envelopes screened at the Pentagon mail facility and they are undergoing more testing today.
We’ll keep you updated on the latest, #Roommates.
TSR STAFF: Christina C! @cdelafresh
