Levin Says Regional Office Got Suspicious Letter
WASHINGTON (WWJ/AP) - Michigan Sen. Carl Levin says his regional office in Saginaw received a suspicious letter and that authorities have been alerted.
Levin says in a statement that an aide received the letter Wednesday, but did not open it. Authorities are now investigating.
The Democratic lawmaker says he and his staff do not know if the mail presented a threat.
Separately, the FBI says a substance in letters sent to President Barack Obama and Mississippi Sen. Roger Wicker have preliminarily tested positive for ricin, a potentially fatal poison.
The FBI says those letters are related and are both postmarked out of Memphis, Tenn., dated April 8. Both letters were intercepted at off-site mail facilities.
WWJ spoke with reporter Liz Gelardi with CBS affiliate WNEM-TV out of Saginaw-Bay City.
"With other suspicious letter circulating this employee noticed that something wasn't right with this letter, and wanted to let authorities know, and took those extra precautions," Gelardi said. "We are hearing that, right away, he put that letter in a bag and called authorities."
That employee was sent to an area hospital as a precaution.
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