FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

FBI INVESTIGATING PERPETRATOR OF HOAX LETTER SENT TO EDWARDS’ OFFICE

Charlotte, NC – The FBI has initiated a federal investigation into the hoax letter mailed to former U.S. Senator John Edwards’ Chapel Hill office on Wednesday.

The investigation will focus primarily on the alleged use of Weapons of Mass Destruction and hoax towards the Edwards office, which violates Section 1038 of Title 18, United States Code under False information and hoaxes. This new section provides an additional tool to deal with the various false hoaxes stemming from the anthrax mailings to the United States Senate Office Building and certain media outlets in the fall of 2001.

The Chapel Hill Police Department, on Thursday, released that the powder contained in the letter tested negative for biological threat agents and toxins at the State Laboratory for Public Health. The powder and the letter/envelope will be forwarded to the FBI lab in Quantico, Virginia for further forensic testing.

According to initial information, no threat was indicated in the letter or envelope. The investigation continues.

Anyone with information and/or the identity of the perpetrator(s) is asked to call the North Carolina FBI at (704) 377-9200, or their nearest law enforcement office.