Senator Who Suffered Stroke Supports Anthrax Investigation

Kevin Dobbs
Argus Leader
Wednesday, December 13, 2006

Note: The following report was published before it was announced today that Senator Johnson had suffered a stroke.

A cadre of U.S. lawmakers fired off a letter to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales pleading for new information on the five-years-and-running investigation into the 2001 anthrax scare that shocked South Dakota when then-Sen. Tom Daschle's office was caught up in the attacks.

The bipartisan letter, signed by 33 members of Congress this week, extends an effort by Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, and Rep. Rush Holt, D-N.J., to persuade the FBI to release an update on the case.

"In one of the most important terrorism investigations ever undertaken by the FBI, it is unbelievable to me that members of Congress, some who were targets of the anthrax attacks, haven't been briefed for years," Grassley said.

The FBI, citing concern about information in the unsolved case being leaked to the public, has refused lawmakers' requests.

Grassley and the other lawmakers said in the letter that leaked information is a valid concern, but they maintained it does not justify keeping lawmakers in the dark. They said they need the information to perform their required oversight of the FBI's performance.

Congress "cannot be cut-off from detailed information about the conduct of one of the largest investigations in FBI history," the lawmakers wrote to Gonzales. "That information is vital in order to fulfill its Constitutional responsibility to conduct oversight of the Executive Branch."

South Dakota's congressional delegation did not sign the letter, but Sens. Tim Johnson and John Thune said they support their colleagues' request.

"After five years, the FBI should be able to pass on some information to Congress on the progress they have made in finding the terrorists responsible for this attack," Johnson said Tuesday. "This kind of bi-partisan demand for checks and balances should not be ignored, and will hopefully move the investigation into this case forward."

The attacks - linked to the deaths of five people in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks on Washington and New York - brought terrorism to the door of South Dakotans when, in October 2001, anthrax arrived in a sealed envelope at Daschle's office in the Hart Building in Washington. It came with a message that said "you die now."

Daschle said earlier this year the FBI had denied several of his requests to be briefed on the status of the investigations.

In his recent book, "Like No Other Time," Daschle said he felt helpless in the immediate weeks after the anthrax attacks, but he also wrote that he had "made peace of mind with this kind of threat."

FBI agents continue to work the case, and lawmakers say it is time they are brought into the fold to assess whether federal investigators are doing their jobs effectively.

"While I understand the need for caution given the ongoing criminal investigation, Congress has the right to conduct oversight and the FBI should be more forthcoming with this case," Thune said Tuesday.

Wire services contributed to this report.