A letter addressed to President Obama that field-tested positive for the poison ricin was received at the remote White House mail screening facility Tuesday, according to law enforcement officials.
The separate Senate mail-handling facility also Tuesday received a suspicious letter potentially laced with ricin addressed to Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississippi, postmarked from Memphis.
Testing on the first letter, addressed to Republican Wicker, is incomplete but expected to be finished this afternoon.
The Secret Service's White House mail-screening facility is a remote facility, not located near the White House complex, that all White House mail goes through.
The Secret Service is working closely with the U.S. Capitol Police and the FBI in this investigation.
"The investigation into these letters remains ongoing, and more letters may still be received," the FBI said in a statement this morning. "There is no indication of a connection to the attack in Boston."
The bureau added: "It is important to note that operations at the White House have not been affected as a result of the investigation.
"Additionally, filters at a second government mail screening facility preliminarily tested positive for ricin this morning. Mail from that facility is being tested."
FBI sources say anytime suspicious powder is located in a mail facility, field tests are conducted. The field and other preliminary tests in this instance produced inconsistent results. The material has been sent to an accredited laboratory for further analysis.
Only a full analysis performed at an accredited laboratory can determine the presence of a biological agent such as ricin. Those tests are in the process of being conducted and generally take from 24 to 48 hours.
Field tests are often unreliable, and a false positive for ricin occurs at least once each year, a homeland security official said.
Source: ABC News
