McCain Office Mailed Threat, White Powder

Letter's Return Address Listed A Colorado Inmate; Second Letter Deemed False Alarm

(CBS/ AP)  A threatening letter containing an unidentified white powder was received at John McCain's campaign offices in Denver, Colorado, CBS News has learned.

A second letter sent to a McCain campaign office in New Hampshire initially was reported to contain a white substance. Authorities said that was a false alarm and there was no powder in that envelope.

At least 19 people were examined at hospitals or were quarantined outside the Colorado office while authorities tried to determine whether the powder was hazardous.

Andy Lyon of Parker South Metro Fire Rescue Authority said the return address on the envelope listed the Arapahoe Detention Center and the name of an inmate. He didn't release the name.

Lyon said the first line of the letter used threatening language, but he refused to give any details.

McCain's campaign had said the letter sent to the Manchester, N.H., office also contained a threatening language and white powder.

But Malcolm Wiley, a Secret Service spokesman in Colorado, said there was no powder in the New Hampshire envelope. He said he did not know about the content of the letter.

Wiley said the letter had a Denver return address, which alarmed staffers in Manchester because they had heard about the Colorado incident.

Jim Barnett, McCain's New England campaign manager, said it's unusual for the New Hampshire office to get a letter from Denver.

"That was really the only suspicious thing about the letter, and our national headquarters advised, out of an abundance of caution for our staff and volunteers, that we have the authorities check it out," he said. "We did and it was deemed safe."

A government official familiar with the investigation said the New Hampshire letter was a false alarm. The official said authorities believe the Denver letter was a hoax because it appeared to have been sent from a jail.

Both the New Hampshire and Colorado offices were evacuated.

Lyon said about 40 people were evacuated from the Colorado building, but it contains several offices and businesses, and he did not know how many people had been in the McCain office.

Seven people drove themselves to Sky Ridge Medical Center, but none showed any symptoms of exposure to a toxic substance, hospital spokeswoman Linda Watson said.

Twelve people were quarantined outside the Colorado office, including three police officers, two firefighters and seven civilians, Lyon said.

He said Park South Metro firefighters found very little powder when they arrived.

"There were maybe a couple of grains of something inside an envelope and they had to kind of work to get a sample," he said.

Bruce Williamson of the Arapahoe County Sheriff's Department said a hazmat team was searching the building. He said authorities believe the substance was confined within the structure.

Williamson said authorities took the incident "very seriously" because the Democratic National Convention begins Monday in Denver and McCain is the presumed GOP candidate.

Postal Inspector Jo Jan Henderson said agents from her office were at the scene. FBI officials did not immediately return calls.

[notfooled]

If there are those attempting to infer that the McCain camp had to have planted the threats and white powder, I guess the recent apprehension of individuals threatening Obama must have been planted by the Obama camp. It''''s frightening how many ignoramuses are walking the face of the earth passing for sane intelligent individuals.
Posted by Credibility2 at 12:15 PM : Aug 22, 2008

After all the lies and deception of the past 8 years I wouldn''t be surprised by most any con or scheme cooked up by any of the scumbags in this election.

The most dastardly con, WMD, WMD, WMD, the sky is falling has set the standard for those to come.

[jackdems]

Chicago Annenberg Challenge Shutdown?
A cover-up in the making?

By Stanley Kurtz

The problem of Barack Obama%u2019s relationship with Bill Ayers will not go away. Ayers and his wife, Bernardine Dohrn were terrorists for the notorious Weather Underground during the turbulent 1960s, turning fugitive when a bomb %u2014 designed to kill army officers in New Jersey %u2014 accidentally exploded in a New York townhouse. Prior to that, Ayers and his cohorts succeeded in bombing the Pentagon. Ayers and Dohrn remain unrepentant for their terrorist past. Ayers was pictured in a 2001 article for Chicago magazine, stomping on an American flag, and told the New York Times just before 9/11 that the notion of the United States as a just and fair and decent place %u201Cmakes me want to puke.%u201D Although Obama actually launched his political career at an event at Ayers%u2019s and Dohrn%u2019s home, Obama has dismissed Ayers as just %u201Ca guy who lives in my neighborhood,%u201D and %u201Cnot somebody who I exchange ideas from on a regular basis.%u201D For his part, Ayers refuses to discuss his relationship with Obama.

[element51]

terrorislamz...I suggest that you confine yourself to worrying about who you man will pick for VP. Your pathetic posts are starting to become laughable somewhat like yourself. If you want to take specific issues where Obama and McCain differ and defend your candidate''s ideas, that would be fine. But to hammer on the same old posts that have been done to death serves no purpose at all. If you truly cared about your country it would be the issues that would be important to you. But since your posts are nothing but snide, snotty, insulting comments they have no meaning. I could call McCain names and post snotty comments about him all day long but it would serve no purpose at all. It''s time to focus on the important issues and leave your juvenile comments behind. Time to grow up sonny.

[armydog2]

whoerver did this is a moron just like the moron who killed the man at the democratic office a couple weeks ago. Just plain stupid.

[joe_transit]

Let''s not panic, Geritol and Assure might come in powder form. Maybe it''s just butt rash powder, the next package might have the Depends under-garment. It''s not past his campaign staff to plant that, they tricked us before with the other McBush.

[rjso]

cBS is the only "news orginization" still hyping this bogus attempt by the McBush campaign to hog the news cycle ahead of Obamas VP announcement.

[credibility2]

If there are those attempting to infer that the McCain camp had to have planted the threats and white powder, I guess the recent apprehension of individuals threatening Obama must have been planted by the Obama camp. It''s frightening how many ignoramuses are walking the face of the earth passing for sane intelligent individuals.

[piercetheval]

...hey terrorislam, my cousins [one of whom later played Triple A ball for the Omaha Bees were in Taiwan in 1969-71 attending the American nationals school over there as their father was in ''Nam'' at the time. They went to see the Taiwanese little leaguers play the American little leaugers for the Little League World Series which was played in Taiwan. My Aunt commented to her Taiwanese housekeeper that the players on the Taiwanese little league teams seemed pretty mature looking for ''boys'', Her housekeepers reply was "Oh, those are not boys, they are men Missy." [Meaning their players were over 18 years of age, some or all of the team...probably just some but enough to make a diff.]

[dnsallday]

While this article is about individuals trying the ol white powder scare, I don''''t feel the same alarm I place on radical islam''''s terror tactics. You don''''t care about terror? Your ho-hum attitude is naive and is grouped with those who would endanger our country by letting our guard down for political gain. This makes me wish that when the next 9/11 comes it is in your backyard not mine.

Posted by promaclaura at 09:48 AM : Aug 22, 2008
*********************************************************
Religion extremism is certainly a huge problem all over the world, but it is not the only problem.
Best to keep things in a realistic perspective.

[getcentered]

Trying to change the subject McCain?

McCain probably told someone to send him the letters.

How many houses do you have McCain?

"Er....uuh.....someone sent me some funny letters"??

[promaclaura]

Everyone is going ho-hum to terror.
Posted by pirmin3

While this article is about individuals trying the ol white powder scare, I don''t feel the same alarm I place on radical islam''s terror tactics. You don''t care about terror? Your ho-hum attitude is naive and is grouped with those who would endanger our country by letting our guard down for political gain. This makes me wish that when the next 9/11 comes it is in your backyard not mine.

[joe_x-2009]

Limbaugh: "Obama Nomination Really goes back to the fact that nobody had the guts to stand up and say no to a black guy."

Is that the same bald fat drug addict who makes fun of Parkinsons patients? Is he still on the radio??

[pirmin3]

The letter was sent by the GOP. They need some reason to start the scare tactics again. Everyone is going ho-hum to terror. Good chance for the CNN talking heads to report on the story wearing bio-suits. Fear Fear Fear.

[usclimey]

Lousy headline CBS - some of you should really have passed English Language 101 at college.

[inventagod2]

Oh, poor McSame -
Maybe we should all vote for him now...

[promaclaura]

Posted by taotxzen

I wonder if Danny Pearl and the other individuals that were beheaded begged to be waterboarded instead?

[bobnjersey]

[Psychopaths lie coolly and easily, even when it is obvious they are being untruthful. It is almost impossible for them to be consistently truthful about either a major or minor issue. They lie for no apparent reason, even when it would be easier and safer to tell the truth. This is sometimes called "crazy lying".

Another form of lying common among cult leaders is known as _pseudologica fantastica_, an extension of pathological lying. Leaders tend to create a complex belief system, often about their own powers and abilities, in which they themselves sometimes get caught up. "It is often difficult to determine whether the lies are an actual delusional distortion of reality or are expressed with the conscious or unconscous intent to deceive."

These manipulators are rarely original thinkers. Plagerists and thieves, they seldom credit the true originators of ideas, often co-opting authorship. They are extremely convincing, forceful in the expression of their views, and talented at passing lie detector tests. For them, objective truth does not exist. The only "truth" is whatever will best achieve the outcome that meets their needs.

Obama is not adverse to lying. He will do or say anything to get elected.]
[Posted by johnpotus1 at 08:58 AM : Aug 22, 2008]

this is an accurate description of gwb and the gang of thieves he has surrounded himself with.

why aren''t his lies a problem for you?

[taotxzen]

Bush & Cheney Don%u2019t Believe John McCain Was Tortured

By: Logan Murphy

Andrew Sullivan at The Atlantic hits it right on the head. John McCain has gone back on his word not to play up his POW experiences during the presidential campaign, so this is absolutely fair game. He%u2019s not just exploiting his time as a POW, he%u2019s lifting other people%u2019s stories to gain sympathy. Couple that with his vote in the Senate to allow Americans to use the same torture %u201Cenhanced interrogation techniques%u201D that were used on him and he leaves himself wide open for this one. It was just a matter of time%u2026

In all the discussion of John McCain%u2019s recently recovered memory of a religious epiphany in Vietnam, one thing has been missing. The torture that was deployed against McCain emerges in all the various accounts. It involved sleep deprivation, the withholding of medical treatment, stress positions, long-time standing, and beating. Sound familiar?

(cont)

[taotxzen]

(cont)

According to the Bush administration%u2019s definition of torture, McCain was therefore not tortured.

Cheney denies that McCain was tortured; as does Bush. So do John Yoo and David Addington and George Tenet. In the one indisputably authentic version of the story of a Vietnamese guard showing compassion, McCain talks of the agony of long-time standing. A quarter century later, Don Rumsfeld was putting his signature to memos lengthening the agony of %u201Clong-time standing%u201D that victims of Bush%u2019s torture regime would have to endure. These torture techniques are, according to the president of the United States, merely %u201Cenhanced interrogation.%u201D

[promaclaura]

Posted by panhandlpete at 07:30 AM
I was wondering why you feel uncomfortable with McCain who has decades of experience, impeccable patriotism, and a long standing of crossing party lines verses Barack Obama. Barack''s past is much more questionable, he has no experience, and he aligns himself with unpatriotic individuals. I''ve seen all the gaffs McCain has made over the years and viewed the results which are hardly frightening. Barack''s background is littered with growing up in different countries, changing his name, muslim schools, college years drug abuse, his main circle of friends are muslim (went to Pakistan with them), then when he tries to pull out of the drug abuse he lives with a drug dealer in New York (also Muslim), he aligns himself with radical black movements, joins a militant black church with a devisive Hamas loving preacher, does law work for a criminal Rezko, gets sweet deals on homes and land from Rezko, sits on a board and has a relationship with William Ayers our home grown bomber that restated on Sept. 11th, that he would again bomb the government buildings he tried to bomb before, I could go on. My point is that Barack chose to surround himself with these individuals, very poor choices that do not reflect a patriotic American, but a disenchanted individual who is confused about his heritage and embraced these radical elements to find himself. The question is, what did he find?