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.