HERE'S ANOTHER FROM EARLIER THIS MONTH
Ricin is back in the news with reports that envelopes suspected of containing the poison were sent to the White House and top defense officials.
A preliminary analysis showed the substance was castor seeds from which ricin is derived, the Pentagon confirmed Wednesday. The FBI was continuing to investigate.
A letter addressed to President Donald Trump at the White House was intercepted by the Secret Service, authorities said. Letters to Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and Navy Admiral John Richardson were seized at a Defense Department mail facility before reaching their targets, the Pentagon said.
A white, powdery substance sent Tuesday to the Houston campaign headquarters of Sen. Ted Cruz, however, turned out to be a false alarm.
The Houston Fire Department evacuated the floor in a Texas high-rise where Cruz's officers are located but later said tests on the powdery substance there were negative for the poison.
Weaponizing ricin to attack politicians is not new. In 2014, actress Shannon Guess Richardson was sentenced to 18 years in prison for sending ricin-tainted letters to then-President Barack Obama and then-New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
More: Letters sent to Pentagon, White House being tested for toxins