- WASHINGTON, D.C. - Judicial
Watch, the public interest law firm that investigates and prosecutes government
corruption and abuse, has concluded, based on the below evidence, that
the government is lying to the American people about the severity of the
anthrax crisis.
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- First, the Associated Press reported yesterday that,
"(a)t least some White House personnel were given Cipro six weeks
ago. White House officials won't discuss who might be receiving the anthrax-treating
antibiotic now. On the night of the September 11 attacks, the White House
Medical Office dispensed Cipro to staff accompanying Vice President Dick
Cheney as he was secreted off to the safety of Camp David, and told them
it was a 'precaution,' according to one person directly involved."
This shows that The White House knew of the anthrax attacks much sooner
than admitted. See "White House Mail Machine Has Anthrax," Associated
Press, October 23, 2001.
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- Second, when asked yesterday if he had been tested for
anthrax, President George W. Bush refused to answer on two occasions. Id.
This buttresses the conclusion that The White House has known of the full
extent of the problem for some time, but will not discuss it with the American
people. In addition, the President should be honest and admit that widespread
testing for anthrax exposure - particularly in the D.C. area - is necessary,
particularly given the deaths of postal workers. Had they been tested,
and received Cipro like the President and members of Congress, perhaps
they would now be alive. While Mr. Bush's evasiveness may be aimed at avoiding
a "run" on medical clinics, American citizens deserve to know
the full truth; that even the President of the United States has concerns
about being infected with the deadly virus.
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- Third, today it was reported in The Washington Post that
the federal D.C. main post office at Brentwood has discontinued mail delivery
to various residential area codes in the nation's capitol. In addition,
it was reported that 14 of 29 mail sorting areas at Brentwood were "quarantined"
for high exposure to anthrax. See Neely Tucker and Avram Goldstein, "Anthrax
Threat Takes A Wider Scope, New Cases Emerge: Some Mail Halted," The
Washington Post, October 24, 2001. Citizens have asked whether ordinary
letters delivered to their residences could be contaminated, and the government
has said no. However, it is now obvious that the shutdown of mail deliveries
to various residential area codes was put into effect because the mail
sorting equipment for these area codes is contaminated with anthrax. Yet,
the government has failed again to make full disclosure.
-
- It is also obvious that the federal D.C. main post office
at Brentwood must be "flooded" with anthrax-contaminated mail;
otherwise why would over one-half of its facility be shut down, and how
else could one explain the widespread contamination that has occurred and
the number of buildings and persons who have tested positive for anthrax.
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- Fourth, nearly all federal agencies in D.C. have shut
down their mail deliveries from Brentwood and other area post offices.
This cements the fact that the mail is thoroughly contaminated with anthrax,
based not on a few letters from terrorists, but a deluge of them.
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- Finally, the government has claimed, until today, that
the anthrax-laced letters are not necessarily from foreign Islamic terrorists.
However, three letters released yesterday and published in newspapers today,
show that they all contain references to killing Americans and Jews and
end with the salutation "Allah Is Great." Why would domestic
terrorists write this? (And why wouldn't they? -ed)
-
- Obviously, the administration is seeking to justify not
taking immediate military action against Iraq, who most suspect has supplied
biological weapons to Bin Laden. (Indeed, the ringleader of the September
11 attacks, Mohamed Atta, also met with Iraq's agents at least twice in
Prague, Czechoslovakia. See, Deborah Orin, "U.S. Czechs Out Atta's
Trip," The New York Post, nypost.com, October 23, 2001. The Arabic
members of the Administration's coalition - Egypt, Syria, Saudi Arabia
and others - have all made it clear they will not support military action
against Iraq.
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- "Judicial Watch is filing a host of document requests
with the federal government to pry out the full truth from the administration,
before more people die because of misinformation about the full extent
of the anthrax crisis. If cooperation is not forthcoming, lawsuits will
be filed. It is a scandal in the making that The White House and Congress,
which have full information, have adequately protected themselves with
testing and antibiotics, while the rest of the populace is kept in the
dark and not treated like the political elite. Unfortunately, even full
disclosure is not enough at this point to bring back the dead postal workers,"
stated Judicial Watch Chairman and General Counsel Larry Klayman.
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