Edwards Campaign Not Poisoned; World Indifferent

I can't for the life of me figure out why someone thought John Edwards was worthy of even a fake anthrax attack, but all the same, it happened yesterday at his campaign headquarters in Chapel Hill:

The white powder in an envelope discovered Wednesday at the national headquarters of Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards did not contain anthrax. The campaign office was reopening today, Deputy Campaign Manager Jonathan Prince said.

“The test results of the white powdery substance received yesterday have come back negative, and the authorities have informed us that it is safe to return to the office," Prince said in a statement this morning.

[snip]

A woman working in Edwards' campaign office in Southern Village found the powder at 4 p.m. as she opened mail for the former senator. She immediately threw the white legal-size envelope into a nearby mail bin and rushed to wash her hands, said Jane Cousins, a spokeswoman for the Chapel Hill police.

Police were called to the office at 410 Market St. in the mix of offices, shops and homes in the southern Chapel Hill community. Federal, county and regional investigators were called to assist.

By late Wednesday, the envelope had been taken to the parking lot of the Chapel Hill Police Department several miles away on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.

White powder in letters has been associated with anthrax since an attack in 2001 killed five people and sickened 17. The substance was mailed to lawmakers on Capitol Hill and members of the news media in New York and Florida just weeks after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

The Edwards campaign worker did not know to whom the envelope was addressed or where it was from, investigators said. Chapel Hill police said they didn't know whether there was any written message in the envelope.

To date, I’ve seen no mention of this story outside of the local media or in the larger blogs. I guess a fake anthrax attack on Edwards just isn’t worth commenting on.

I've written the several of the law enforcement agencies investigating this incident to see if they could provide further information about the attack. Specifically, I've asked if there was a note or letter in the envelope communicating a possible motive for the attack, and I've also asked whether the letter came through the U.S. Mail or a courier service, such as FedEx or UPS. I also asked if the letter bore a postmark or originating address that might indicate where the letter was mailed from.

I'll update this post if they respond.

Update: The FBI has responded:

The FBI is conducting a federal investigation regarding the suspicious letter sent to the office of John Edwards. We are investigating for any potential WMD issues/violations, and due to its ongoing status, no further comments are being provided at this time.

This is a joint, cooperative investigation between the FBI, Chapel Hill Police Department, Chapel Hill Fire Department, and the Orange County Public Health Department.

I imagine that the other agencies involved will also refuse comment while the investigation is on-going.