The FBI made an unusual public appeal Thursday for citizen help with finding out who is sending threatening letters in envelopes sprinkled with white powder to financial institutions across the country.

 

"(W) e're releasing photographs of one of the letters and its envelope in the hopes that you might be able to help us solve the case." The FBI said.

 

 "Study the images, and see if you recognize the phrasing of the letter, the envelope label, or any other clue that you think might help investigators."

 

The U.S. Postal Inspection Service, it added, is offering a reward of up to $100,000 for any information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible.

 

"What you just breathed in will kill you within 10 days," the letters say, in large, machine-printed type.

 

But so far the powder, which apparently is designed to look like anthrax, "appears to be harmless," the FBI said.

 

"So far, we've identified more than 50 letters, nearly all of which use threatening language identical to the text shown above." the FBI appeal said. "The letters have all been mailed from Texas and postmarked at Amarillo."

 

"The letters have been sent to at least 11 states, including Arizona, California, Colorado, Georgia, Illinois, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Texas, and Virginia," it said.

 

Institutions receiving the letters have included the Chase Bank; the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and the U.S. Office of Thrift Supervision, which regulates all federal and many state thrift institutions.

The FBI Wednesday dumped a load of documents on the family of Dr. Bruce E. Ivins, supposedly showing that the late Army bioweapons researcher was behind the deadly anthrax mailings of 2001.

It's the latest step that should leave a bigger stain on the government than Ivins' suffering kin and friends.

Hardly a month had passed since Steven Hatfill won a $5.8 million slander suit against the Justice Department that the government began leaking details on its case against Ivins, which, by many accounts, probably drove him over the edge.  Even after his suicide, the leaks continued.

For what purpose? To convince the public that the feds really -- no, really, cross-my-heart-and-hope-to-die -- had a case against him?

Whatever happened to due process? Even the dead should be allowed that.

I have no idea whether Ivins was guilty, but the point is that he, unlike Hatfill, will never get a his day in court, and his family must bear the brunt of the government's cowardly, anonymous accusations forever.

UPDATE: 

Democratic Rep. Rush Holt, who represents the central New Jersey area when the anthrax envelopes evidently were mailed, issued similar sentiments after a private briefing Wednesday by FBI Director Mueller.

"I am pleased the FBI finally has begun to answer the questions that the families of the victims have had for nearly seven years," Holt said in a statement.

"While the circumstantial evidence pointing to Dr. Ivins that the Department of Justice released today is compelling, a number of important questions remain unanswered, such as why investigators remained focused on Dr. Hatfill long after they had begun to suspect Dr. Ivins of the crime and why investigators are so certain that Ivins acted alone. In addition, there are important policy questions for handling any future incidents of bioterrorism.  I will continue to conduct additional oversight on this issue over the course of the next several months."