Most of us remember 9/11, the terror, the fear, the sense that nothing and nobody was safe. But few remember the terrifying attacks that happened in the weeks after, which turned every mailbox in America into a potential weapon of mass destruction, and every citizen into a potential target. In October 2001, a series of letters filled with a deadly powder called anthrax were dropped into the US mail system. They were addressed to prominent journalists and politicians in New York City and Washington, DC. The anthrax in those letters killed five people. 17 others were infected. My throat and my glands were huge. And I thought, Oh, my God, what the hell is wrong with me? We're making sure that we're connecting any dots that we have to find out who's doing this. It was the worst act of bioterrorism in American history, leading to years of finger-pointing and anxiety, not to mention an investigation full of costly rabbit holes, damaging leaks, and embarrassing blunders. Think about it. They can lie about me. Yeah, they can lie about you. Fbi agents were under intense pressure from the government to find the person responsible. But over time, what started as an unprecedented case turned into an unsett mystery.

Who had sent these anthrax lace letters? And why? You have to go where the evidence points you. You can't invent evidence. I needed to prove I was innocent. Not that they needed to prove I was guilty, but I needed to prove I was innocent. If there was a PTSD, it's not from the raid. It's from those events. They tell us, Oh, you're heroes. You're heroes. No. A hero walks down the street, sees a burning building, and says, I have a choice. They didn't give us a choice. From Campside Media and Sony Music Entertainment, I'm Josh Dean, and this is Cover Up Season 4, The Anthrax Threat, premiering March first. Subscribe on Apple podcast to binge all episodes or listen weekly wherever you get your podcasts.