The unfinished work at the database – part of a classified intelligence partnership of military, intelligence and law enforcement agencies – has been referred to in public documents but has not been openly discussed by US government officials.

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From The Washington Post, by Patricia Sullivan

Thomas J. Byrne, 40, a supervisory special agent of the Drug Enforcement Administration, died Aug. 30 after he was jumped, abducted and beaten on a street in New Orleans, where he was attending an organized crime drug enforcement conference.

Mr. Byrne was apparently abducted the evening of Aug. 28 while walking to his hotel. He was found, badly beaten, 40 blocks away by a passerby, and rushed to Tulane University Medical Center. After multiple surgeries, he died two days later from his wounds.

Two people have been arrested on state charges of possession and use of Mr. Byrne’s credit cards as well as federal bank fraud charges. The killing remains under investigation by the New Orleans Police Department, with the assistance of the DEA, the FBI and the U.S. Marshals Service.

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WASHINGTON—The Justice Department, the FBI, and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) today announced that there have been significant developments in the investigation into the 2001 anthrax mailings, which killed five individuals and injured 17 others. In particular, we are able to confirm that substantial progress has been made in the investigation by bringing to bear new and sophisticated scientific tools.

We are unable to provide additional information at this time. The Department, the FBI, and the USPIS have significant obligations to the victims of these attacks and their families that must be fulfilled before any additional information on the investigation can be made public. In addition, investigative documents remain under court seal. We anticipate being able to provide additional details in the near future.

Additional Information on the Investigation

The investigation known as “Amerithrax” is one of the most complex and comprehensive ever conducted by law enforcement. Over the past seven years, the Amerithrax Task Force, which is comprised of 17 FBI Special Agents and 10 U.S. Postal Inspectors, has executed approximately 75 searches and conducted more than 9,100 interviews in the relentless pursuit of the perpetrator of these attacks.

Federal agents may take a traveler’s laptop or other electronic device to an off-site location for an unspecified period of time without any suspicion of wrongdoing, as part of border search policies the Department of Homeland Security recently disclosed.

Also, officials may share copies of the laptop’s contents with other agencies and private entities for language translation, data decryption or other reasons, according to the policies, dated July 16 and issued by two DHS agencies, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

“The policies . . . are truly alarming,” said Sen. Russell Feingold (D-Wis.), who is probing the government’s border search practices. He said he intends to introduce legislation soon that would require reasonable suspicion for border searches, as well as prohibit profiling on race, religion or national origin.

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