Hat Tip to Jon Gold

Who pointed out the flaw in the usual 9-11 Denier claim that the Bush Administration used the anthrax scare to ram through the Patriot Act. Of course, Jon thinks he did something else, but check out his post:

Oct 2, 2001: The Patriot Act is introduced in Congress. The next day, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D) accuses the Bush administration of reneging on an agreement on this anti-terrorist bill. [Washington Post, 10/4/01] Anthrax letters are sent to Leahy and Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D) on October 9. [CNN, 11/18/01]

Okay, so we've got the timeline here. Oct 2, Patriot Act introduced. Oct 3 Pat Leahy grumbles about an agreement that he felt he had. Oct 9, anthrax letters sent to Leahy and Daschle. Anything else in there?

Oh, yeah, that Washington Post article dated 10/4/01, which is headlined:

Senate Democrats, White House Reach a Deal on Anti-Terror Bill

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.) said in a statement issued at 9:30 p.m.: "These have been complex and difficult negotiations, but after much hard effort we have completed work on this bipartisan agreement."

So in other words, Leahy had already agreed to the Patriot Act by 10/3/01, well before the anthrax letters. Thanks for the assist, Jon!