Leahy Spokesman Calls Bogus E-mail Saying Senator Had Died a Hoax

It appears as if someone posing as a staffer to Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., sent an e-mail to some media organizations saying that the senator had died of liver cancer.  This is not true.

Leahy's press secretary tells Fox News that "It was someone's idea of a hoax."

WTOP-radio in Washington, D.C. was one of outlets that got the bogus message.  The radio station reports that they got the e-mail two days in a row and it looked so real, a Leahy spokesman first told WTOP that it did come from the senator's office and they were looking into who sent the e-mail.

Sen. Leahy is doing fine according to David Carle of the senator's D.C. office.

Carle says the sender spoofed the message to give recipients the false impression that it was an official statement from the senator's office. He believes other senators have been incorrectly reported dead also.

KGO-TV in San Francicsco says the station received a similar announcement about Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., on Monday.  Feinstein's office told KGO-TV that she is alive and well.

U.S. Capitol Police spokesman Kimberly Schneider tells Fox there is an open ongoing case regarding the apparent fake e-mails.

Schneider said no further information will be shared so as not to jeopardize the case.