WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal authorities are investigating letters containing “suspicious substances” that were sent to congressional and election offices across the country and are urging recipients to treat the mailings as “potentially dangerous.”
The investigation by the FBI, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the U.S. Capitol Police was first disclosed in a message from the Senate sergeant-at-arms obtained Thursday by The Associated Press. The notice, sent to Senate offices, said law enforcement officials were working to intercept any additional letters, but “it is possible that some letters may reach their destination.”
In Congress, the threat appeared limited to the Senate, although the House was monitoring the situation, according to a person familiar with the matter who was not authorized to publicly discuss the investigation. The office of Sen. Lisa Blunt Rochester, Democrat of Delaware, said in a statement that it received a letter containing a “suspicious substance” that was intercepted by Capitol Police.
An FBI statement said the bureau and Postal Inspection Service were “investigating a series of suspicious mailers sent to various addresses throughout the country, including the Secretary of State’s offices and their associated election offices.”
“Some of the letters contained an unknown substance and we are working closely with our law enforcement partners to respond to each incident,” the statement said. “We are also working with our partners to identify the person(s) responsible for the letters.”
Posted packages containing a powdery substance led this week to the evacuation of election offices in at least two states, Louisiana and Oklahoma. Ohio’s secretary of state said the Postal Service intercepted a package containing a white powder intended for his office and noted that similar mailings had been sent to election officials in several states. Many states, from Idaho to Florida, said their election offices had received letters or had them intercepted by the Postal Service.
The Wisconsin Elections Commission said in a statement that it had received a letter and that the white powder it contained was not dangerous, according to tests. “Let me be very clear: This incident will not shake us,” said Meagan Wolfe, Wisconsin’s elections administrator.
News of these letters comes just three weeks before Election Day and brings to mind a similar threat in 2023, when election offices in six states received shipments containing a white powder. In some cases, the incidents disrupted work around local elections.
Some of those letters contained threats and traces of fentanyl, a powerful opioid, leading some election offices to stock up on naloxone, a drug that helps reverse overdoses.
The National Association of Secretaries of State and the National Association of State Election Directors issued a joint statement condemning what they say are threats against election workers.
“Those who administer our elections should never fear for their safety while carrying out their essential duties,” they said in their statement.
Deputy Postal Inspector Brendan Donahue told reporters Thursday that “any threat or attack against election officials is unacceptable” and that “we are also working with our partners to identify the person(s) responsible for these letters.”
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Associated Press writers Scott Bauer in Madison, Wisconsin; Sarah Rankin in Richmond, Virginia; and Nicholas Riccardi in Denver contributed to this report.
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