Feds investigating suspicious letters sent to election officials and congressional offices

Washington- Federal investigators said Thursday they were looking into “suspicious” letters sent to state election officials and congressional offices, some of which contained unknown substances.

At least five Democratic Senate offices received these letters, most of which were intercepted before being delivered. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s office was among those targeted, CBS News has learned.

The FBI and the United States Postal Inspection Service are investigating these “suspicious mailings,” according to USPIS Deputy Chief Inspector Brendan Donahue. Donahue told reporters earlier in the day that some letters contained an unknown substance and were sent to “various addresses throughout the country,” including “the Secretary of State’s offices and relevant election offices.”

“We are committed to protecting our nation’s election officials from threatening and dangerous mail. Any threat or attack against an election official is unacceptable,” Donahue said. “Our partners, including the FBI and us at the Postal Inspection Service, will bring all of our resources to bear on these investigations.”

The Senate Sergeant at Arms also issued a notice to congressional staff informing them of the investigation. The message, obtained by CBS News, indicated that congressional offices were among those that received the suspicious letters.

A spokeswoman for Delaware Sen. Lisa Blunt Rochester told CBS News that the senator’s office in Dover, Delaware, received a suspicious letter containing a white powder. The letter was not opened in the office, the spokesperson said.

A letter intended for New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand was found in the senator’s New York office and postal inspectors were on hand to investigate, an aide to the senator said.

A spokesperson for Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut also said his office had received “a letter containing a suspicious substance.”

“Our office was promptly informed of the letter by the FBI, SAA and Capitol Police, and we continue to work closely with them and federal law enforcement,” said Josh Sorbe, a Murphy spokesman. “As a result of these efforts and various safety protocols, the senator and staff were not in immediate danger.”

A letter was also sent to the office of Senator Alex Padilla, according to a spokesperson for the California Democrat.

“We received notification from the FBI that one of our offices had received a letter containing a suspicious substance, but it was intercepted by USPS,” the spokesperson said.

The House Sergeant at Arms sent a notice to Lower House offices stating that no House members had been targeted.

Federal officials are working to identify the responsible parties and have intercepted some letters, Donahue said. Donahue declined to provide an exact number of incidents or discuss possible connections, citing the ongoing investigation. He added that investigators would put all their resources into these cases.

This development comes less than three weeks before the midterm elections. Federal investigators also investigated a series of suspicious letters before the 2024 elections.

In addition to congressional offices, top election officials in at least three states reported that their offices had received packages containing white powder in recent days.

The Delaware Department of Elections said in an article on X that it “received and opened a letter on Thursday that contained a white powdery substance.” “Staff members followed security and USPS instructions regarding handling suspicious mail,” the message said.

Louisiana Secretary of State Nancy Landry said Tuesday that a Division of Elections employee in her office opened a package and found a white powder.

“Law enforcement responded to today’s incident and conducted tests that revealed no traces of harmful substances,” she wrote on Facebook, adding that no one was injured.

The Oklahoma State Board of Elections said it received an envelope Tuesday morning containing “suspicious” white powder and its office was evacuated.

Paul Ziriax, secretary of the election board, said no one was injured as a result of the incident and law enforcement is investigating.