Utah LG says postal inspector intercepts letter containing suspicious powder intended for his office
SALT LAKE CITY — The U.S. Postal Inspection Service intercepted an envelope containing “suspicious white powder and threatening letters” intended for Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson’s office, Henderson said Sunday.
The envelope is one of several that have been sent to election officials across the country and to congressional offices in the run-up to the November midterm elections. Some envelopes contained similar unknown substances.
“Last week, election officials across the country began receiving envelopes containing suspicious white powder and threatening letters,” Henderson wrote on Threads. “Today our local postal inspector was able to intercept ours and turn it over to the FBI before it could be delivered to my office. We are grateful for their diligence and service!
“Plus, nothing is going to disrupt the midterm elections,” she added. “We won’t let that happen.”
Responding to another user Sunday evening, Henderson said authorities didn’t yet know what substance it was, “but the powder in other similar letters wasn’t toxic. Just a scare tactic. It didn’t work.” A spokesperson for his office said the substance had not been identified as of Monday morning.
This isn’t the first time Utah’s top election official has been the target of threatening letters. FBI agents intercepted a similar letter filled with white powder in September 2024, less than two months before that year’s election.
The envelopes were sent as political tensions around the election have risen, as President Donald Trump has made unfounded claims of widespread voter fraud and his administration has sought access to the personal data of voters in dozens of states, including Utah.
Henderson has repeatedly resisted attempts by the U.S. Department of Justice to gain access to Utah’s complete voter rolls, which she says she cannot provide under state law.
At least nine Democrats in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives have had their offices targeted with letters like the one aimed at Henderson’s office, according to CBS News. At least two Senate Republicans also received letters.
The FBI and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service are investigating the envelopes, USPIS Deputy Chief Inspector Brendan Donahue told CBS News.
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