More Than 100 Suspicious Letters, Some Containing An Unknown Substance, Sent To Lawmakers And Election Offices

The FBI and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service said they are “investigating a series of suspicious mailings sent to various addresses nationwide, including Secretary of State offices and their related election offices, and congressional offices.” The agencies added: “Some of the letters contained an unknown substance.” The U.S. Capitol Police are also investigating.

Law enforcement sources put the scale at more than 100 letters believed to contain white powder, addressed to more than three dozen lawmakers in at least 20 states, from both parties. Many of the letters were processed through a mail processing center in North Texas, and many were marked with the same greeting: “Thinking of You.”

So far, the substance has not tested as dangerous. Initial tests have produced no positive results for hazardous materials, and laboratory analysis is continuing. The Senate Sergeant at Arms has warned offices that some letters may still reach their destinations, and at least one suspicious package at a mail facility in Leesburg, Virginia, was cleared by a hazmat team on Tuesday; whether it is connected is unconfirmed.

The Postal Inspection Service’s deputy chief inspector, Brendan Donahue, said: “We are committed to protecting our nation’s election officials from threatening and dangerous mail.” He said the service is working to identify who is responsible.

The list of named targets grew all week. A letter to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer was intercepted before reaching him; one was found at Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand’s New York City office; Sen. Lisa Blunt Rochester’s Delaware office received white powder and did not open the letter. Maryland supplied several names: Sen. Angela Alsobrooks, Rep. Steny Hoyer, who received his on Monday, Rep. Sarah Elfreth, Rep. Jamie Raskin, whose Rockville office was a target, and Rep. Suhas Subramanyam, whose Leesburg office was evacuated on Monday. Rep. Donald Norcross’s letter was intercepted, former Speaker Nancy Pelosi received one on Wednesday, October 21, and Reps. Maxwell Frost, Darren Soto, Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Sen. Ted Cruz were also reported among the recipients. Maryland’s State Board of Elections was targeted as well; its letter was intercepted.

Two clusters stand out in the named list. Five of the recipients are Maryland Democrats — a senator, four House members and the state’s Board of Elections — and three are Florida Democrats. Several of the letters never reached a desk: screening intercepted the ones addressed to Schumer, to Norcross and to the Maryland elections board, while others were found inside congressional offices, in Gillibrand’s case in New York City and in Subramanyam’s case after an evacuation in Leesburg. The targets are not only lawmakers: the mailings also reached secretaries of state and the election offices that will administer the November 3 vote, which is how the FBI framed the case in its own statement.

Pelosi’s spokesman, Nicholas Martin, said the letter that reached her office was “consistent with mailings reported by other congressional offices,” that it was reported to the Capitol Police, and that everyone in the office was safe. Maryland’s elections administrator, Jared DeMarinis, wrote that “threatening and harassment of election administrators must end.” Hoyer called the mailings “un-American” and “an existential threat to the sanctity of our Democratic processes.”

No arrests have been reported. The investigation is continuing, less than two weeks before Election Day.

Sources: The FBI; the U.S. Postal Inspection Service; the Associated Press; CBS News; The Hill.