Federal authorities are investigating letters with a “suspicious” substance that have been mailed to congressional and election offices nationwide and are urging recipients to treat the mailings as “potentially hazardous.”
The investigation by the FBI, U.S. Postal Inspection Service and U.S. Capitol Police was first disclosed in a message from the Senate Sergeant at Arms obtained Thursday by NBC News. The notice, sent to Senate offices, said that law enforcement officials were working to intercept any additional letters, but “it is possible that some letters may reach their destinations.”
An FBI statement said the bureau and the Postal Inspection Service were “investigating a series of suspicious mailings sent to various addresses nationwide, including Secretary of State offices and their related 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 read. “We are also working with our partners to identify the individual or individuals responsible for the letters.”
The offices of several Democratic senators were targeted, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., NBC News confirmed.
One of the suspicious envelopes, which was shown in a message to chiefs of staff, administrative managers and state directors, had a return address of New York City.
In Congress, the threat appeared limited to the Senate. A notice was sent to House lawmakers and staff Thursday from the House sergeant at arms that urged district offices to use safe mail handling procedures, including the use of “mail hoods” — screening equipment that allows the handling of mail without exposing staff to danger, according to two congressional offices who shared the message with NBC News. The notice said no House members had been identified as intended recipients of the mailings.
The notice sent to Senate staff did not say whether the congressional offices involved are the ones in Washington, D.C. or local and regional offices. Congress is on recess leading up to the midterm elections, so most lawmakers are back home in their districts as they campaign in the final weeks of the races. Congressional staff, however, are still on the Capitol campus.
The offices of Democratic Sens. Alex Padilla and Chris Murphy confirmed the lawmakers were targeted by the letters.
A spokesperson for Padilla told NBC News that the FBI notified them of a suspicious letter sent to one of his offices. The spokesperson did not say whether it was Padilla’s office in Fresno or the one in D.C.
A letter with a “suspicious” substance was also sent to Murphy’s Hartford office, according to the senator’s spokesman Josh Sorbe. Sorbe told NBC News that the senator and his staff “were not in immediate danger.”
NBC News reported Wednesday that secretaries of state’s offices in Louisiana, Ohio and Oklahoma were sent packages this week containing mysterious powders. Oklahoma and Louisiana reported receiving the envelopes, while Ohio said U.S. Postal Service investigators intercepted a package destined for it. Maryland, Mississippi and South Dakota officials on Thursday said their election offices also were targeted by separate mailings but that the letters were intercepted by the Postal Service.
News of the letters comes just three weeks before Election Day and is reminiscent of a similar threat in 2023, when election offices in six states received mailings that contained a white powder. In some cases, the incidents disrupted work around local elections.
Some of those letters contained threats and traces of the powerful opioid fentanyl, leading some election offices to stock up on the overdose reversal medication naloxone.
The National Association of Secretaries of State and the National Association of State Election Directors issued a joint statement condemning what they said were threats against election staff.
“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 on election officials is unacceptable” and that “we are also working with our partners on identifying the individual or individuals responsible for the letters.”
___
Associated Press writer Nicholas Riccardi in Denver contributed to this report.
