Suspicious letters mailed to election and congressional offices nationwide, including Pennsylvania

Federal authorities are investigating a wave of suspicious letters, some holding unknown substances, that were mailed to election and congressional offices around the country. One was addressed to Pennsylvania's Department of State.

According to Spotlight PA, state election officials in Pennsylvania said postal workers intercepted a suspicious letter on Wednesday before it could be delivered. The FBI's local field office told Spotlight PA it had "received multiple interceptions."

In a statement, the FBI said it is working with postal inspectors on a nationwide probe of mailings aimed at secretaries of state and their election divisions. The bureau said an unknown substance was found in some of the letters and that agents are trying to determine who sent them.

The number of letters may be large. Law enforcement sources told ABC News, as reported by 6abc, that early information suggests over 100 letters apparently containing white powder are moving through the mail. Spotlight PA, citing three briefed election officials, also put the total at more than 100. By Thursday evening, 6abc reported, at least 15 states had election offices that either got suspicious mail or were its intended recipients.

Offices in Louisiana and Oklahoma were evacuated this week after packages containing powder arrived, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported. Spotlight PA said officials in Ohio, New Hampshire and Connecticut reported that letters headed their way were stopped. In Wisconsin, testing showed the white powder in a letter sent to the state elections commission was harmless, according to the Inquirer. "Let this be very clear: this incident will not shake us," Wisconsin elections administrator Meagan Wolfe said, the Inquirer reported.

Senators were among the targets. Letters addressed to Sens. Lisa Blunt Rochester of Delaware, Kirsten Gillibrand of New York and Chris Murphy of Connecticut were caught before reaching their offices, 6abc and the Inquirer reported. A person familiar with the matter told ABC News that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer was also mailed a letter that was intercepted. "I am deeply grateful to the postal inspectors for protecting my staff," Gillibrand said, according to 6abc.

The Inquirer reported that a Senate Sergeant at Arms notice cautioned that some letters could still get through and told staff to handle them as possibly dangerous. According to 6abc, the House Sergeant at Arms told members they could send district mail to the Capitol complex for screening. 6abc said it is not yet known whether the letters to Congress are connected to those sent to election officials.

The Inquirer noted the mailings arrived roughly three weeks ahead of Election Day. The outlets gave different years for a comparable earlier incident: the Inquirer placed white-powder mailings to election offices in six states in 2023, while Spotlight PA described suspicious packages reaching officials in six or more states in 2024.

Compiled by True News from reporting by CBS Philadelphia, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Spotlight PA and 6abc Action News. Each outlet's original story is linked below.

Originally published by True News: https://truenews.bagleyenterprises.net/stories/154