FBI investigates letters with ‘unknown substance’ despatched to US election officers | US midterm elections 2026
The FBI and the US Postal Inspection Service are investigating letters despatched to state officers and election places of work throughout the nation containing an “unknown substance”.
Just weeks earlier than November’s US midterm elections, election officers in Louisiana and Oklahoma acquired envelopes containing a powdery substance, resulting in evacuations. An analogous bundle containing white powder was additionally despatched to the Ohio secretary of state, however the US Postal Service intercepted the bundle.
Later on Thursday, the workplace of Arizona’s secretary of state received an analogous envelope that was opened by workers, prompting hazmat and legislation enforcement response in addition to evacuations on the state capitol.
“This is a sobering second that highlights the truth of election administration on this nation right now,” Arizona secretary of state Adrian Fontes stated in a press release. Police informed 12News there have been no accidents reported, and an investigation is beneath means.
The US Senate sergeant at arms, who serves as chief legislation enforcement for the Senate, knowledgeable members of the higher chamber on Thursday of the investigation in a message, obtained by the Associated Press.
The discover stated legislation enforcement officers had been working to intercept further mail, however it’s doable some might attain their vacation spot. Federal authorities have urged recipients to deal with the mail as “probably hazardous”.
Brendan Donahue, a senior official with the US Postal Inspection Service, confirmed the investigation into the suspicious mailings throughout a press convention on Thursday. “We are dedicated to defending our nation’s election officers from threatening and harmful mail. Any risk or assault on an election official is unacceptable,” Donahue stated.
The US Postal Inspection Service referred the Guardian to the FBI.
In a press release, the FBI stated it will not verify particular cases however stated that it was “investigating a collection of suspicious mailings despatched to varied addresses nationwide, together with Secretary of State workplace and their associated election officers” alongside the US Postal Inspection Service.
“Some of the letters contained an unknown substance and we’re working carefully with our legislation enforcement companions to answer every incident,” the FBI stated. “We are additionally working with our companions to establish the person or people answerable for the letters.”
The FBI declined to touch upon what the purported substance could have been.
In Oklahoma, state troopers decided the substance mailed to the Oklahoma state capitol complicated was non-hazardous.
In Cook county, Illinois, an envelope containing solely white powder was despatched to Maria Pappas, the treasurer, on Thursday morning, prompting a response from native emergency responders and legislation enforcement.
The powder turned out to be baking powder, Pappas’s workplace confirmed to the Guardian.
“Unfortunately, one-tenth of 1% of the inhabitants causes 100% of the issues: crimes, threats, murders, beatings and abusiveness, and so forth. Too dangerous that standard folks need to have their guard up when a minority of folks lash out with their craziness,” Pappas stated in a press release.
Another letter containing an unknown substance was despatched to the Pennsylvania state division however intercepted by the USPS, Votebeat reported Thursday.
Two organizations representing secretaries of state and state election administrators released a joint statement elevating alarm on the mail containing the unknown substance.
The National Association of Secretaries of State (NASS) and National Association of State Election Directors (NASED) “are deeply involved by these incidents”, the organizations wrote in a press release on Wednesday.
“As now we have every acknowledged previously, threats in opposition to election officers and staff haven’t any place in our democracy,” they wrote. “Those who administer our elections ought to by no means concern for his or her security whereas finishing up their important duties.”
Other officers have acquired mail containing suspicious substances, together with Chris Murphy, the Democratic senator from Connecticut. The letter was despatched to his Hartford workplace, according to NBC.
Alex Padilla, the senator from California, was additionally the goal of a letter containing a suspicious substance, however it was intercepted by the USPS.
Similar incidents have arisen throughout election cycles within the nation. During the 2024 election, at least 14 election offices throughout the nation had acquired mail containing white powder. In some circumstances, the substance turned out to be flour.
In 2023, election places of work in six states additionally acquired mail containing white powder. In some circumstances, the powder contained trace amounts of fentanyl, a strong opioid.
The Associated Press contributed reporting
