Federal authorities are investigating suspicious mailings sent to congressional offices and state election officials less than three weeks before Election Day. The FBI said it and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service were investigating mail sent to addresses nationwide, including to secretaries of state and related election offices.
The bureau said some letters contained an unknown substance and that investigators were working to identify who sent them. Election offices in at least 15 states said suspicious packages had been mailed to them, NBC News reported. They are Arizona, Delaware, Georgia, Idaho, Kansas, Louisiana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennessee, Washington and Wisconsin.
The reports do not mean every package reached its intended recipient. Authorities and lawmakers have said some mail was intercepted before delivery. Newsweek has contacted the FBI, U.S.
Postal Inspection Service and U.S. Capitol Police for comment. The Senate Sergeant at Arms, the upper chamber's chief law enforcement and protocol officer, warned Senate offices that law enforcement was working to intercept additional letters, but that some could still reach their destinations.
The investigation involves the FBI, U.S. Several senators' offices were reported as targets, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Democratic Senators Chris Murphy of Connecticut and Alex Padilla of California, according to The Washington Post. The outlet also reported that it was not clear whether the letters sent to congressional offices were connected to those mailed to state officials.
At least one suspicious letter addressed to the office of Democratic Senator Lisa Blunt Rochester of Delaware was intercepted by Capitol Police, while Padilla said the Postal Service intercepted a package before it reached his office. Three law enforcement sources briefed on the matter told NBC News that preliminary testing of the white powder showed it was not hazardous. Further testing is continuing at law enforcement laboratories.
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