More than three dozen members of US Congress have had their offices targeted with envelopes containing white powder, less than three weeks before the 3 November midterms, as federal agents try to identify who is behind the campaign. The latest is the Virginia Democrat Suhas Subramanyam, whose Leesburg district office was evacuated on Monday after an envelope containing a suspicious substance arrived. He said the office was cleared quickly, adding that “acts of political intimidation have no place in our country”.
Subramanyam’s office said preliminary tests showed the powder was not hazardous. Law enforcement sources told ABC News that more than 100 letters thought to contain white powder are circulating in the US mail system. The FBI, Capitol police and US Postal Inspection Service are investigating, according to a notice sent to Senate staff on Thursday.
Election offices in at least 15 states had reported receiving or being targeted by suspicious mail by Thursday evening, according to the Tampa Free Press, which cited federal authorities. No suspect has been named, and federal authorities have not released a confirmed figure. The FBI did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Senators have been targeted across the political spectrum, and country. Letters addressed to the Democratic Senate minority leader, Chuck Schumer, and California senator Alex Padilla were intercepted by authorities, while Chris Murphy of Connecticut said the FBI, the Senate sergeant at arms and Capitol police alerted his team of a letter as well. Republicans in South Dakota, Texas and Nebraska were also targeted, with Mike Rounds saying his Sioux Falls office was evacuated, along with Pete Ricketts and Ted Cruz also reporting a suspicious letter.
In the House, at least 10 people were exposed after white powder was sent to the offices of the New York Democrats Hakeem Jeffries, Ritchie Torres and Tom Suozzi. In California, Jimmy Panetta said a staffer opened an envelope at his Santa Cruz office, then cleared the room and called 911. He said such attempts to intimidate “will not deter us from doing our job”.
In Massachusetts, five staffers left Seth Moulton’s Salem office while police investigated, and testing found no substances of concern. Investigators have described several common features connecting the suspicious letters sent to public officials and election centers. The FBI has stated that the recovered envelopes were processed through a north Texas mail processing center and carry a postmark or stamp reading “Thinking of You”.
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