The contents of threatening letters containing white powder that were sent to public officials across the country ahead of the midterm elections have been revealed in a court filing. Robin Patrick Martin, 67, of Oklahoma, is charged with conveying false or misleading information and hoaxes and mailing threatening communications. He was arrested on Monday and made an initial appearance in U.S.
District Court in Oklahoma City on Tuesday before being returned to jail to await a detention hearing next week. Newsweek has contacted the Federal Public Defender office, which represents Martin, for comment via email and is awaiting a reply. The letters "created unnecessary fear, diverted resources, and attempted to disrupt our nation’s democratic process," Doug Goodwater, FBI special agent in charge of the Oklahoma City field office, said in a statement.
"No one should have to wonder whether a letter in the mail poses a danger, and the arrest of Robin Martin demonstrates that those who seek to spread panic and intimidation cannot expect to remain anonymous." Last month, federal authorities said that they were investigating letters with "suspicious substances" that were mailed to congressional and election offices nationwide. Some letters claimed to have been sent from the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), which denied involvement in the letters last month. Mailed packages containing a powdery substance led to the evacuation of election offices in Louisiana and Oklahoma.
Several other states said they either received letters or had them intercepted by the U.S. In a court filing made public on Tuesday, the FBI said the investigation dated back to September 2024, when election officials in multiple states reported receiving mail with a white substance and a three-page letter. In mid-October, the FBI responded to locations across the country where officials reported receiving mail containing "threatening communications and unknown powder," FBI agent David Cole wrote in an affidavit.
The investigation determined that more than 700 mailings "appeared to be associated with the same sender." The FBI said the powders were determined to be yeast or flour, though it said not all letters have been fully tested. The affidavit said the content of the letters sent in October varied based on the intended recipient, but all pertained to the 2026 elections. They were addressed to state election boards, members of Congress, pollsters, media organizations and the FBI, it added.
The affidavit said a common message in both the 2024 and 2026 mailings was a warning to recipients about upcoming arrests: "YOU WILL BE ARRESTED FOR TREASON!! OR WORSE!!" The court filing said the Oklahoma State Election Board alerted the FBI on October 13 to a letter it received from "DSA NEW YORK BY 10272” at its office in Oklahoma City. This letter, and other recent ones, featured messages written on the envelopes that could be read only under ultraviolet light, according to the affidavit.
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