The FBI and the US Postal Inspection Service are investigating a string of suspicious mailings sent to addresses across the country, including secretaries of state and their election departments. Some of the mailings included an unknown substance.
"Some of the letters contained an unknown substance and we are working closely with our law enforcement partners to respond to each incident," the bureau said in a statement.
Congressional offices on Capitol Hill also received the mailings, according to a message obtained by CBS News. Brendan Donahue, a deputy chief inspector for the Postal Inspection Service, told reporters on Wednesday that investigators will bring every resource to bear on the issue.
Recipients have been urged to handle the mailings as if they could be hazardous. There have been no reports of injuries.
Louisiana: An employee in the state secretary of state's Elections Division opened a package that contained a white powder on Tuesday. The office was evacuated and the employee was taken to an emergency room as a precautionary measure, a spokesman for the state, Trey Williams, said. There was no evidence that the substance was harmful. Louisiana State Police responded to the scene.
Oklahoma: The state confirmed that it received a similar package on Tuesday and evacuated their election offices.
Ohio: Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose said on Wednesday that his office was the target of a letter that was intercepted by the Postal Service.
The FBI would not confirm specific locations, saying it is working to ascertain how many letters were mailed, who was involved and what the motive was.
The mailings come weeks before the targeted offices will be conducting the November midterm elections.
The National Association of Secretaries of State and the National Association of State Election Directors issued a joint statement expressing their deep concern.
This is not the first such incident. In September 2024, letters with powders in them were sent to secretary of state, attorney general and election departments in Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas, Tennessee, Wyoming and Oklahoma, leading to office evacuations in some states. The substance in the letter in Oklahoma was found to be flour. In November 2023, similar letters hit ballot-counting centers in California, Georgia, Nevada, Oregon and Washington.
Federal law enforcement officers and cyber experts alerted state election officials earlier this season about the serious threats they expected to face.
