Feds Hunt Sender of Powder Letters Ahead of Election

Federal authorities are racing to intercept dozens of letters containing suspicious white powder sent to congressional offices and state election officials, less than three weeks before Election Day. Preliminary tests found the substance wasn't hazardous, three law enforcement sources told NBC News. Labs around the country are conducting more tests, and the investigation isn't slowing down.

The Investigation

The FBI, U.S. Capitol Police and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service are working together on the case, according to a notice sent Thursday to senior staff in Senate offices. The notice laid out the limits of the effort: "Law enforcement officials are working to intercept any additional letters before they are delivered, however, it is possible that some letters may reach their destinations."

Two law enforcement sources confirmed that "dozens of letters" had gone out. They wouldn't say how many authorities have received or seized as interceptions continue.

The FBI said the mailings went to "various addresses nationwide, including Secretary of State offices and their related election offices." Some letters contained "an unknown substance," the bureau said, and agents are working with partners "to identify the individual or individuals responsible."

Who Was Targeted

Election offices in at least 15 states reported suspicious packages: Arizona, Delaware, Georgia, Idaho, Kansas, Louisiana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennessee, Washington and Wisconsin. Louisiana and Oklahoma received envelopes. Postal investigators intercepted a package bound for Ohio.

Several Democratic senators' offices also received letters, including the offices of Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York, Sen. Alex Padilla of California and Sen. Chris Murphy. Authorities intercepted a letter addressed to Schumer, his spokesperson said. Padilla's office said the FBI notified staff that the U.S. Postal Service had caught a letter containing a suspicious substance. Josh Sorbe, Murphy's spokesperson, said the FBI, Capitol Police and the sergeant at arms alerted the senator's Hartford, Connecticut, office. Murphy and his staff "were not in immediate danger," Sorbe said.

NBC News corrected an earlier report about Oklahoma. The package went to the state Election Board, not the secretary of state's office, because the board handles election oversight there.

Procedures and Screening

The Senate notice included an image of one suspicious envelope and said the letters "may contain different variations of postage stamps." It instructed staff to treat suspicious letters, packages or substances "as potentially hazardous and handled in accordance with established safety protocols." Mail and packages sent to Senate offices or the Capitol complex undergo screening and threat testing, the notice said.

The House sergeant at arms sent lawmakers and staff a similar notice. Capitol mail is "rigorously screened," it said, while district offices should follow safe mail-handling procedures, including "mail hoods" that let staff handle mail without exposure. The House notice said no House members had been identified as intended recipients.

Congress is on recess ahead of the midterms. Most lawmakers are home campaigning. Congressional staff remain on the Capitol campus.

Legal Exposure

Former FBI Supervisory Special Agent Jason Pack told NBC News that harmless powder doesn't make the conduct harmless. "There's several different statutes that may come into play here, whether that's mailing a threat or mailing something believed to be a hazardous substance," he said. "And that could be five to 20 years behind bars."

Pack said investigators have the tools to identify the sender. The Postal Inspection Service and the FBI can trace mail back to its origin. "They'll be able to go back and do investigations based on where these pieces of mail originated and then work backwards," he said. "In pretty short order, I would think [they would] find out at least a bit more information about who sent it."

Pack said the motive remains unclear, but "the timing is somewhat suspicious with the election ahead of us."

Why This Matters:

Election Day is Nov. 3, and early voting is already underway in numerous states. Local election officials, many working with small staffs and tight budgets, now have to treat their mailrooms as potential hazard zones during the cycle's busiest weeks. Threats against election workers have risen in recent years, the article notes, including suspicious substances mailed to their offices in 2023 and again before the 2024 presidential election. The repeated incidents point to a durable problem: election administrators remain exposed, and deterrence depends on prosecutions that actually land. The legal tools exist. Pack cited potential sentences of five to 20 years, and investigators use established methods to trace mail. Whether those tools lead to a swift arrest and a credible penalty will shape how seriously the next would-be sender weighs the risk.