FBI says envelopes were processed through north Texas mail facility
Federal investigators are working to identify who is behind a campaign of suspicious envelopes containing white powder sent to the offices of more than three dozen members of Congress. The letters arrived less than three weeks before the 3 November midterm elections. According to a notice sent to Senate staff on Thursday, the FBI, the US Capitol Police, and the US Postal Inspection Service are jointly investigating the letters. The vast majority of the envelopes were intercepted by the US Postal Inspection Service and screening facilities before being delivered.
The most recent known incident occurred on Monday, when the Leesburg district office of Virginia Democrat Suhas Subramanyam was evacuated after an envelope containing a suspicious substance arrived. Preliminary tests showed the powder was not hazardous, Subramanyam’s office said, and the building was cleared quickly. “Acts of political intimidation have no place in our country,” Subramanyam said in a statement.
Law enforcement sources told ABC News that more than 100 letters thought to contain white powder are circulating in the US mail system. No suspect has been publicly named, and federal authorities have not released a confirmed figure for the total number of letters.
Senators have been targeted across the political spectrum and across the country. Letters addressed to Democratic Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York and California Senator Alex Padilla were intercepted by authorities. Chris Murphy of Connecticut said the FBI, the Senate sergeant at arms, and Capitol police alerted his team to a letter. Republicans in South Dakota, Texas, and Nebraska were also targeted: South Dakota’s Mike Rounds said his Sioux Falls office was evacuated, while Pete Ricketts of Nebraska and Ted Cruz of Texas each reported receiving a suspicious letter.
In the House, at least 10 people were exposed after white powder was sent to the offices of three New York Democrats — Hakeem Jeffries, Ritchie Torres, and Tom Suozzi. In California, Representative Jimmy Panetta said a staffer opened an envelope at his Santa Cruz office, then cleared the room and called 911. Panetta 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.
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.” Senate staff and House offices were warned to watch for plain white envelopes featuring those distinct markings. The FBI did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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. The current mailing campaign mirrors a pre-election targeting of election officials in 17 states before the 2024 presidential election. No suspect has been named in that earlier case.