Targets included election officials, Congress, pollsters, news media and federal law enforcement
FBI agent David Cole said investigators believe more than 700 mailings appeared to be associated with the same sender. In his affidavit, Cole said the packages were addressed to election officials, members of Congress, pollsters, news media and federal law enforcement.
The FBI said the investigation stretched back to 2024, when multiple election officials in every state reported mail with a white substance and a three-page letter declaring war. A common message in the 2024 and 2026 mailings warned recipients about upcoming arrests for treason “or worse!!”
The sender wrote a return address as “U.S.T.E.A., United States Traitor Elimination Army, Takoma Park, MD.”
The packages led to the evacuation in October of election offices in Louisiana and Oklahoma. Numerous states, from Idaho to Florida, said their election offices either received letters or had them intercepted by the Postal Service.
Federal authorities announced last month that they were investigating letters with “suspicious substances” that had been mailed to congressional and election offices nationwide. They urged recipients to treat the mailings as “potentially hazardous.”
Federal authorities charged Oklahoma man Robin Martin with sending hundreds of letters containing nonhazardous white powder to public officials ahead of the 2024 and 2026 elections. The charges accuse Martin of conveying a hoax and mailing threatening communications.
Martin was arrested Monday and was expected to make an appearance Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Oklahoma City. Online records did not list an attorney to comment on his behalf.
The FBI said in a court filing made public Tuesday that the powders turned out to be yeast or flour. The filing noted that not all of the letters had been fully tested.
Associated Press journalist Alanna Durkin Richer contributed reporting.