OMM Newsroom
The FBI and the US Postal Inspection Service are investigating potentially hazardous letters containing suspicious substances sent to congressional and state election offices across the United States, according to the BBC.
The agencies said they were working to trace the mailings, some of which were intercepted before delivery. They did not disclose how many offices had been targeted, though several state election officials and congressional offices reported receiving letters.
“The FBI and the US Postal Inspection Service will continue to safeguard the public and secure elections for American citizens,” the agencies said in a statement on Thursday.
The Oklahoma State Election Board and the Louisiana secretary of state’s office said this week they had received letters containing white powder. Louisiana’s office was evacuated on Tuesday after a staff member opened a package, but it has since reopened after law enforcement found no evidence of harmful substances.
Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose said his office was the intended recipient of a letter containing white powder, which the postal inspection service intercepted. A spokesman for Democratic Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut also said a letter containing a suspicious substance addressed to him was intercepted before reaching his office.
The New York State Capitol in Albany and the Wyoming State Capitol in Cheyenne also received suspicious packages, according to emergency responder scanner feeds reviewed by the BBC.
The mailings come weeks before the US midterm elections, which will determine the balance of power in Congress. Ahead of the 2024 election, officials in 17 states received suspicious packages. A year earlier, suspicious envelopes, some containing fentanyl, were sent to election offices in at least five states.
