A staffer at Rep. Ritchie Torres’ Bronx office opened an envelope Friday afternoon and found white powder inside. Hazmat crews rushed to the Fordham office, six people were exposed, and for a while nobody knew what it was. It turned out to be harmless, but it was one of a wave of letters hitting election offices and members of Congress across the country less than three weeks before Election Day.
“We were not sure whether it was a prank or a hazardous substance,” Torres said, ABC7 New York reported. The FDNY and FBI tested it and found it wasn’t dangerous, and none of the six staffers showed symptoms. The envelope was postmarked in San Antonio, Texas.
Who else got the white powder letters?
At least 36 members of Congress from both parties had reported suspicious letters by Friday night, and election offices in at least 10 states got them this week, CNN reported. Among them:
- New York: Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand’s New York City office got suspicious mail that postal inspectors intercepted.
- Senators in both parties: Sen. Ted Cruz’s Houston office received a letter with white powder. Two letters to Sen. Susan Collins’ offices were intercepted. Letters bound for Sen. Raphael Warnock were also stopped.
- Election offices: Louisiana’s secretary of state’s office and the Oklahoma State Capitol were evacuated Tuesday. Arizona’s secretary of state’s offices were evacuated after staff opened an envelope. Letters to Georgia, Mississippi, Maryland and Ohio were caught before delivery.
Three election officials told Votebeat that more than 100 letters went out nationwide. No one has been hurt, and in at least six cases the substance has been found non-hazardous. Investigators haven’t said whether the congressional and election office letters are connected.
Who is investigating, and will it affect the election?
The FBI, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and Capitol Police are investigating. The FBI said it’s working to identify whoever sent “a series of suspicious mailings” to “various addresses nationwide, including Secretary of State offices and their related election offices.” No suspect has been named.
Election officials say voting won’t be disrupted. “We will not be scared out of doing our jobs on behalf of the voters of Arizona,” Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes said. Ohio’s Frank LaRose, a Republican, called the threats “cowardly.” This has happened before: in September 2024, election offices in at least six states got similar packages.
The BeezLoop Take
A harmless powder isn’t a harmless act. Every one of these letters shuts down an office, sends staff to quarantine and reminds the people who count our votes that someone knows where they work. That’s the point. It’s intimidation, and it’s aimed at Democrats and Republicans alike.
Mailing a fake hazard to scare people is a federal crime even when the powder is flour. The only way this stops being a routine part of every election is if someone actually gets caught and charged.
The open question: will the FBI find and charge whoever sent these letters before Nov. 3, or will this become just another part of election season?
Also on BeezLoop: counties have closed 1,688 polling places since the Supreme Court stopped checking, and federal agents searched Rep. Ilhan Omar’s D.C. home 22 days before the election.
Sources: CNN, via KRDO · Votebeat · ABC7 New York · CBS New York (video)
