Feds investigate suspicious mailings sent to Congress, state election officials

WASHINGTON — Federal law enforcement is investigating dozens of letters containing suspicious substances mailed to congressional offices and state election officials across the country less than three weeks before Election Day.

Three law enforcement sources briefed on the matter told NBC News that preliminary testing of the white powder substance showed that the contents are not hazardous. However, additional testing will continue at law enforcement labs around the country to ensure the letters do not contain anything dangerous.

The offices of several Democratic senators, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York, were targeted. Election offices in at least 15 states — Arizona, Delaware, Georgia, Idaho, Kansas, Louisiana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennessee, Washington and Wisconsin — said they were mailed suspicious packages.

The FBI, U.S. Capitol Police and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service were looking into the mailings, according to a notice sent to senior staff members in Senate offices Thursday.

“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,” the notice said, according to two people who received it.

Two law enforcement sources briefed on the matter confirmed that “dozens of letters” were sent, but because law enforcement continues to intercept the letters, they declined to put an exact number on how many have been received or seized.

A letter with a suspicious substance was addressed to Schumer and intercepted by authorities, a spokesperson for Schumer said.

An office for Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., was also targeted, a spokesperson for Padilla told NBC News, adding that the FBI notified the office that a letter containing a suspicious substance was intercepted by the U.S. Postal Service.

A letter with a suspicious substance was also sent to Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy’s office in Hartford, Connecticut, his spokesperson, Josh Sorbe, said in a statement. The FBI, Capitol Police and the sergeant at arms informed the office about the letter, Sorbe said, adding that Murphy and his staff “were not in immediate danger.”

The Postal Inspection Service and Capitol Police referred questions from NBC News to the FBI, which confirmed in a statement that the agencies are investigating “a series of suspicious mailings sent to various addresses nationwide, including Secretary of State offices and their related election offices.” It did not specify the locations of the targeted offices.

“Some of the letters contained an unknown substance and we are working closely with our law enforcement partners to respond to each incident,” the statement said. “We are also working with our partners to identify the individual or individuals responsible for the letters.”

Former FBI Supervisory Special Agent Jason Pack told NBC News that even if the letters are not hazardous or they turn out to be a hoax, there is still a possible crime and the investigation will continue.

“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 the Postal Inspection Service, along with the FBI, has developed good expertise in investigating suspicious letters over the years. Federal agents know how to trace mail from 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.”

He said that though the motive was unclear, “the timing is somewhat suspicious with the election ahead of us.”

Election Day is Nov. 3, but early voting is already underway in numerous states.

The notice Senate staffers received Thursday included an image of one of the suspicious envelopes and said the letters “may contain different variations of postage stamps.” It also warned that suspicious letters, packages or substances “should be treated as potentially hazardous and handled in accordance with established safety protocols.”

The notice outlined how staffers should handle the items and noted that mail and packages delivered to Senate offices or the Capitol complex are screened and tested for potential threats.

The House sergeant at arms sent a similar notice to House lawmakers and staff members Thursday. It said that while mail and packages delivered to the House offices in the Capitol are rigorously screened, district offices should use safe mail handling procedures, including using “mail hoods” — screening equipment that allows handling mail without exposing staff members to danger — provided by the sergeant at arms, according to two congressional offices who shared the message with NBC News. The notice said no House members had been identified as intended recipients of the mailings.

The notice sent to Senate staffers did not say whether the congressional offices involved are the ones in Washington, D.C., or local and regional offices. Congress is on recess leading up to the midterm elections, so most lawmakers are back home in their districts as they campaign in the final weeks before Election Day. Congressional staff members, however, are still on the Capitol campus.

NBC News reported Wednesday that state election offices in Louisiana, Ohio and Oklahoma were sent packages this week containing mysterious powders. Oklahoma and Louisiana reported receiving the envelopes, while Ohio said U.S. Postal Service investigators intercepted a package destined for it.

Threats against election workers have increased in recent years, including incidents of suspicious substances’ being mailed to their offices. It happened in 2023 and just weeks before the presidential election in 2024.

CORRECTION (Oct. 15, 2026, 5:23 p.m. ET): A previous version of this article misidentified which Oklahoma office received a package. It was the state Election Board, not the secretary of state’s office. The article also mischaracterized election oversight in Oklahoma. That is carried out by the Election Board, not the secretary of state.