Senate offices in Texas, Maine and South Dakota received envelopes containing a suspicious white powder on Friday, adding Republican Sens. Ted Cruz, Susan Collins and Mike Rounds to a growing list of lawmakers targeted by the mailings, which now numbers more than a dozen across both parties.
The FBI, US Postal Inspection Service and Capitol Police are investigating. Several letters have been intercepted before reaching their intended recipients.
Cruz’s Houston office received a letter containing the substance Friday afternoon. “The FBI, Houston Police and Fire Department, and U.S. Capitol Police responded swiftly,” the Texas Republican wrote on X, calling the incident “deeply concerning” and adding that “attempts to intimidate your political opponents have no place in our country.”
A letter addressed to Collins arrived at her Portland, Maine, office, triggering an evacuation and an emergency response. Another letter addressed to her Washington office was intercepted by Capitol Police before delivery.
“Thank you to the Portland police, the Portland fire department, the hazmat team, and the FBI their quick and courageous response,” said Katie Brown, Collins’ chief of staff. “This was the fourth attack targeting Sen Collins’ office or home in the past two months.”
Brown added: “Despite escalating political rhetoric and harassment, we will continue our work for the people of Maine.” Both Cruz and Collins are in competitive midterm reelection races.
Capitol Police had warned Senate offices on Thursday about the letters, including an image of what the envelopes looked like. That warning helped Rounds’ staff in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, avoid opening a similar piece of mail Friday.
“I am grateful for the U.S. Capitol Police, who intercepted other letters and sent out a warning allowing my team to recognize this letter before opening it, and to the Sioux Falls Police Department,” Rounds wrote on X. “I am also grateful for all of my team members, who work tirelessly on behalf of South Dakotans despite the risks involved.”
Rounds said the situation “is deeply concerning and follows a trend of intimidating tactics that impact our team members. This has no place in our nation. America is better than this.”
Postmark points to defunct DSA address
The Capitol Police warning included a photo of one envelope postmarked “DSA” with a return address at 75 Maiden Lane in Manhattan’s Financial District — an address the Democratic Socialists of America formerly used on membership forms.
“DSA has not occupied this office address since 2013,” a representative for the organization said in a statement. “We are also no longer headquartered at 75 Maiden Lane.”
Beyond the three Republican Senate offices hit Friday, at least 15 offices of congressional Democrats and roughly 26 state election offices have also received letters, according to NBC News. New York Democrats Reps. Laura Gillen, Tom Suozzi and Ritchie Torres, along with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, have confirmed receiving letters.
The FBI has not identified the substance, describing it only as “an unknown substance.”
Congress has faced contaminated mail before. In 2001, anthrax-laced letters sent to Senate offices, including then-Majority Leader Tom Daschle’s, killed five people and sickened at least 17 nationwide, forcing building decontaminations. Letters containing the poison ricin have also been sent to Senate offices in past years, though those incidents caused no deaths.
