Elected officials in Mass. are among those to receive letters with 'suspicious substances'

Federal authorities are investigating letters with “suspicious substances” that have been mailed to congressional and election offices nationwide and are urging recipients to treat the mailings as “potentially hazardous.”

As of late Friday afternoon, five members of Massachusetts’ all-Democratic congressional delegation — Reps. Jake Auchincloss, Ayanna Pressley, Stephen Lynch, Seth Moulton, and Lori Trahan — said they had recieved the letters, which seem to have been sent to district offices in Massachusetts rather than to Washington, D.C.

“Our office has recieved a suspicious letter, which has been retrieved by [United States Postal Service] inspectors,” a spokesman for Auchincloss told GBH News, adding that the letter was sent to Auchincloss’s Newton office. “We continue to follow the guidance of the [House] Sergeant at Arms” — the House’s chief law enforcement officer — “and are grateful to local and federal law enforcement for ensuring the safety of our staff.”

A Pressley spokesperson said that after her district office “recieved a suspicious letter that matched the description of those sent to offices across the country,” they notified both federal and local law enforcement.

The Boston Police Department arrived on site and is currently investigating, the spokesperson added.

Secretary of the Commonwealth William Francis Galvin said Friday that he, too, had recieved one of the letters, which was addressed to the state’s Elections Division and not opened.

“I am grateful for the swift response this morning by the Massachusetts State Police, FBI, and [United States Postal Inspection Service],” Galvin said. “Because of the information we received from the FBI and USPIS before this envelope arrived, my staff was able to identify the envelope before it reached the Elections Division’s office. The Elections Division’s work was uninterrupted, and my staff remains focused on administering the upcoming election.”

A spokesperson for the FBI’s Boston Division told GBH News that the FBI and U.S. Postal Inspection Service “are investigating a series of suspicious mailings sent to various addresses nationwide, including Secretary of State offices and their related election 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 spokesperson added. ”We are also working with our partners to identify the individual or individuals responsible for the letters.“

A spokesperson for Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey said Friday evening that she had not recieved one of the letters.

Healey praised the work of the Massachusetts State Police, Department of Fire Services, and federal law enforcement partners in responding to local incidents and added: ”These letters should be thoroughly investigated and anyone found responsible should be held fully accountable.“

An investigation by the FBI, U.S. Postal Inspection Service and U.S. Capitol Police was first disclosed in a message from the Senate Sergeant at Arms obtained Thursday by The Associated Press. The notice, sent to Senate offices, said that law enforcement officials were working to intercept any additional letters, but “it is possible that some letters may reach their destinations.”

In Congress, a person familiar with the matter who was not authorized to discuss the investigation publicly initially said the threat appeared limited to the Senate.

The office of Sen. Lisa Blunt Rochester, a Delaware Democrat, said in a statement that it was sent a letter with a “suspicious substance” that was intercepted by Capitol Police. Democratic Sen. Alex Padilla of California said the Postal Service intercepted a suspicious package before it reached his office. And Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand said postal inspectors intercepted a suspicious piece of mail addressed to her New York City office.

An FBI statement said the bureau and the Postal Inspection Service were “investigating a series of suspicious mailings sent to various addresses nationwide, including Secretary of State offices and their related election 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 read. “We are also working with our partners to identify the individual or individuals responsible for the letters.”

Mailed packages containing a powdery substance led to the evacuation this week of election offices in at least two states, Louisiana and Oklahoma. The Ohio secretary of state said the Postal Service intercepted a package containing a white powder intended for its office and noted that similar mailings had been sent to election officials in multiple states. Numerous states, from Idaho to Florida, said their election offices either received letters or had them intercepted by the Postal Service.

The Wisconsin Elections Commission said in a statement that it received a letter and the white powder enclosed in it was not hazardous, according to tests. “Let this be very clear: this incident will not shake us,” Wisconsin elections administrator Meagan Wolfe said.

News of the letters comes just three weeks before Election Day and is reminiscent of a similar threat in 2023, when election offices in six states received mailings that contained a white powder. In some cases, the incidents disrupted work around local elections.

Some of those letters contained threats and traces of the powerful opioid fentanyl, leading some election offices to stock up on the overdose reversal medication naloxone.

The National Association of Secretaries of State and the National Association of State Election Directors issued a joint statement condemning what they said were threats against election staff.

“Those who administer our elections should never fear for their safety while carrying out their essential duties,” they said in their statement.

Deputy Postal Inspector Brendan Donahue told reporters Thursday that “any threat or attack on election officials is unacceptable” and that “we are also working with our partners on identifying the individual or individuals responsible for the letters.”