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The offices of Republican Sens. Ted Cruz and Susan Collins received envelopes Friday containing a “white powder,” putting the number of lawmakers targeted by the suspicious mailings at more than dozen.
The FBI, US Postal Inspection Service and Capitol Police are investigating the letters, some of which have been intercepted before reaching their destination.
“This afternoon, my Houston office received a suspicious piece of mail containing a white powder substance,” Cruz (R-Texas) wrote on X. “The FBI, Houston Police and Fire Department, and U.S. Capitol Police responded swiftly.”
Cruz called the incident “deeply concerning,” and added that the “attempts to intimidate your political opponents have no place in our country.”
A similar letter addressed to Collins (R-Maine) arrived at her Portland office, prompting an evacuation and emergency response. A separate letter was also mailed to Collins’ Washington, DC, office but was intercepted by US Capitol Police.
“Thank you to the Portland police, the Portland fire department, the hazmat team, and the FBI their quick and courageous response,” Katie Brown, the senator’s chief of staff, said in a statement to local outlets. “This was the fourth attack targeting Sen Collins’ office or home in the past two months.
“Despite escalating political rhetoric and harassment, we will continue our work for the people of Maine.”
Cruz and Collins are both locked in close midterm reelection battles.
Senate offices received a warning about the letters on Thursday from Capitol Police, which included an image of what the suspicious envelopes looked like.
Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) said his staffers did not open a “suspicious piece of mail” that arrived at his office in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, on Friday because of the law enforcement warning.
“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.”
The senator added, “This 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.”
The Senate warning included a photo of one of the suspicious envelopes that was postmarked “DSA” and gave a return address at the same Financial District building — 75 Maiden Lane — that the Democratic Socialists of America formerly listed on their membership forms.
“DSA has not occupied this office address since 2013,” a rep for the organization said in a statement. “We are also no longer headquartered at 75 Maiden Lane.”
Apart from the three GOP Senate offices that received letters Friday, at least 15 offices of congressional Democrats and some 26 state election offices have also been targeted, according to NBC News.
New York Reps. Laura Gillen, Tom Suozzi and Ritchie Torres, and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) are among the Democratic lawmakers that have confirmed having received letters.
The FBI has not said what the white powder inside the envelopes is, only describing it as “an unknown substance.”
Congressional offices have been targeted in the past with contaminated letters, most notably in a series of anthrax attacks in 2001 that sent the deadly bacteria to Senate offices.
One of those letters arrived at then-Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle’s (D-SD) office in October of that year, forcing staff to seek treatment while an entire building was later decontaminated.
The mailing spree killed five people and sickened at least 17.
Letters containing ricin, a poison, have also been mailed to Senate offices in the past, but didn’t result in any deaths.