White powder letters to Congress deemed not harmful as FBI widens probe

The white powder mailed to members of Congress is not hazardous, federal officials said Monday, as the FBI widened its probe.

House Sergeant at Arms William McFarland told congressional offices that “none of the letters received by Congressional offices have been determined to contain hazardous substances”, adding that his office “continues to monitor incidents of letters containing a white powder that have been mailed to several Congressional offices”, according to a notice shared with The Washington Sun.

The FBI, US Capitol Police and the US Postal Inspection Service are investigating. “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,” an FBI spokesperson said.

Around 40 members of Congress in both parties had received the mail as of Monday morning — over three dozen offices, the Guardian reported. The letters went out Oct 13–16; offices were evacuated and no injuries were reported.

The Friday wave hit Republican Sens. Ted Cruz, whose Houston office received a powder envelope, and Susan Collins, whose Portland office was evacuated and whose Washington letter was intercepted by Capitol Police, the New York Post reported — the fourth attack on Collins’s office or home in two months, her chief of staff said. SBS, citing The Hill and The Washington Post, also named Sens. Mike Rounds, Pete Ricketts, Amy Klobuchar, Tina Smith, Chris Murphy and Alex Padilla, plus Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, among the targets.