A suspicious letter reached Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi’s district office in San Francisco on Oct. 21. The office said other congressional offices had also reported mailings of this kind ahead of the Nov. 3 midterm elections.
Nicholas Martin, a spokesperson for Pelosi, said everyone was safe and the office was following established security procedures. The statement did not describe the letter’s contents or identify a sender. Martin said Pelosi was grateful to U.S. Capitol Police, the San Francisco Police Department and other law-enforcement agencies for investigating what the statement called “this series of intimidation across America.”
The Guardian reported Oct. 19 that white-powder envelopes had reached offices associated with more than three dozen members of Congress. Axios reported Oct. 20 that at least three dozen lawmakers had been targeted. The accounts counted different things, and neither was an official tally.
ABC News said law-enforcement sources estimated that the U.S. mail carried more than 100 letters believed to contain white powder. The Guardian said federal authorities had not released a confirmed figure.
The FBI says the 2001 anthrax mailings killed five Americans and sickened 17. That history does not establish that the current letters contain a hazardous substance. EconoTimes previously covered mail incidents that disrupted congressional offices.
