A suspicious envelope addressed to Rep. Donald Norcross' district office in Cherry Hill, New Jersey never made it inside the building. The U.S. Postal Service intercepted the piece of mail on Monday before it reached the Democratic congressman's staff, pulling it out of the delivery chain as part of a fast-growing federal investigation into threatening letters sent to lawmakers and election officials across the country.
The interception, first reported by 6abc Philadelphia, places Norcross among dozens of members of Congress whose offices have been targeted in recent days. The station reported that dozens of House offices have received suspicious mail, though none of those envelopes had tested positive for hazardous substances at the time of its report. Norcross, who represents New Jersey, called the episode part of a troubling pattern, saying the threats should push lawmakers to prioritize “a politics where passionate disagreement does not have to be violent.”
A Nationwide Scramble to Track Down Suspicious Letters
The scale of the mailings has alarmed federal investigators. Per the station's reporting, law enforcement sources told ABC News that more than 100 letters apparently containing white powder may be circulating through the U.S. mail system, though that figure was described as preliminary. The FBI confirmed it was working alongside the U.S. Postal Inspection Service on a probe into the mailings, with the two agencies investigating suspicious letters sent to addresses nationwide, including secretary of state offices and related election offices, according to a statement the FBI gave to ABC News.
The Guardian reports that no suspect has been named and federal authorities have not released a confirmed figure for the total number of letters, leaving the true scope of the campaign unresolved even as more offices come forward. CNN reports that at least 36 lawmakers nationwide said their offices had received suspicious letters in the span of a single week, and that at least seven of those letters were actually opened, triggering evacuations and testing on the spot. Despite the volume of mailings, CNN notes there have been no reported injuries, and in at least six instances the substances inside were found to be non-hazardous.
Election Offices Caught Up in the Same Wave
Congressional offices have not been the only targets. CNN reported that election offices in at least 10 states received suspicious letters containing a white powdery substance during the same stretch, while ABC News separately reported that election offices in at least 15 states had received or were the intended recipients of suspicious mail as of Thursday evening. KOMO News, citing ABC News, put the figure even higher, reporting that suspicious mail had turned up in at least 19 states — a discrepancy that has not been reconciled publicly.
The pattern has already touched high-profile offices elsewhere. CNN reports that the Postal Service also intercepted suspicious letters addressed to Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock and Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger before delivery. In Ohio, a mailing containing a powdery white substance was bound for Secretary of State Frank LaRose's office, but ms.now reports delivery was preempted by Postal Service investigators before it arrived.
Decontamination Protocols Triggered in Delaware and Washington
Not every letter was caught in time. In Delaware, an employee at the Department of Elections' State Election Commissioner's Office opened an envelope on October 15 that was later found to contain a white powdery substance, according to delawareonline.com. That incident set off a full emergency response — the envelope was isolated, staff members were decontaminated and evacuated, and the building's HVAC system was shut down as a precaution.
Washington state saw a similar scare the same week. KOMO News reports that two letters discovered there on a Thursday contained white powder — one found at a federal building in Seattle, and another intercepted before it could reach the elections division inside the Washington Secretary of State's office in Olympia.
For now, investigators have not disclosed what, if anything, was found inside the envelope addressed to Norcross' Cherry Hill office, and no suspect or motive has been publicly identified in the broader case. With the FBI and Postal Inspection Service still working through a mail system that may hold well over 100 of these letters, lawmakers and election workers alike are left waiting to see where the next one turns up.
