Federal law enforcement officials are investigating reports of suspicious letters sent to election offices, a Justice Department spokesperson said Thursday.
“We are aware of the reports and the FBI and U.S. Postal Inspection Service are investigating this matter,” the department spokesperson said in response to an inquiry from CNN. The official said the DOJ would not comment further.
In a statement Thursday, Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said Fulton County, Georgia – which includes large swaths of Atlanta – had been among the election offices in multiple states targeted with suspicious letters.
Officials in Georgia said the letter received by Fulton County was suspected to contain fentanyl.
“We’re working with our state and federal partners to determine if any additional Georgia officials are being targeted,” Raffensperger said. “Domestic terrorists will not trample on our right to free and fair elections.”
CNN previously reported that election offices across multiple counties in Washington state had received envelopes on Wednesday that contained powdery substances.
At a news conference Thursday, Raffensperger called on elected officials and political candidates to condemn the activity and invoked the death of his son to convey the seriousness of the matter.
“Some people like to call fentanyl a drug, but it’s actually poison,” he said. “It’ll kill you … very quickly and very easily. It’s very dangerous.”
“We lost our son five and half years ago due to fentanyl overdose. We know how deadly this stuff is,” Raffensperger said.
The reports of suspicious envelopes come against a backdrop of election officials facing threats and harassment, first ignited by false claims of a stolen election in 2020.
Voting rights activists and some state election chiefs have warned that the overheated political climate around voting has contributed to a wave of resignations and retirements by election officials around the country.
The US Justice Department has brought criminal charges against at least 14 people after creating a task force in 2021 to address threats against election workers, according to a recent department summary.
At Thursday’s news conference in Georgia, Fulton County Commissioner Robb Pitts said the letters show that there are “some crazy people out there who will go to any extreme to disrupt” US elections.
“It’s my personal belief that this is just probably a forerunner into what we can be prepared for in 2024.”
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