WA election office targeted with suspicious powder ahead of November elections

Washington now among several states where election officers were targeted with a suspicious powder sent through the mail. Our Secretary of State's office actually says a letter containing white powder has been intercepted by law enforcement. So Sean Jennings, live this morning with more on what we know about these cases, Sean. Well, John, we're told that that letter was addressed to the Elections Division. The FBI, though, not confirming any specific reports of suspicious letters. They are saying that they are investigating a series of incidents across the nation, and they are working with the U.S. Postal Inspection Service to look into those cases that do include offices of secretaries of state. So yesterday on X, Washington's secretary of state office said that they learned about this letter being intercepted by law enforcement. They went on to say they're working closely with investigators to keep Washington election workers and voters both safe and informed. We don't know which location that letter with the white powder was intended to go to, and we don't know where law enforcement intercepted it. Now, here in King County, we're at the elections office this morning. We saw a similar situation three years ago when a suspicious letter with traces of fentanyl was received while elections workers were processing ballots. The auditor's office in Okanogan County also received an envelope that had an unidentified substance that was back in 2023. The courthouse there also was evacuated. Now, last night, Secretary of State Steve Hobbs said in a statement that was posted on X, an attack on election officials or candidates is an attack on our democracy. I think our federal partners who are working, who are doing everything they can to investigate these incidents and bring the perpetrators to justice. And we have reached out back again to the Secretary of State's office just to see if there's anything more they can share with us about what has happened in this current investigation. Live in Renton, Sean Jennings, Fox 13 News.