At least five Democratic members of Colorado’s congressional delegation on Monday confirmed receiving suspicious mail, the latest in a swath of elected officials nationwide who have reported getting similar letters — including some laced with white powder.
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U.S. Sen. John Hickenlooper and U.S. Reps. Joe Neguse, Diana DeGette, Jason Crow, and Brittany Pettersen all confirmed suspicious mail was sent to their district offices in Colorado, including at least one letter containing an unknown white powder.
Hickenlooper’s office was notified by postal investigators after they intercepted a “suspicious letter” addressed to the Denver office, an unnamed spokesperson said in a statement.
A powder-filled letter was delivered to Neguse’s district office in Boulder County on Monday, and Crow’s office said his Aurora congressional office also received “a letter with a suspicious substance” earlier on Monday.
A spokesperson for Pettersen confirmed her Lakewood office received a suspicious envelope in the mail on Monday and said the FBI immediately responded to the scene and took the envelope for testing.
And DeGette’s office said it had received a letter Monday “containing a suspicious substance” as well. “My staff is safe and unharmed,” she said in a statement.
The letters are the latest in a series in a recent nationwide uptick of suspicious mail sent to elected officials, including to secretary of state and congressional offices, FBI Denver field office spokesperson Vikki Migoya said in a statement.
Some of the letters contained an unknown substance, and FBI and U.S. Postal Inspection Service officials are working with law enforcement to respond to each incident, she said. Federal investigators are also working to identify suspects in the case.
“This FBI and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service will continue to safeguard the public and secure elections for American citizens,” Migoya said in a statement.
Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold’s office has not received such a letter, spokesperson Jack Todd said Monday.
Neguse, Crow, Hickenlooper and Pettersen are all incumbent Democrats seeking reelection this November. DeGette is serving out her final term representing the 1st Congressional District after losing the Democratic primary to Melat Kiros.
“This is a deeply disturbing effort to intimidate sitting members of Congress. I’m grateful for the safety of my staff – who are hardworking public servants, and should not have to fear for their lives while doing their jobs,” Pettersen said in a statement, also thanking the FBI for quick action.
“This will be fully investigated and the people responsible must be held accountable,” she added.
Crow confirmed his staff was safe and his Aurora district office remains open for those who need it.
“Attempts to intimidate me or my team will not stop our work on behalf of Coloradans,” he said in a statement.
The letter and others like it, whether intended “to cause physical harm or provoke unease among public servants,” will not prevent Neguse from working to serve the people in his district, the congressman said in a statement.
“It’s clear that there has been a real, palpable sense of fear percolating in communities across the country lately,” Neguse, who is from Lafayette, said in his statement. “And while we know that fear can be contagious, I firmly believe that so is hope. I’ll continue to do everything in my power to choose hope — and to stand up for the people of Colorado.”
Hickenlooper is running for reelection against several candidates, including Republican Mark Baisley, as he seeks a second term representing Colorado in the U.S. Senate.
Crow, a four-term Democrat who represents Colorado’s 6th Congressional District, is running for reelection against Republican candidate Jason Clark and several others. His district includes most of the south and east metro, including Aurora, Littleton, Englewood, Greenwood Village and Centennial.
Neguse represents the state’s 2nd Congressional District, which includes Boulder and Fort Collins along the Front Range; Vail, Steamboat Springs, Granby and Idaho Springs in the mountains; and rural swaths of northern Colorado. He is seeking a third term this year and faces Republican candidate Kelley Anne Dennison and Libertarian Gaylon Kent.
And Pettersen is running for reelection to represent Colorado’s 7th Congressional District, which includes Arvada, Broomfield, Lakewood, Littleton, Woodland Park, Cañon City and Salida. Pettersen is serving her second term and faces Republican candidate Tim Bennett and others as she seeks a third.
The investigation by the FBI, U.S. Postal Inspection Service and U.S. Capitol Police into the suspicious letters sent to congressional and election offices nationwide was first disclosed in a message from the Senate Sergeant at Arms obtained Thursday by The Associated Press.
The notice, sent to Senate offices, said that law enforcement officials were working to intercept any additional letters, but that it was possible some would still reach their destinations.
News of the letters comes just weeks before Election Day and is reminiscent of a similar threat in 2023, when election offices in six states received mailings that contained a white powder. Some of those letters contained threats and traces of the powerful opioid fentanyl.
As of Monday, none of the letters sent this year had been publicly confirmed to contain hazardous substances.
Denver Post staff writers Nick Coltrain and Seth Klamann, and The Associated Press, contributed to this report.
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