Police: No powder found inside suspicious envelopes sent to GOP candidate’s Phoenix office

PHOENIX (KTVK/KPHO/Gray News) - Police confirmed on Nov. 11 they found no powder inside two suspicious envelopes sent to Arizona Republican gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake’s campaign office in Phoenix.

However, police said the contents of one letter that was opened by a staffer who reported it contained a “white powder” remains unknown because it was thrown in the trash and taken by an office cleaning crew.

According to Arizona’s Family, Phoenix fire responded to a report from Lake’s campaign about suspicious envelopes around 2 a.m. on Nov. 6.

Scott Masino, security director for the Lake campaign, said a staffer opened a letter she said had a white substance in it on Nov. 4 but didn’t tell anyone. The staff member reportedly told police it looked like “baking flour.”

The staffer reported also finding two similar-looking letters but didn’t open them. Lake’s campaign told Arizona’s Family the staffer waited several hours and did not report the incident until the next night.

They also said the staffer threw the first envelope into the trash.

Police were called around 10:15 p.m., but by that time, the cleaning crew had already taken out the trash and the letter along with it.

“The paper that she had thrown into the trash, the cleaners had come, you know, they usually come around 5 or something like that and had thrown out and taken and emptied out the trash,” Caroline Wren, a senior Lake campaign advisor, said. “So there were two envelopes that matched and looked very similar to the one that she had opened, that she had set aside. Those were the envelopes that they had confiscated to take for testing.”

Police were only able to take and test the other two unopened letters. They reported on Friday that the envelopes tested did not contain any powder.

The contents of the original letter remain unknown since the envelope was never recovered, Arizona’s Family reported.

The Lake campaign said the staffer who opened the envelope was under medical supervision and is reported to be OK following the incident.

After the incident, Lake’s opponent, Katie Hobbs, released a statement stating she was thankful Lake and her staff were not hurt.

No arrests have been made and it’s still unknown who sent the mail.

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