The White House News

Suspicious letters have been reported at election offices this week in Oregon, Washington, California, Nevada and Georgia.

Fentanyl was found in four of the letters, according to a statement from the FBI and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, per The Associated Press. 

“Law enforcement is working diligently to intercept any additional letters before they are delivered,” the statement said, according to the AP.

On Thursday, the office of Washington’s secretary of state confirmed envelopes with “unknown powdery substances” were received in elections offices in four counties. The offices in King, Pierce, Spokane and Skagit counties were evacuated, according to a press release.

“The safety of staff and observers is paramount as elections workers across the state open envelopes and count each voter’s ballot,” Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs said in the release. “These incidents underscore the critical need for stronger protections for all election workers. Democracy rests upon free and fair elections. These incidents are acts of terrorism to threaten our elections.”

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger also confirmed that there was an envelope headed toward Fulton County that was tested and found to have fentanyl.

“This is domestic terrorism, and it needs to be condemned by anyone that holds elected office and anyone that wants to hold elective office, anywhere in America,” Raffensperger said in a press conference. 

Devon Ashbridge, a public information officer for Lane County, Ore., said staff in an elections office in the county “received a piece of suspicious mail” Wednesday. Ashbridge said they reported it to local law enforcement and the elections office was closed for the rest of the day. 

“It’s certainly a somber mood today, but we’re very grateful that the people who came into contact with that piece of mail, haven’t reported any symptoms or medical issues,” Ashbridge told The Hill Thursday. “So, we’re grateful that everyone is safe, but it’s certainly a chilling reality to come back to work knowing that someone out there, at minimum wanted to terrorize you, and potentially wanted to cause you harm.”

The United States Postal Service was able to intercept suspicious envelopes headed to elections facilities in Los Angeles and Sacramento, according to the AP. 

In a statement sent to The Hill, the FBI said it “along with our law enforcement partners, responded to multiple incidents involving suspicious letters sent to ballot counting centers in several states.”

“As these are ongoing matters, we do not have any further comment, but the public can be assured that law enforcement will continue to keep the public’s safety as its top priority,” the emailed statement continued. “The FBI would also like to remind everyone to exercise care in handling mail, especially from unrecognized senders. If you see something suspicious, please contact law enforcement immediately.”

The Hill has reached out to the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. 

Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley criticized President Biden on Thursday for having “begged” to get a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Biden is set to meet with Xi on Nov. 15 in San Francisco for a meeting that the White House views as the most important and consequential bilateral meeting of Biden’s term.

The two leaders last met face-to-face on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Indonesia last November.

Haley argued in an interview with Fox News that the president has been begging for this meeting by sending administration officials to China to get one.

“Well, I think you’ve seen Biden has begged for this meeting, right? He sent four cabinet members to China to go and try and court the Chinese. And so now they’re going to grant him a meeting,” Haley said. “But the key is, what’s he going to talk about in the meeting?”

“There’s a lot of questions we need to talk about, but the one thing I can promise you is going to come out is they’re going to have a conversation about the weather and talk about the environment and talk about how they’re going to work together on that. He’s not going to call them out on anything else,” she added, bashing Biden’s focus on climate change on the global stage. “That’s why President Xi is willing to meet with them, is they’re not scared of Joe Biden. They don’t worry about what he’s going to do.”

The White House has downplayed the long list of deliverables for the meeting next week and focused on what they view as achievable goals, including the resumption of a direct military-to-military line of communication that the Chinese severed in August 2022 following a visit by then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to Taiwan.

Haley, the former United Nations ambassador under former President Trump, told Fox News that Biden should discuss with Xi the influx of fentanyl in the U.S. and intellectual property issues. She also said that the Chinese has “to tell us why they’re putting a military and spy base in Cuba just off our shores.”

“What we need to be saying is we’re going to end all normal trade relations with you if you don’t stop murdering these Americans with fentanyl,” she said. 

Haley is trailing former President Trump in polling for the GOP presidential nomination, but has gained some strength from a series of solidly-reviewed debate performances. She’s counting on strong results in the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary to gain on Trump.

Xi’s visit to San Francisco marks the first time the Chinese president has come to the U.S. in six years. In 2017, Trump hosted him for a dinner meeting at his Mar-A-Lago residence in Palm Beach, Fla.

The goal to resume direct military-to-military line of communication is viewed as a key way to lower the temperature in the U.S. and China relationship, which has taken a hit since Biden and Xi last met.

The White House on Friday announced the expansion of health care coverage for the nation’s veterans, creating a no-cost system for World War II veterans seeking care and accelerating enrollment for all veterans applying for benefits after exposure to toxins.

Starting this month, all living World War II veterans can access health care services from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) at no cost, including nursing home care, the White House said in a press release.

The VA will also accelerate eligibility under the PACT Act, a major law that passed last year and expanded benefits for veterans exposed to toxins and chemicals. Veterans who have yet to enroll will be able to do so next year.

Biden also announced a new campaign and task forced called Veteran Scam and Fraud Evasion (VSAFE), aimed at protecting veterans and their families from scams, which the administration said cost the military and veterans more than $414 million last year.

VSAFE will involve a cross-government effort to better educate veterans on the issue and provide more resources to protect them against the scams.

The announcement on Friday comes as Veterans’ Day is observed across the U.S., one day ahead of its official day of observance on Saturday.

The Biden administration said it has worked to tackle a number of issues for veterans, including health care access, suicide prevention and homelessness.

This year, the VA has awarded $163 billion in earned benefits to more than 6 million veterans and processed 1.98 million disability claims, the White House said.

“President Biden believes we have a sacred obligation to care our nation’s veterans and their families,” the White House said in a statement. “Simply put, we owe them a debt we can never fully repay.”