DPS investigating substance sent in letter to Senate President Fann
May 20, 2021, 3:18 PM | Updated: 10:13 pm
(AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
(AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
PHOENIX — The Arizona Department of Public Safety is investigating a letter sent Wednesday to Senate President Karen Fann that contained an unknown substance, authorities said.
An assistant in Fann’s office opened the letter addressed to the president at about 4:30 p.m. and found a small amount of the substance, Director of Communications for the State Senate Mike Philipsen said in an email to KTAR News 92.3 FM.
The assistant reached out to DPS, which sent the substance to its crime lab for identification, DPS spokesman Bart Graves said in an email.
An investigation into the incident is ongoing.
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Sen. Warren Petersen, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, condemned the action Wednesday in a tweet.
“If you don’t agree with the policy, disagree with it but no need to attack her personally. Now this,” Petersen tweeted. “Today someone sent an unidentified white powder to her office. Not OK folks.”
Fann and the Arizona Senate are in the midst of running a hand count of nearly 2.1 million ballots and a forensic audit of equipment and computer systems from the November 2020 election in Maricopa County.
Cyber Ninjas, the Florida-based cybersecurity company hired by Fann to conduct the audit, has no previous election experience and has been met with scrutiny as a result.
The audit started April 23 and went on hiatus this week because of previously scheduled graduation ceremonies at the Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum, where the counting will resume Monday under a lease that runs through the end of June.
