No substance found inside ‘suspicious’ envelope at Lake campaign headquarters, police say

PHOENIX — There was no suspicious white powder inside an envelope opened earlier this week at the Phoenix headquarters of Republican gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake, officials said.

Phoenix Police spokeswoman Donna Rossi said the state lab tested the items from Lake’s office and determined “there was no substance inside.”

Lake’s team said a staff member opened an envelope Saturday that contained a “suspicious white powder.”

The campaign office shut down Sunday morning due to the investigation.

The Phoenix Police Department, Phoenix Fire Department, FBI, hazardous materials crews and a bomb squad responded to the incident.

In a statement Friday evening, Lake’s team said they received three letters with no return address.

“The first, which was opened by a campaign staffer last Friday, contained a white powdery substance along with a hateful letter,” Scott Masino, head of security, said in the statement.

The staffer threw the envelope away as they were unfamiliar with the protocol for security situations, Lake’s campaign said.

Senior staff was notified the following day, where Masino took the lead as head of security, but the office trash was emptied.

Masino said the Phoenix Police Department sent in the other two envelopes to a lab to be examined.

They’ve since been notified those letters had no substances like the staffer said the first one did.

“We remain incredibly thankful for law enforcement’s dedicated work on this case to keep our office and our staff safe, and are thankful no one was harmed,” the statement said.

Fire personnel said they arrived on scene around 2 a.m. in regards to the reports of a suspicious envelope, but the scene was turned over to law enforcement agencies once it was stabilized.

According to the Phoenix Fire Department, no injuries were associated with the incident.

Lake’s opponent, Democrat Katie Hobbs, released a statement at the time condemning the threatening behavior directed toward Lake and her staff.

“The reported incident at Kari Lake’s campaign office is incredibly concerning, and I am thankful that she and her staff were not harmed,” Katie Hobbs’ campaign said in a statement.

“Political violence, threats or intimidation have no place in our democracy.”

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