Maine woman charged with sending letter claiming to contain anthrax to Sen. Susan Collins

A Maine woman was charged in connection with sending a threatening letter that claimed to contain anthrax to Sen. Susan Collins.

Suzanne Muscara, 37, of Burlington, was arrested on Friday and appeared in federal court Monday in Bangor. She is charged with one count of mailing a threatening communication. In the criminal complaint against Muscara, FBI agent Michel Verhar said Muscara waived her rights and confessed to him that she sent an envelope containing white powder to the Maine Republican's home in October 2018. 

Verhar said Muscara "told us that she thought the letter would be intercepted by law enforcement before it reached Senator Collins and did not believe the note would be taken seriously."

The letter was mailed to Collins in the wake of her vote in favor of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh after a divisive confirmation process in which he was confronted with an accusation of a past sexual assault. Collins – a moderate who Kavanaugh's opponents hoped might be persuaded to vote against him – received a number of vulgar messages, including threats, during the Kavanaugh hearings. 

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A U.S. postal inspector intercepted the letter and "observed a fine white power leaking from the envelope," according to the court filing. After tests revealed the powder was not toxic, the letter was opened to reveal a flyer for the health insurance company Aetna with writing on it that said, "AnthRAX!!! HA HA HA!!!" A stick figure was drawn on the flyer with Xs in place of the eyes and the tongue sticking out. The word "you" was written with an arrow pointing at the stick figure, the complaint said. 

Verhar said that the FBI Latent Fingerprint Unit in Langley, Virginia, was able to trace a right thumbprint to Muscara, who was in the database because of a 2013 arrest in Pennsylvania. 

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Collins' mail was already being hand-screened when the alleged letter from Muscara was intercepted because days earlier Collins' husband, Thomas Daffron, received a letter claiming to be "coated in Ricin residue," according to the criminal complaint. Tests revealed the letter did not contain any hazardous materials. 

"Good Luck to you and Susan in the next life," the letter said. according to the court filing. "Your wife has betrayed the people of Maine along with the American people and this will be her downfall." 

U.S. Magistrate Judge John Nivison ordered Muscara held without bail until her next court appearance on April 16. If convicted of mailing a threateningcommunication, she could face up to 10 years in prison.