Authorities: Woman Arrested for Mailing Threatening Letter to Susan Collins

United States authorities announced Monday that a 37-year-old woman was arrested last week for allegedly mailing a threatening letter to Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) in October.

Suzanne Muscara, a resident of Burlington, Maine, was taken into police custody last Friday for sending “threatening communication” to Collins, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a statement. The letter, described at the time as “suspicious,” was mailed to the lawmaker in October. Sent to Collins’ husband Thomas Daffron, the letter said it contained “ricin residue,” but was later determined to be starch.

“The letter was leaking a fine white powder and it contained a threat,” the criminal complaint against Muscara reads. “The white power was tested and found not to contain toxic substances.”

Bangor Daily News reported:

Daffron received the letter, which was addressed to him, on Oct. 15 while at the couple’s West Broadway home alone. Collins was in Washington, D.C., but returned later that day to be with her husband. The couple was quarantined for a time at the house with their Labrador retriever, Pepper, the Associated Press reported at the time. […]

The affidavit did not say if either letter referenced Kavanaugh, but the day after the letter arrived, Daffron told a Bangor television station that it specifically mentioned the senator’s vote to confirm Kavanaugh.

She is slated to appear in federal court in Bangor, Maine this afternoon at 2:30 p.m. local time and faces up to 10 years in jail and $250,000 in fines.