Matthew Unglesbee charged over white powder letters to Congress
Illinois man accused of sending four letters with a white substance and threatening notes to congressional offices.
AI-assisted coverage comparison, editor-supervised · How this was made

Suspicious letters sent to Illinois congressional offices, nationwide
Photograph: abc 7 Chicago (embedded from source)
What this story says
- Matthew Unglesbee was charged with mailing threatening communications and false information.
- He allegedly sent four letters containing a white powdery substance to congressional offices in northern Illinois.
- The letters included notes such as "HA HA" and "enjoy your gift."
- Unglesbee allegedly stated he was inspired by news reports of similar letters sent to officials nationwide.
Who covered it
Percentages are shares of the 22 outlets carrying a published leaning rating. 4 of the 26 outlets we know ran this story carry no rating and are not counted in them. Coverage measured .
Trust
70/100
Craft
70/100
Hype
15/100
26 sources · methodology
Thin on the right so far
Only 1 of the 22 outlets with a published leaning rating that ran this story are rated right.
This story is still being watched, so it is a count and not yet a finding. Coverage keeps arriving for hours after an event, and a side that has published nothing this morning may publish by tonight. If it is still true when we stop checking, we will say so plainly.
Matthew Unglesbee has been charged with mailing threatening communications and false information after allegedly sending four letters containing a white powdery substance to congressional offices in northern Illinois. The letters included notes such as "HA HA" and "enjoy your gift."
Unglesbee allegedly stated he was inspired by news reports of other white powder letters sent to officials around the country. Investigators found Unglesbee's return address on the letters, and he allegedly admitted to mailing them while joking, according to court documents. In one instance, the white powder was identified as salt.
Among the offices receiving suspicious mail was that of U.S. Rep. Mike Quigley, whose staff followed law enforcement guidance to identify warning signs. The incidents occurred after emergency responses at two Cook County buildings in Chicago, where one letter contained baking powder.
Disagreement on letter contents
One report states that the white powdery substance in one letter turned out to be salt. Another report states that one letter contained baking powder.
What was left out
None of the left or centre-rated reports mentioned that Matthew Unglesbee allegedly stated he was joking when admitting to mailing the letters.
Still developing. We have re-checked which outlets are covering this 5 times, most recently on 26 Oct 2026, 23:15, and will add the sides that appear.
How each side covered it
Our own reading of the reporting listed below, written from the outlets’ articles rather than quoted from them. The reasoning is set out on our methodology page.
Left
12 rated outlets
- Left-rated outlets reported that Matthew Unglesbee, of Illinois, was charged with mailing letters containing a white granular substance to members of Congress. Several reports stated the envelopes included his name and home address.
- The St Catharines Standard reported Unglesbee included a note reading “HAH enjoy the gift” with one letter. washingtonsun.com reported the suspect said the substance was salt but looked like anthrax.
- Multiple NBC outlets and CBS News ran digests that included a photo of the U.S. Capitol. None of the left-rated digests mentioned the specific number of Congress members who received the letters.
Centre
9 rated outlets
- The centre-rated reports led with the charge against Matthew Unglesbee of Quincy, Illinois, for sending white powder letters to Congress. They specified that four letters containing a white powder were sent to congressional offices in northern Illinois, including a U.S. senator’s office. The reports noted that one letter contained a message saying "HAH enjoy the gift."
Right
1 rated outlet
We have not written our reading of the right coverage of this story. The right-rated outlets that ran it are listed below.
Questions about this coverage
- How did the left and right cover Matthew Unglesbee charged over white powder letters to Congress?
- Of the 22 outlets on this story carrying a published leaning rating, 55% are rated left, 40% are rated centre, 5% are rated right. Those percentages are shares of the rated outlets, not of every outlet that ran it, which was 26. The sections above set out what each side emphasised, in its own terms.
- Is Matthew Unglesbee charged over white powder letters to Congress left or right?
- Neither side dominates it. Of the 22 rated outlets on this story, 55% are rated left, 40% are rated centre, 5% are rated right, and no side holds the 70% this site would want before calling a field one-sided. A story is not left or right in any case; the outlets that carried it are what carry ratings.
- Is the coverage of Matthew Unglesbee charged over white powder letters to Congress biased?
- Matthew Unglesbee charged over white powder letters to Congress is one event reported by 26 outlets, and this page does not rate the story as biased or unbiased. What it publishes is the spread: which outlets ran it, where named rating organisations place each of them on the spectrum, and what each side chose to lead with. A leaning rating describes an outlet's record over time, not this article, and the two should not be run together.
- Which side is not reporting Matthew Unglesbee charged over white powder letters to Congress?
- When we first saw this story, outlets rated right had barely covered it. Coverage accretes for hours after an event, so that is where to look rather than a verdict — the split above is the current count, and it is the one to read.
- Which outlets covered Matthew Unglesbee charged over white powder letters to Congress?
- 26 that we know of, every one of them listed further up this page with a link to its own report and to what we hold on the publisher. Nothing here is a summary of somebody else's summary: the outlets are named so the original reporting can be read.
- Who is Matthew Unglesbee and what is he accused of?
- Matthew Unglesbee has been charged with mailing threatening communications and false information. He is accused of sending four letters containing a white powdery substance to congressional offices in northern Illinois.
- What did the letters contain?
- The letters contained a white powdery substance, which in one case was identified as salt. They also included notes such as "HA HA" and "enjoy your gift."
- What inspired Unglesbee to send the letters?
- Unglesbee allegedly stated he was inspired by news reports of other white powder letters sent to officials around the country. He reportedly heard someone in a restaurant mention the news story of similar letters being mailed.
Read it at the source
26 outlets, grouped by the leaning a published rating gives them. Every headline links to the original; an underlined outlet name opens our profile of that publisher.
Left
12- Illinois Man Charged With Mailing White Powder to Four Members of Congress (opens washingtonsun.com in a new tab)
washingtonsun.com — is washingtonsun.com biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Quincy, Illinois, man charged with sending white powder to Chicago area members of Congress (opens CBS News in a new tab)
- Man charged with mailing threatening letters with white substance to members of Congress (opens NBC News in a new tab)
- Illinois man charged with mailing white powder to members of Congress (opens St Catharines Standard in a new tab)
St Catharines Standard — is St Catharines Standard biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Illinois man charged with mailing threatening letters with white substance to members of Congress (opens NBC Miami in a new tab)
- Illinois man charged with mailing threatening letters with white substance to members of Congress (opens NBC Boston in a new tab)
NBC Boston — is NBC Boston biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Illinois man charged with mailing threatening letters with white substance to members of Congress (opens NBC Philadelphia in a new tab)
NBC Philadelphia — is NBC Philadelphia biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Illinois man charged with mailing threatening letters with white substance to members of Congress (opens NBC New York in a new tab)
NBC New York — is NBC New York biased? Our profile of this outlet
Show 4 more
- Illinois man charged with mailing threatening letters with white substance to members of Congress (opens NBC Dallas-Fort Worth in a new tab)
NBC Dallas-Fort Worth — is NBC Dallas-Fort Worth biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Illinois man charged with mailing threatening letters with white substance to members of Congress (opens NBC San Diego in a new tab)
NBC San Diego — is NBC San Diego biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Illinois man charged with mailing threatening letters with white substance to members of Congress (opens NBC Bay Area in a new tab)
NBC Bay Area — is NBC Bay Area biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Illinois man charged with mailing threatening letters with white substance to members of Congress (opens NBC LA in a new tab)
Centre
9- Illinois man charged with mailing white powder to members of Congress (opens My Mother Lode in a new tab)
My Mother Lode — is My Mother Lode biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Illinois man charged with mailing white powder to members of Congress (opens WBAL in a new tab)
- Illinois man charged with mailing white powder to members of Congress (opens KTBS in a new tab)
- Illinois man charged with sending threatening letters to US lawmakers (opens WTVB in a new tab)
- Matthew Unglesbee of Quincy, Illinois, Charged Over White-Powder Letters Sent to Congress (opens cedarnews.net in a new tab)
cedarnews.net — is cedarnews.net biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Downstate man charged with sending threatening letters to Congress members in Chicago (opens Chicago Tribune in a new tab)
Chicago Tribune — is Chicago Tribune biased? Our profile of this outlet
- IL Man Sent Threats, White Powder To Members Of Congress: DOJ (opens Patch in a new tab)
- Man accused of allegedly sending letters with white powder to 4 members of Congress in Illinois: DOJ (opens ABC 7 Chicago in a new tab)
ABC 7 Chicago — is ABC 7 Chicago biased? Our profile of this outlet
Right
1Not rated
4- Formal charges filed against Matt Unglesbee of Quincy in federal probe (opens Muddy River News in a new tab)
Muddy River News — is Muddy River News biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Man Arrested For Sending Threatening Letters with White Substance to Members of Congress - Politics, Policy, Political Views (opens Politics, Policy, Political News in a new tab)
- Drama in the US Congress: A Man Sent Members Suspicious Envelopes with a White Substance and a Creepy Message! (opens Telegraf in a new tab)
- Illinois man charged with sending white powder letters (opens BizToc in a new tab)
How did this read?
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