At least two GOP legislators in Montana have reported receiving suspicious letters containing white powder, following similar reports from both Kansas and Tennessee, Governor Greg Gianforte said Friday.

Montana House leadership confirmed that two Republicans — Reps. Rhonda Knudsen and Neil Duram — received letters at their homes. Both letters had local return addresses but had been post office markings from Kansas City, NBC Montana reported. Some Republicans in Kansas and Tennessee have speculated the letters could be the result of radical trans activism and an attempt to intimidate lawmakers. 

“These letters mailed to Speaker Pro Tempore Rhonda Knudsen and Rep. Neil Duram containing an unknown substance are a continuation of the threats and hate directed at legislators during the session,” Montana House Speaker Matt Regier said in a statement. “Just as we stood firm during the session, we will not be threatened or distracted now. We are in tumultuous times and House leadership will continue our objective to protect Montanans’ freedom and safety no matter what cowardly threats are directed at us.”

Both of the state representatives who received the letters were unharmed, the Montana Senate GOP said Friday, and the authorities plan to test the substance. Governor Greg Gianforte tweeted on Friday that he had received “disturbing” reports regarding the letters and said his office and the state will provide any resources necessary to aid in the investigation. It’s not clear yet what the letters said, but they were reported as “vague and threatening,” according to NBC Montana.

I've received disturbing reports that Montana legislators are receiving anonymous, threatening letters containing white powder. The state will bring to bear whatever resources are needed to support law enforcement officers as they investigate.

— Governor Greg Gianforte (@GovGianforte) June 24, 2023

The news out of Montana follows a string of reports in both Kansas and Tennessee of similar cases. In Kansas, over 100 letters have been reported containing white powder as of last week. These were reportedly sent exclusively to Republicans.

Kansas State Rep. Stephen Owens believes the letters could be a response to one of the nine vetoes the legislature has overridden this year — including one that bans transgender-identifying athletes from competing on sports teams opposite their biological sex. Republicans control both the House and the Senate in the state, but Democrat Laura Kelly has been governor since 2019.

Owens told CNN that the sender was “very deliberate” in trying to get the officials to open the letters, as the one he received had the return address of a church located in his district. 

The letter Owens received begins by saying “Salutations[.] [T]o honor your recent accomplishments I send to you a gift from the exclusive astruc baruch collection[.] [I]t’s important not to choke on your ambition,” according to a photo of the letter Owens shared with the outlet. It was signed, “your secret despirer.”

Late last week, offices at the Tennessee capitol were shut down after several “suspicious” packages were delivered. These letters were similar to those sent to Kansas legislators and were signed “your secret despirer,” The Daily Wire previously reported. 

“The letters contained obvious threats made by a liberal activist specifically targeting Republicans,” Tennessee House Republicans said, confirming all employees and members were safe. 

After the Tennessee letters were reported, the FBI told The Hill it was probing “a series of suspicious letters sent to a number of public officials.”

Then-Vice President Joe Biden allegedly used a secret global cell phone paid for by Hunter Biden’s business, according to Government Accountability Institute president Peter Schweitzer.

Schweitzer, who has documented the Biden family’s alleged multiple financiers directly tied to Chinese Communist Party intelligence officials with Hunter during and after the Obama Administration, told Fox News on Sunday that the non-profit organization discovered the private phone line from Hunter’s infamous laptop.

“And that may be the phone, for example, that the Ukrainian Burisma executive might have used in this allegation that he talked to Joe Biden in recorded conversations,” he said.

According to Schweitzer, the global phone was serviced through American multinational telecommunications company AT&T for $300 a month that could “access somebody anywhere around the world.”

Schweitzer said he shared the phone number and account information with the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, hoping lawmakers would subpoena internal records on the account.

“I think it will give an indication on how tight the communication was,” he said.

Schweitzer’s update on the latest developments in the Hunter Biden investigation comes days after House Ways and Means Committee chairman Jason Smith (R-MO) released a WhatsApp message obtained by IRS investigators looking into Hunter’s overseas business dealings.

Smith released whistleblower testimonies on Thursday from IRS agents who allege that the Justice Department has interfered in the investigation into Hunter and is suppressing evidence of the first son’s misdeeds.

In part of the testimony from IRS Criminal Supervisory Special Agent Gary Shapley, the IRS agent claimed that investigators uncovered a July 30, 2017, WhatsApp message that Hunter sent to Henry Zhao, CEO of Harvest Fund Management.

“I am sitting here with my father, and we would like to understand why the commitment made has not been fulfilled,” Hunter wrote to Zhao, according to Shapley’s testimony. “Tell the director that I would like to resolve this now before it gets out of hand, and now means tonight.”

Smith told Fox News on Friday that between 2014 and 2019, the Biden family allegedly took more than $17 million through Hunter Biden and his associates from foreign nationals. He said that roughly $8.3 million Hunter received came as items and gifts — for example, an $80,000 Diamond and a Porsche worth $142,000 — from countries such as China, Ukraine, and Romania.

“It is absolutely unconscionable,” Smith said.

Hunter’s attorney did not deny the authenticity of the WhatsApp message in a statement to Fox News, though he did suggest that it was misleading or could be fake.

“Biased and politically-motivated, selective leaks have plagued this matter for years. They are not only irresponsible, they are illegal. A close examination of the document released publicly yesterday by a very biased individual raises serious questions over whether it is what he claims it to be. It is dangerously misleading to make any conclusions or inferences based on this document,” said Hunter’s attorney, Chris Clark. “The DOJ investigation covered a period which was a time of turmoil and addiction for my client.”

“Any verifiable words or actions of my client in the midst of a horrible addiction are solely his own and have no connection to anyone in his family,” Clark added.

Tim Pearce contributed to this report.