U.S. Politics · Courts · 12 outlets (L 2 · C 6 · R 3 · 1 not rated)
Illinois man charged over letters with white substance sent to Congress
An Illinois man, Matthew Unglesbee, has been charged with mailing four letters containing a white granular substance to members of Congress in the Chicago area.[4, 7] The case was unsealed Monday in an Illinois federal court, and the letters were sent in envelopes bearing his name and home address.[5, 8] IJR reported that Unglesbee admitted mailing letters with salt that "kind of looks like" anthrax, with notes reading "HAH enjoy the gift."[10]
The Washington Examiner reported he was charged with violations related to false information and hoaxes and mailing threatening communications.[11] The Hill reported the mailings were inspired by reports of suspicious packages sent to dozens of lawmakers and election officials across the country this month.[6] Yahoo News reported the case began after an anonymous online tipster told the FBI they overheard the man talking about mailing a suspicious substance to members of Congress.[8]
Covered by The Guardian, NBC News, Fox News and 9 more
Read first Man charged with sending suspicious substance to 4 members of Congress
How balanced is this coverage?
Of the 11 rated outlets that covered it, 2 are left of center, 6 are center and 3 are right of center (3 of them in the Right group). 1 more is not rated.
- Left: none.
- Leans left: HuffPost (−1.06), The Guardian (−0.70).
- Center: NBC News (−0.49), ABC News (−0.19), Roll Call (+0.04), Yahoo News (+0.07), The Hill (+0.10), UPI (+0.17).
- Leans right: none.
- Right: Washington Examiner (+1.34), Fox News (+1.52), IJR (+1.52).
Not rated Los Angeles Times. Not placed: they have no lean score.
Each dot is an outlet that covered it, placed by its audience-lean score (Eady et al. 2025), which measures who shares its links, not how accurate it is. The ticks under the line are all 113 rated outlets Tare reads.