Authorities are investigating mysterious packages containing potentially “explosive devices” that were sent to multiple prominent Democrats including Hillary and Bill Clinton, former president Barack Obama, as well as CNN.
Around late Tuesday night the Secret Service intercepted a package addressed to Hillary Clinton’s home in Westchester County, New York. Secret Service also stopped a package addressed to former president Obama in Washington, D.C., early Wednesday.
“The packages were immediately identified during the routine mail screen procedures as potential explosive devices and were appropriately handled as such,” the agency said in a statement to Huffington Post. “The protectees did not receive the packages nor were they at risk of receiving them.”
Hillary Clinton later extended her gratitude to the Secret Service.
“We are fine, thanks to the men and women of the Secret Service who intercepted the package addressed to us long before it made its way to our home,” Clinton said.
“It is a troubling time, isn’t it?” she said. “It’s a time of deep divisions and we have to do everything we can to bring our country together.”
CNN’s newsroom in New York City was evacuated hours later after a suspicious package containing a pipe bomb and white powder was discovered in the mailroom, CNN reports. The package was sent by courier.
Poppy Harlow and Jim Sciutto rushing off the air at CNN in New York, which was just evacuated: pic.twitter.com/ANj5CrAaBL
— Tom Namako (@TomNamako) October 24, 2018
According to CNN, the package was addressed to former CIA director John Brennan, who has been a leading critic of president Trump. Brennan is currently a contributor to MSNBC and NBC News, but he does not work for CNN.
According to Huffington Post, the packages all listed Rep.Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who was the former chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee, as the return sender. A suspicious package was discovered at her office in Sunrise, Florida on Wednesday. It was addressed to former attorney General Eric Holder, but the package was rerouted to her address. A package addressed to Rep. Maxine Waters was also intercepted, according to Huffington Post.
JUST IN: Rep Wasserman Schultz Statement on Suspicious Packages pic.twitter.com/SlqB4DU0wN
— Alex Moe (@AlexNBCNews) October 24, 2018
The packages have a similar appearance and contain “potentially destructive devices,” the FBI said in a statement Wednesday. Each were mailed in manila envelopes with a bubble wrap interior, with computer-printed labels, and six American flag Forever stamps, according to the FBI. The return address misspelled the return address as “Shultz”.
“This investigation is of the highest priority for the FBI. We have committed the full strength of the FBI’s resources and, together with our partners on our Joint Terrorism Task Forces, we will continue to work to identify and arrest whoever is responsible for sending these packages,” siad FBI Director Christopher Wray.
Each package will be sent to the agency’s lab in Quantico, Virginia, for analysis, and the FBI warned that there may have been more packages mailed to other locations.
The same individual or group of these incidences might also be behind the explosive device sent to Democratic donor George Soros earlier this week, according to the New York Times.
As of right not it’s unclear what the motive was, but all of the victims have been subjects of President Trump’s anger. He’s attacked CNN as “fake news”, called for Hillary Clinton to be thrown in prison, and claimed to be a victim of a takedown by Soros and Democrats, according to the New York Times.
Trump spoke to the press on Wednesday, denouncing the attempted attacks.
“In these times, we have to unify, we have to come together and send one very clear strong and unmistakable message that acts or threats of political violence have no place in the United States of America,” he said. “We’re extremely angry, upset, unhappy about what we witnessed this morning and we will get to the bottom of it.”
CNN President Jeff Zucker called out the White House for its repeated attacks against the media on Wednesday.
“There is a total and complete lack of understanding at the White House about the seriousness of their continued attacks on the media,” Zucker said in wake of the bomb threats, CNN reports. “The President, and especially the White House Press Secretary, should understand their words matter. Thus far, they have shown no comprehension of that.”