CHAPPAQUE, N.Y. — The United States Secret Service intercepted two potential explosive devices earlier this week that were addressed to former President Barack Obama and the Chappaque home where 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton and her husband, former President Bill Clinton, live, the agency told CNN and the Associated Press on Wednesday.
Also on Wednesday morning, the New York Police Department responded to a suspicious device discovered at Time Warner Center in New York City, where CNN has a bureau, a law enforcement source said. The officials said the CNN bomb was crude but operational and was addressed to former CIA Director John Brennan, who appears on air on other broadcast and cable outlets.
Neither Obama nor Clinton received the packages or were at risk of receiving them, the Secret Service said. They were discovered during “routine mail screening procedures as potential explosive devices and were appropriately handled as such,” the agency said in a statement.
The package intended for Obama was intercepted in Washington, DC, on Wednesday morning, and the one intended for Clinton was addressed to her in Westchester County, New York, on Tuesday.
The law enforcement official said the devices intended for Obama and Clinton appear to be rudimentary but functional and similar to the ones sent to the home of billionaire investor and major Democratic donor George Soros, which was discovered earlier this week. The devices, which appear to be pipe bombs, have not been detonated and will be driven to Quantico for analysis through a bomb containment vehicle, a high level NYPD source with the joint terrorism task force told PIX11.
A U.S. official described the device found at Clintons’ home as a “functional explosive device.” The Associated Press had earlier described it as a bomb.
The one sent to Obama was described as a “potential explosive device.”
Hillary and Bill Clinton’s daughter, Chelsea, tweeted she is grateful to the U.S. Secret Service for their work.
Bill also later tweeted his thanks:
The White House condemned the attempted attacks on Obama, Clinton and others, saying “these terrorizing acts are despicable.”
“We condemn the attempted violent attacks recently made against President Obama, President Clinton, Secretary Clinton, and other public figures. These terrorizing acts are despicable, and anyone responsible will be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law. The United States Secret Service and other law enforcement agencies are investigating and will take all appropriate actions to protect anyone threatened by these cowards.”
President Donald Trump retweeted Vice President Mike Pence’s tweet, condemning the attempted attacks and saying “those responsible will be brought to justice,” adding he agrees wholeheartedly.
Officials says investigators believe the explosive is linked to one found Monday at the compound of liberal billionaire George Soros.
The official wasn’t authorized to publicly discuss an ongoing investigation and spoke on condition of anonymity.
Police in New Castle, New York, who cover Chappaqua, say they assisted the FBI, Secret Service and Westchester County authorities in “the investigation of a suspicious package.”
In the Soros incident, the Bedford Police Department said on Monday they responded to an address in the hamlet of Katonah after an employee of the residence opened the package.
The person placed the package in a wooded area and called police, who alerted the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Firearms and Explosives.
Neither local nor federal authorities would say whether the object apparently targeting Soros was capable of exploding.
A message emailed to Soros’ foundation wasn’t immediately returned.
Soros, who made his fortune in hedge funds, frequently donates to liberal causes and is vilified on the right.
Recently, conservative critics have, without evidence, accused him of secretly financing a caravan of Central American migrants to make their way north toward Mexico and the U.S.
Others have falsely accused him of being a Nazi collaborator during World War II, when he was a child in Hungary.
Activists frequently post the addresses of homes he owns in Westchester County, north of New York City, on social media, sometimes accompanied by ill wishes.
Correction: CNN initially reported a suspicious package was addressed to the White House, but the Secret Service has since said no package has been intercepted.
