Mail threats: Sen. Cory Booker, ex-intel chief James Clapper targeted

Mail threats: Sen. Cory Booker, ex-intel chief James Clapper targeted
UPI

Oct. 26 (UPI) — Two new suspicious packages — addressed to Democratic U.S. Sen. Cory Booker and former National Intelligence director James Clapper — were found Friday morning in a wave of bomb threats targeting critics of President Donald Trump this week.

The FBI said a package addressed to Booker was discovered at a U.S. mail facility in Florida.

WCBS-TV reported a package addressed to Clapper at CNN’s offices at the Time Warner Center in New York City was discovered at a mail facility six blocks away. The Time Warner building had been evacuated Wednesday when a suspicious package addressed to former CIA director John Brennan was directed to CNN.

CNN reported the package addressed to Booker’s Camden, N.J., office was found at a U.S. Postal Service facility in Opa-locka, Fla., near Miami. That facility may have also handled at least one other package — the one sent to former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder. It was sent to a wrong address in the Washington, D.C., area and was sent back to the return address — the Florida office of Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz.

“Anyone who has in any way been a critic, publicly been a critic of President Trump, needs to be on on extra alert and take some precautions, particularly with respect to mail,” Clapper told CNN, calling the packages a form of domestic terrorism.

“My wife and I are away from home right now. And our neighbors have been retrieving our mail. Been very concerned about them. So in one sense, it’s kind of a relief, but it’s not a surprise. This is definitely domestic terrorism. No question about it in my mind.”

Other packages discovered this week — containing devices that appeared to be live bombs — listed the same return address. Wasserman Schultz is former chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee.

Postal services in several places around the country also combed their databases and facilities for other devices that may be connected to the plot, investigators said.

The FBI is leading a counterterrorism team working to find out who sent the devices to vocal critics of President Donald Trump — including former President Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Rep. Maxine Waters and former Vice President Joe Biden.

Philanthropist George Soros and actor Robert De Niro were also targeted.

Authorities said all 10 packages looked similar and the devices, which were being examined by the FBI, appeared to be live bombs.

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