WASHINGTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Former U.S. President Barack Obama and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton were among the targets of suspected package bombs delivered to several high-profile Democrats and CNN, which the FBI said it was investigating as an act of terrorism. At least eight suspicious parcels were intercepted before reaching any intended recipients, including Obama’s attorney general, Eric Holder, former CIA Director John Brennan and prominent Democratic Party donor George Soros. Two packages were sent to California Congresswoman Maxine Waters, the FBI said. Investigators were trying to track down another suspicious parcel they believe was addressed to Obama’s vice president, Joe Biden, a federal official told Reuters late on Wednesday. None of the eight packages detonated, and nobody was hurt. There was no immediate claim of responsibility. But news of the bomb threats heightened tension in a nation deeply polarized ahead of elections on Nov. 6 that will decide whether Democrats take control of one or both houses of Congress from Republicans and deny President Donald Trump the majority his party now holds in both. Some leading Democrats were quick to accuse Trump himself of stoking the potential for political violence by frequently engaging in hyper-partisan, vitriolic rhetoric. Trump told a political rally in Wisconsin on Wednesday his government would conduct “an aggressive investigation.” “Any acts or threats of political violence are an attack on our democracy itself,” Trump said. “We want all sides to come together in peace and harmony.” But he said the media has a responsibility “to stop the endless hostility and constant negative and oftentimes false attacks and stories.” MANILA ENVELOPES The first package, which turned up on Monday, was addressed to Soros, the billionaire financier and frequent target of right-wing conspiracy theories. The parcel intended for Holder ended up rerouted to the return address printed on all the packages - the Florida office of U.S. Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who formerly chaired the Democratic National Committee, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The FBI said late on Wednesday it had confirmed that two additional packages, similar in appearance to the others, were addressed to U.S. Representative Waters, a veteran Democratic congresswoman from Los Angeles and also an outspoken Trump critic. An earlier FBI statement said the other packages consisted of a manila envelope with a bubble-wrap interior containing “potentially destructive devices.” Each bore a computer-printed address label and six “Forever” postage stamps. Other officials said the devices contained in the envelopes were all similar to one found in the mailbox of the Soros home and later detonated by police. At least one bomb was packed with shards of glass, one federal source said. The U.S. Secret Service intercepted packages addressed to Obama at his Washington home and to Clinton, the 2016 Democratic nominee for president, at her home in New York state. The CNN bureau in New York received a package addressed to Brennan, who has appeared as an on-air CNN analyst, leading police to evacuate the Time Warner building in a busy Manhattan neighborhood near Central Park. It contained an envelope of white powder that experts were analyzing, Police Commissioner James O’Neill said. Slideshow ( 34 images ) The package to Clinton was found late on Tuesday while the one addressed to Obama was recovered early on Wednesday, both during routine off-site mail screenings, the Secret Service said. Obama and Clinton were not at risk, they said. “So far the devices have been what appeared to be pipe bombs,” John Miller, the New York City police deputy commissioner for intelligence and counterterrorism, told a news conference. An FBI-led Joint Terrorism Task Force of federal, state and local law enforcement agencies “will continue to work to identity and arrest whosoever is responsible for sending these packages,” FBI Director Christopher Wray said in a statement. ‘WORDS MATTER’ Slideshow ( 34 images ) All of the targets are frequently maligned by right-wing critics. Trump has repeatedly criticized CNN as “fake news” and disparaged the mainstream news media as an “enemy of the people.” “There is a total and complete lack of understanding at the White House about the seriousness of their continued attacks on the media,” CNN President Jeff Zucker said in a statement read on CNN. “The president, and especially the White House press secretary, should understand that their words matter. Thus far they have shown no comprehension of that.” U.S. Democratic leaders in Congress said Trump’s call for unity rang “hollow” because of his past statements condoning acts of violence. Last week, Trump, who has joined other Republicans in accusing Democrats of encouraging “mob” tactics, heaped praise on a Montana congressman who assaulted a reporter in 2017. At an event in Austin, Texas on Wednesday, Brennan also faulted Trump for frequent inflammatory rhetoric, saying the president “too often has helped incite some of these feelings of anger, if not violence, when he points to acts of violence.” “He should not be beating the tom-toms of anger and animosity and war,” said the former CIA chief, whose security clearance was revoked by Trump after he criticized the president’s summit earlier this year with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Trump at the Wisconsin rally called attention to “how nice I’m behaving tonight.” “Have you ever seen this? We’re all behaving very well and hopefully we can keep it that way, right?”<doc-sep>Officials said the packages used as a return address the office of Wasserman Schultz, who chaired the Democratic National Committee during part of the 2016 campaign. One such package used an incorrect address for former attorney general Eric H. Holder Jr., and it was “returned” to her office in Sunrise, Fla., where it was intercepted, according to officials. Authorities do not believe she had anything to do with the packages and think she was a potential victim. A spokesman for Holder declined to comment.<doc-sep>The package arrived at the building in Tribeca in Lower Manhattan that houses Mr. De Niro’s production company and restaurant. It was similar to those discovered a day earlier and was also believed to contain an explosive device, officials said. On Wednesday, in the center of Manhattan, the Time Warner Center, an elegant office and shopping complex, was evacuated because of a pipe bomb sent to CNN, which has its New York offices there. It was addressed to John O. Brennan, a critic of Mr. Trump who served as Mr. Obama’s C.I.A. director. None of the devices harmed anyone, and it was not immediately clear whether any of them could have. One law enforcement official said investigators were examining the possibility that they were hoax devices that were constructed to look like bombs but would not have exploded. The F.B.I. said the devices were similar to one found Monday at the home of George Soros, the billionaire philanthropist and liberal donor, in a New York City suburb.<doc-sep>Pipe bombs sent to several prominent critics of President Donald Trump and to CNN's New York newsroom triggered a nationwide investigation and bipartisan condemnation on Wednesday. The targets included former President Barack Obama, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, former Attorney General Eric Holder and former CIA Director John Brennan, officials and investigators said. Early Wednesday night, federal and local authorities were investigating a suspicious package "similar in appearance" to the earlier packages at a postal facility in south Los Angeles addressed to Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., the FBI said. Los Angeles police said that the facility was evacuated before a bomb squad rendered the package safe and that the investigation had been turned over to the FBI. It was the second package addressed to Waters to have been uncovered, the FBI said. The first was discovered in Maryland. The earlier bombs — like the explosive device that was found Monday in the mailbox of George Soros' home in Bedford, New York — were all made with PVC pipe, which X-rays indicated likely contained shrapnel, three senior law enforcement officials with direct knowledge of the matter told NBC News. They included a low explosive or a pyrotechnic, as in fireworks, as well as timers — likely digital alarm clocks — to set off the detonators, the sources said. Multiple senior bomb technicians briefed on the case said the aspiring bomber had all of the components needed to set off a successful explosion. No arrests have been made. An X-ray image of one of the pipe bombs addressed to CNN and prominent critics of President Donald Trump provided by law enforcement officials briefed on the case. NBC News The package addressed to Clinton was discovered on Tuesday near the Clintons' home in Chappaqua, New York, a suburb of New York City. The one addressed to Obama was intercepted Wednesday in Washington, they said. The mail bombing targets: Former President Barack Obama Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Former Attorney General Eric Holder Former CIA Director John Brennan Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif. Billionaire George Soros The package addressed to Brennan misspelled his name and was sent to the wrong network. It was discovered Wednesday at the Manhattan offices of CNN, even though he is a senior national security and intelligence analyst for NBC News and MSNBC. The newsroom was immediately evacuated, and the New York police bomb squad was summoned. Speaking Wednesday night at the University of Texas, Brennan said he had "full confidence in my former law enforcement and intelligence colleagues to get to the bottom of this and take the appropriate actions." "If I and others are being targeted because we are speaking out and we're living up to our responsibilities as citizens, I think that is a very unfortunate turn of events," he said. New York Mayor Bill de Blasio described the packages at a news conference as "clearly an act of terror." At the same news conference, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said one of the packages was addressed to him and had been sent to his office. But the FBI said Cuomo's office hadn't received an explosive device, and a spokesman for Cuomo said the package contained computer files on the Proud Boys, a far-right hate group, some of whose members were recently arrested in Manhattan. New York police outside the Time Warner Center in New York on Wednesday. Richard Drew / AP Saying he was acting "out of an abundance of caution," Cuomo dispatched 100 members of the National Guard to beef up the already tight security at key New York City crossings and the airports and in the subway system. A suspected explosive device received at the CNN bureau in New York City on Wednesday. NBC News The devices were in manila packages that bore stamps and signatures with the address of Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., whose name also was misspelled, three senior law enforcement officials said. Holder's package was mailed to the wrong address, according to law enforcement officials, and it wound up being sent back to Wasserman Schultz's address, where it was intercepted by the Secret Service. "We will not be intimidated by this attempted act of violence," Wasserman Schultz said in a statement. "This appalling attack on our democracy must be vigorously prosecuted, and I am deeply disturbed by the way my name was used. Speaking in Florida, Clinton thanked the Secret Service, saying it "intercepted the package addressed to us long before it made its way to our home." "But it is a troubling time," she said. "And it's a time of deep divisions, and we have to do everything we can to bring our country together. We also have to elect candidates who will try to do the same." The spate of suspicious packages came two days after a similar device was found in Soros' mailbox. Like the other targets, Soros has been a harsh critic of Trump. In Washington, Trump vowed to "bring those responsible for these despicable acts to justice." "In these times, we have to unify, we have to come together and send one very clear, strong, unmistakable message, that acts of political violence have no place of any kind in the United States of America," he said. "I am extremely angry, upset, unhappy about what we witnessed, and we'll get to the bottom of it." Earlier, Vice President Mike Pence thanked the Secret Service, the FBI and local law enforcement, saying that the "attempted attacks" against Obama, Clinton and CNN were "cowardly" and that those responsible for the packages "will be brought to justice." Trump quickly weighed in with agreement on Twitter, retweeting his vice president. Law enforcement officials said the device in Soros' mailbox was detonated as a precaution, and no one was injured. Soros, a business investor and Holocaust survivor, was reportedly not at home at the time, and he declined to comment.<doc-sep>
The Secret Service said Wednesday "potential explosive devices" addressed to former President Barack Obama and ex-presidential candidate Hillary Clinton have been intercepted, and New York police evacuated the Time Warner Center to investigate another suspicious package. Those Democrats were not the only ones targeted. Media reports also said the office of Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida was evacuated after a suspicious package was found. A spokeswoman for Sen. Kamala Harris of California said her office was evacuated after "suspicious packages" were found "near the building." And California Rep. Maxine Waters said her office in Washington, D.C., was also "the target" of a suspicious package. "We have now confirmed two additional packages, both addressed to Rep. Maxine Waters, that are similar in appearance to the other packages," the FBI said late Thursday. Two days earlier, an explosive device was found at the home of politically active billionaire George Soros, a pariah to the right wing. Soros' home in Bedford, New York, is a few miles from the Clintons' residence. NBC reported that the devices addressed to Obama, Clinton and Soros share a number of characteristics. The packaging in which they were sent was almost exactly the same, and they each had a return address belonging to a former Democratic party official, according to NBC. Three senior law enforcement officials with direct knowledge told NBC that the devices were made from PVC pipe and contained a timer to set off a detonator. The devices also contained powder from fireworks and X-ray analysis showed that there was likely shrapnel inside the pipe, the officials told NBC. Multiple senior bomb technicians briefed on the case told NBC that the devices had all the components necessary to set off successful explosions. Exterior of one of the suspicious packages Source: FBI White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in a statement that the Trump administration condemns the "terrorizing acts" against Obama, the Clintons and "other public figures." "We condemn the attempted violent attacks recently made against President Obama, President Clinton, Secretary Clinton, and other public figures," Sanders said. "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 said he agrees "wholeheartedly" with Vice President Mike Pence's statement condemning the "attempted attacks." Trump tweet Other influential Democrats are taking precautions on the heels of the reports. Kevin Mack, senior advisor for billionaire and potential Democratic presidential candidate Tom Steyer, told CNBC "they have a security team sweeping through his offices and home as a precaution. They are doing their job to make everyone safe. We take everything seriously." New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said during a press conference Wednesday that a suspicious device was sent to his Manhattan office, but law enforcement officials from the FBI, NYPD, Secret Service and New York State Troopers did not confirm the governor's remark.