Bomb investigators turn focus to Florida
More critics of president are sent packages, including Biden, De Niro
Federal authorities investigating a spate of pipe bombs sent this week to several prominent critics of President Donald Trump have turned their attention toward southern Florida, believing that a number of the explosive devices were mailed from the area, two people briefed on the matter said Thursday.
The focus on Florida came as at least three more devices were found in Delaware and New York, the FBI said Thursday morning. Two were addressed to former Vice President Joe Biden, a Delaware resident, and a third to actor Robert De Niro, who lives and works in Lower Manhattan.
All 10 of the similarlooking packages discovered since Monday bore
return addresses from Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla.
The continuing wave of bombs has prompted an intense, nationwide investigation into whether people who have criticized the president and been vilified by the right are being targeted. Investigators have started focusing on Florida because an analysis of information collected by the U.S. Postal Service indicated that many of the packages were mailed from the state and processed at postal facilities there, including one in Opa-locka.
None of the devices has so far exploded on its own, and investigators have tried to determine whether the devices were even capable of detonating. But striking a note of caution at a news conference Thursday, the New York City police commissioner, James O’Neill, said the packages contained “live devices” that should be “treated with the utmost seriousness.”
“The devices should be considered dangerous,” O’Neill said.
A law enforcement official said the envelope and printed address labels on the packages sent to Biden and De Niro were similar to those sent to former President Barack Obama, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and others. An X-ray showed the package sent to De Niro contained a device that, like the others, seemed to be a pipe bomb.
“This appears to be from the same sender,” the official said.
Federal, state and local investigators in New York, Washington, Florida and Los Angeles have all joined forces in the rapidly widening case, which has not yet resulted in any injuries but has sent a shock through the nation’s political and news media establishments. Postal officials in New York said that no more suspicious packages had been found after the ones discovered Thursday morning, leaving investigators to confront a lingering question: Were the bombs the work of one person or multiple people?
Though investigators initially believed that some of the packages were delivered by hand or courier, they have now concluded that all 10 were likely sent through the mail, a person briefed on the matter said.
The Postal Service records images of mail that comes into its system. As part of the inquiry, officials have searched those images in an effort to determine where the packages originated, as well as to identify and catch any other possible explosive devices by the bomber or bombers.
In addition to conducting a forensic examination of the packages and explosive devices, federal authorities were seeking to determine where the envelopes, mailing labels and bomb components were purchased, using a range of investigative techniques.
One technique, according to several law-enforcement officials, would likely be to obtain data from cell towers in the areas where they believe the various packages were mailed. The data from each area could then be cross-referenced to create lists of phone numbers — and ultimately, phone users — who were in the areas around the times the packages were mailed, the officials said.
The devices sent to Biden were intercepted at a U.S. Postal Service facility in Delaware, a law enforcement official said. Similar to one that had been sent to Eric Holder, the former attorney general, the envelopes were misaddressed and were redirected to Wasserman Schultz’s return address. Another package was also discovered at the same facility, a law enforcement official said, but it was not immediately known to whom it was addressed.
De Niro, like the other recipients of packages, has been a frequent critic of Trump. During the Tony Awards ceremony in June, he gave a speech in which he attacked the president with an obscenity, and a video of his comments was widely shared on social media.
Mayor Bill de Blasio of New York said on Thursday that an “eagle-eyed security employee” at Tribeca Productions had noticed similarities between the package the company received and photos of envelopes that were discovered Wednesday.
“There is somebody, by definition, who is a serial bomber, yes, and a terrorist,” de Blasio said in an appearance on CNN, whose New York office also received an explosive device Wednesday.
In anticipation of additional packages being found Thursday, the New York Police Department deployed additional officers outside news media companies and elected officials’ offices, de Blasio said.
The first bomb was found Monday at the home of George Soros, the billionaire advocate of liberal causes, in Westchester County, north of New York City. Soros has for years been a focus of right-wing vitriol and conspiracy theorists. In recent days, some have falsely speculated that he funded a caravan of migrants moving north from Honduras through Mexico.
On Wednesday, several new bombs were discovered, one after the other in a rolling wave that continued throughout the day. First, there was word that the Secret Service had intercepted packages addressed to Clinton and Obama. Then a package addressed to John Brennan, a former CIA director, was found in the offices of CNN in Midtown Manhattan, resulting in the extraordinary spectacle of the network’s correspondents reporting live from the street outside.
By the end of the day one package was discovered addressed to Holder, who recently said of opponents on the right, “When they go low, we kick them.” Two other packages were sent to Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., who has repeatedly traded barbs with Trump.
All the packages were sent in manila envelopes lined with Bubble Wrap. They each were fixed with about a half-dozen first-class postage stamps and had return addresses with the name, misspelled, of Wasserman Schultz, who was once chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee. The mailing labels were printed on a computer.
A white powder included in the package sent to CNN did not present a biological threat, the FBI said Thursday.