Pipe Bombs Sent to Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and CNN Offices By WILLIAM K. RASHBAUM 1 day ago Mail attacks: Am

Pipe Bombs Sent to Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and CNN Offices

By WILLIAM K. RASHBAUM

1 day ago

Mail attacks: America's long and frightening history

U.S. bombs likely meant to scare rather than kill: experts

Slide 1 of 32: A package containing a "live explosive device" according to police, received at the Time Warner Center which houses the CNN New York bureau, in New York City, U.S. is shown in this handout picture provided October 24, 2018. Courtesy CNN/Handout via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVE. - RC1592096240

Previous Slide

Next Slide

Full screen

1/32 SLIDES  CNN/Handout/Reuters

An investigation is underway after explosive devices were reportedly sent to the Clintons, the Obamas, and a host of other liberal and media figures. 

(Pictured) A package containing a "live explosive device" according to police, received at the Time Warner Center which houses the CNN New York bureau is shown in this handout picture provided on Oct. 24.

2/32 SLIDES Matt Rourke/AP Photo

Police tape cordons off a post office in Wilmington, Del., Oct. 25. A law enforcement official said suspicious packages addressed to former Vice President Joe Biden were intercepted at Delaware mail facilities in New Castle and Wilmington and were similar to crude pipe bombs sent to former President Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and CNN.

3/32 SLIDES Mark Makela/Reuters

Law enforcement personnel monitor activity outside a post office which had been evacuated in New Castle, Delaware, Oct. 25.

4/32 SLIDES MICHAEL REYNOLDS/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock

White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders speaks to members of the news media on the packages containing potential explosive devices sent to prominent Democrats, CNN and a liberal billionaire that were intercepted 24 October at the White House in Washington, DC, Oct., 25. 

5/32 SLIDES Seth Wenig/AP Photo

Port Authority police watch passing traffic near the entrance to the George Washington Bridge in Fort Lee, N.J., on Oct. 25. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has said he will increase security at critical spots in the wake of suspicious packages sent primarily to prominent Democrats.

6/32 SLIDES Seth Wenig/AP Photo

Port Authority police pull over drivers as they make their way toward the George Washington Bridge in Fort Lee, N.J., on, Oct. 25.

7/32 SLIDES Mark Lennihan/AP Photo

A member of the New York National Guard, center, watches as commuters walk through the World Trade Center Transportation Hub, on Oct. 25, in New York.

8/32 SLIDES Drew Angerer/Getty Images

People look out a door in the building complex that houses Robert De Niro's Tribeca Grill restaurant, where another package bomb was found early Thursday morning, Oct. 25, in New York City. Initial news reports suggest that the package contained similar markings and contents as recent pipe bomb packages that have been mailed to high-profile Democrats.

9/32 SLIDES Drew Angerer/Getty Images

Police gather near the scene of where another package bomb was found early Thursday morning at Robert De Niro's Tribeca Grill restaurant, on Oct. 25, 2018 in New York City.

10/32 SLIDES Ron DePasquale/AP Photo

A police officer blocks off an area in the Tribeca neighborhood in lower Manhattan on Oct. 25 after a suspicious package was reportedly sent to actor Robert De Niro. 

11/32 SLIDES Atilgan Ozdil/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

Police officers take security measures in front of the Time Warner Building where a suspected explosive device was found in the building after it was delivered to CNN's New York bureau on Oct. 24.

12/32 SLIDES Michael Brochstein/SOPA Images/LightRocket/Getty Images

New York City Police Commissioner James O'Neill (on the left), New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo (center, speaking), and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio (on the right) seen speaking about the bomb threat at CNN's New York City headquarters in the Time Warner Building on Oct. 24.

13/32 SLIDES Joe Raedle/Getty Images

The Broward Sheriff's Office bomb squad investigates a suspicious package at the office of Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) on Oct. 24, in Sunrise, Florida.

14/32 SLIDES Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Police stand guard outside of the Time Warner Center after an explosive device was found this morning on Oct. 24, in New York City.

15/32 SLIDES Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Police and other emergency workers gather outside of the Time Warner Center after an explosive device was found there this morning on Oct. 24, in New York City.

16/32 SLIDES Joe Skipper/Reuters

A member of the Broward County Sheriff's Office bomb squad walks to the building where U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz's office is housed in Sunrise, Florida, on Oct. 24.

17/32 SLIDES Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Members of the media stand at a police line at the Time Warner Center after an explosive device was found there on Oct. 24, in New York City.

18/32 SLIDES Kevin Hagen/AP Photo

NYPD Deputy Commissioner of Intelligence & Counterterrorism John Miller, center, arrives outside Time Warner Center on Oct. 24, in New York.

19/32 SLIDES Joe Raedle/Getty Images

The Broward Sheriff's Office bomb squad deploys a robotic vehicle to investigate a suspicious package in the building where Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) has an offce on Oct. 24, in Sunrise, Florida.

20/32 SLIDES JUSTIN LANE/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock

Microphones are set up in front of an NYPD Bomb Squad truck before a press conference with New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio and New York Police Commissioner James P. O'Neill at the scene where an explosive device was found at CNN's offices in New York, on Oct. 24. 

21/32 SLIDES Ron Harris/AP

People walk outside CNN Center, Wednesday, Oct. 24, in Atlanta. CNN is now screening all people who enter after a suspicious package was delivered to CNN in New York. NYPD's chief of counterterrorism says the explosive device sent to CNN's headquarters in New York appeared to be sent by the same person who mailed pipe bombs to George Soros, Hillary Clinton and former President Barack Obama.

22/32 SLIDES Leah Millis/Reuters

President Donald Trump speaks about the apparent pipe bombs sent in packages addressed to Democratic political figures in New York, Washington and Florida during an event in the East Room of the White House on administration efforts to "combat the opioid crisis" in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 24. 

23/32 SLIDES TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP/Getty Images

An NYPD bomb squad unit exits the Time Warner Center on Oct. 24. A suspected explosive device was found in the building after it was delivered to CNN's New York bureau. 

24/32 SLIDES Erik Pendzich/REX/Shutterstock

People and the media gather outside the Time Warner Center following a bomb threat, on Oct. 24.

25/32 SLIDES Spencer Platt/Getty Images

A police bomb-sniffing dog is deployed outside of the Time Warner Center after an explosive device was found on Oct. 24 in New York City. 

26/32 SLIDES Joe Raedle/Getty Images

The Broward Sheriff's Office bomb squad deploys a robotic vehicle to investigate a suspicious package in the building where Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) has an office on Oct. 24 in Sunrise, Florida. 

27/32 SLIDES JUSTIN LANE/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock

Police stand guard in a closed street after a bomb alert at the Time Warner Center in New York City on Oct. 24. According to news reports, New York police were called to a suspicious package sent to the Time Warner building in which CNN is located. 

28/32 SLIDES Kevin Coombs/Reuters

People stand outside the Time Warner Center in Manhattan after a suspicious package was found inside CNN headquarters on Oct. 24. 

29/32 SLIDES Kevin Coombs/Reuters

A member of the New York Police Department bomb squad is pictured outside the Time Warner Center on Oct. 24.

30/32 SLIDES Alex Brandon/AP

A Secret Service officer sits in his car at a checkpoint near the home of Barack Obama, on Oct. 24 in Washington, D.C. after agents said they had intercepted packages containing "possible explosive devices" addressed to the former president.

31/32 SLIDES Seth Wenig/AP

A police car is parked in front of property owned by the Hillary and Bill Clinton in Chappaqua, N.Y., on Oct. 24. A U.S. official says a "functional explosive device" was found at the Clinton's suburban New York home. 

32/32 SLIDES Seth Wenig/AP

Mailboxes stand outside the entrance to a house owned by philanthropist George Soros in Katonah, N.Y., a suburb of New York City, on Oct. 23. A device found outside the compound "had the components" of a bomb, including explosive powder, a law enforcement official said Tuesday. 

32/32 SLIDES

Pipe bombs were sent to several prominent Democrats, including former President Barack Obama and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, setting off an intense investigation on Wednesday into whether figures vilified by the right were being targeted.

From Washington to New York to Florida to Los Angeles, the authorities intercepted a wave of crudely built devices that were contained in manila envelopes.

And before dawn on Thursday, investigators discovered that another package had been sent to Robert De Niro, the actor and filmmaker who has been an outspoken critic of President Trump.

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.

[Read the latest on the pipe bombs sent to Robert De Niro and Joe Biden.]

Jeenah Moon for The New York Times CNN’s offices in Manhattan were evacuated after an explosive device was sent there, a law enforcement official 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.

Coming less than two weeks before the midterm elections, the discovery of the pipe bombs reverberated across a country already on edge, stirring anew questions about whether political discourse had grown too vitriolic.

Mrs. Clinton, Mr. Obama, Mr. Soros and CNN have all figured prominently in right-wing political attacks — many of which have been led by Mr. Trump. He has often referred to major news organizations as “the enemy of the people” and has shown contempt for CNN.

Mr. Trump, speaking at the White House on Wednesday, called the attempted bombings “despicable acts.”

Karsten Moran for The New York Times Two explosive devices were found in mail sent to former President Barack Obama and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the Secret Service said Wednesday. “In these times we have to unify,” Mr. Trump said. “We have to come together and send one very clear, strong, unmistakable message that acts or threats of political violence of any kind have no place in the United States of America.”

He continued in the same vein later Wednesday at a rally in Wisconsin, encouraging “all sides to come together in peace and harmony,” before taking aim at the news media.

“The media also has a responsibility to set a civil tone and stop the endless hostility and constant negative and oftentimes false attacks,” Mr. Trump said.

[President Trump called for unity after the bomb scares, but his bipartisan spirit didn’t last.]

Mrs. Clinton, in an address to a crowd of about 200 Democratic donors in Florida, said: “It is a troubling time, isn’t it, and it’s a time of deep divisions and we have to do everything we can to bring our country together.”

In Manhattan, Mayor Bill de Blasio called the attempted bombings “an effort to terrorize” and vowed the city’s residents “won’t allow terrorism to change us.”

But Jeff Zucker, the CNN worldwide president, accused Mr. Trump of demonizing journalists.

“The president, and especially the White House press secretary, should understand their words matter,” Mr. Zucker said.

All the devices were packed in envelopes lined with Bubble Wrap and bearing return addresses with the name of Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the Florida congresswoman who was once chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee, the F.B.I. said. The mailing labels were computer-printed, and six first-class stamps were affixed to all of the envelopes.

A fifth device sent to Mr. Obama’s attorney general, Eric H. Holder Jr., was apparently incorrectly addressed, and because Ms. Wasserman Schultz’s name was on the return address, it was ultimately delivered to her district office in Florida, the F.B.I. said.

Another package, addressed to Representative Maxine Waters, a California Democrat, was intercepted at a congressional mail facility, Ms. Waters said in a statement. In recent months, Mr. Trump and Ms. Waters have often ridiculed each other.

Later, yet another package addressed to Ms. Waters was discovered at a mail facility near downtown Los Angeles, according to a law enforcement official. The discovery forced the evacuation of the facility.

The device that went to CNN’s offices arrived by courier, a law enforcement official said. However, it still had half-a-dozen first-class postage stamps on it. Investigators believe the bomb delivered to Mr. Soros’s home was dropped off in his mailbox.

[Confusion and some panic spread in New York and elsewhere after the bomb was found at CNN’s offices]

The device sent to Mrs. Clinton was found late Tuesday by a Secret Service employee who screens mail for her, a statement from the Secret Service said.

A security guard at the Clinton Foundation’s Midtown Manhattan offices said the package was addressed to Mrs. Clinton’s home in Westchester County, north of New York City, not her offices.

The package addressed to Mr. Obama was intercepted early Wednesday by Secret Service personnel in Washington.

A law enforcement official said the devices were made with a 1-inch-by-6-inch length of PVC pipe filled with suspected pyrotechnic powder and broken glass to serve as shrapnel. They had a small button battery with a digital clock as a timer and a hot bridge wire initiator, the official said.

The devices contained some of the components that would be required to build an operable bomb, but law enforcement officials would not say late on Wednesday whether they were viable.

The devices were being sent to the F.B.I. lab in Quantico, Va., where they would be analyzed.

A senior law enforcement official in New York, describing the bomb sent to CNN, said it was intercepted in the basement mailroom and resembled the others: “Same package. Same device.”

On Wednesday afternoon, New York City’s police commissioner, James P. O’Neill, said that the CNN bomb was “a live explosive device” and that it would be rendered harmless and sent to the F.B.I. to be analyzed. The package that contained the device also included white powder that the police were testing to determine if it was toxic, he said.

Some bomb technicians who studied photos of the device that circulated on social media suggested that the bomb sent to CNN had hallmarks of fake explosives — the kind more typically depicted on television and in movies, rather than devices capable of detonating.

A digital clock was taped to the middle of the pipe, a feature that experts say is typically shown on fictional bombs in an attempt to ratchet up dramatic tension, but unnecessary in real life.

In fact, bombmakers generally avoid attaching visible clocks to their devices to keep from tipping off their targets about when the bombs are set to explode.

Earlier this month, federal authorities said they intercepted multiple packages suspected of containing the lethal substance ricin, addressed to Mr. Trump and at least two top Pentagon officials. In February, an envelope containing a white, powdery substance that investigators later determined was cornstarch was sent to the Manhattan apartment of Donald Trump Jr.’s mother-in-law.

On Wednesday, the authorities said bomb technicians would seek to determine where the bombs’ components were purchased or the bombs were made. Evidence technicians will attempt to recover traces of DNA or fingerprints from the components and the envelopes that contained the bombs.

Federal agents with the United States Postal Inspection Service could play an important role in the investigation if any of the packages were delivered through the mail.

The envelopes had more postage than needed to be delivered, according to a former law enforcement official briefed on the investigation.

The extra postage led investigators to believe that the person who sent the devices wanted to avoid going to a post office to buy the correct postage — a step to evade detection, the official said.

The Postal Inspection Service would examine the postage and postmarks and seek to determine where the envelopes were mailed from. Investigators could examine surveillance video at post offices and around blue letter boxes where the packages may have been deposited.