NBC reports this as a “suspicious device,” but the AP calls it a bomb:
https://twitter.com/AP/status/1055085190446505986
The New York Times calls it an “explosive device,” and reminds readers of the device found by an employee of George Soros at his home:
An explosive device was found on Wednesday morning by a technician who screens mail for Bill and Hillary Clinton, who live in a suburb of New York City, a law enforcement official said.
The official said the device was similar to one found at the home of billionaire philanthropist George Soros on Monday.
It was not immediately clear where the device was found.
If the same person or people are behind both, then the FBI and Secret Service have their work cut out for them. In the meantime, we can be thankful that no one was hurt in either incident — and hope that they catch the evil idiots behind both ASAP.
We’ll have more as this develops.
Update: CBS gets confirmation from local law enforcement:
BREAKING: Suspicious package discovered at Bill and Hillary Clinton's home in Chappaqua, New York, police confirm pic.twitter.com/Y4yQDwIsQj
— CBS News (@CBSNews) October 24, 2018
Update: Hmmm. ABC News hears it wasn’t an explosive device after all, and that it wasn’t actually at the Clinton house:
Preliminary investigations suggest the package was not an explosive device and that it was found near, not on, the Clintons’ property in the Westchester County town of Chappaqua.
Investigators are trying to determine if the package was a hoax, or if concern about it was the result of nervousness.
That would be good news … except for the bad reporting.
Update: NBC now reports “near” too:
Police in New Castle, New York, said they are investigating a suspicious package found early Wednesday morning near the home of Bill and Hillary Clinton.
Sgt. Jeffrey Merritt told NBC News officers are working with the Secret Service and the FBI, but declined to release further details.
If the investigation is from an abundance of caution, well … good. That’s exactly what we’d expect. But reporting it as a “bomb” and at the Clinton home would be a huge error.
Update: The US Secret Service says Barack Obama got a suspicious package sent to him as well:
BREAKING: Secret Service: Packages sent to Hillary Clinton and former President Obama "were immediately identified during routine mail screening procedures as potential explosive devices and were appropriately handled as such;” they were not “at risk of receiving them.”
— NBC News (@NBCNews) October 24, 2018
Perhaps “near” meant “at their mail screening facility”? That would make some sense.
Update: Here’s the statement from the US Secret Service. Note the phrase “potential explosive devices”:
JUST IN: Suspicious package addressed to residence of former Pres. Barack Obama intercepted by Secret Service in Washington, D.C. https://t.co/c3Pyh1q7jB pic.twitter.com/N3XWrIFqrp
— ABC News (@ABC) October 24, 2018
The USSS and JTTF are not going to get hysterical over silly packages. Something made them suspicious, and after what happened to Soros, they’re going to be watching all their protectees very carefully. As they should.
Update: Politico’s source says the devices were indeed for real:
A U.S. official says a “functional explosive device” was found at Hillary and Bill Clinton’s suburban New York home.
The official says investigators believe the explosive is linked to one found Monday at the compound of liberal billionaire George Soros.
That makes some sense. It would be a very big coincidence if the Soros bomb scare wasn’t related to these two incidents. The difference is that the Secret Service screens all of the mail for former presidents.
Update: ABC updates its report to call the Clinton-addressed device “workable”:
A potentially workable explosive device that was addressed to the Clintons’ home in Chappaqua, New York, was found early Wednesday, a senior law enforcement official said. It is similar in construction to an explosive device found earlier this week in the home mailbox of billionaire George Soros in a nearby community.
Update: The White House issued a statement calling the threats “despicable” and the people behind them “cowards”:
JUST IN: White House on suspicious packages being sent to Obama, Clinton and others: "These terrorizing acts are despicable, and anyone responsible will be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law." pic.twitter.com/194wg8tk7p
— NBC News (@NBCNews) October 24, 2018
I’m also seeing Twitter chatter than CNN is reporting that the White House received a suspicious package too, but CNN doesn’t have anything on their own feed about it.
Update: This isn’t over yet, apparently:
The Time Warner Center – the headquarters of CNN has been evacuated – because of a suspicious device. @PoppyHarlowCNN and @jimsciutto had been anchoring from there. Now @Rene_MarshCNN picks up coverage from Washington
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) October 24, 2018
Update: CNN is reporting live from the scene of its NYC offices:
JUST IN: The NYPD is responding to a suspicious device discovered at the Time Warner Center, where CNN is based, in New York, according to a law enforcement source. The CNN bureau has evacuated as a precaution. https://t.co/BmgkJ2qaIE pic.twitter.com/Ad8PoQ5kkf
— CNN (@CNN) October 24, 2018
Update: Here was the CNN report on the package addressed to the White House, which got overshadowed almost immediately by their need to evacuate in NYC:
https://twitter.com/NatashaChenCNN/status/1055098931955277824
Update: Fox’s John Roberts says that CNN report is “incorrect”:
.@SecretService says this report is incorrect. Suspicious packages sent to Clintons and Obama, but nothing addressed to @WhiteHouse https://t.co/stsFPNHogn
— John Roberts (@johnrobertsFox) October 24, 2018
We’ll have to wait for all these reports to get sorted out. In the meantime, I’ve removed the reference from the headline.
Update: The Secret Service confirms Roberts’ report:
CLARIFICATION: At this time the Secret Service has intercepted TWO suspicious packages – one in NY and one in D.C. Reports of a third intercepted package addressed to the WH are incorrect. We refer media to our statement: https://t.co/lJdTn04KmI
— U.S. Secret Service (@SecretService) October 24, 2018
Update: The perp didn’t do well at media research:
https://twitter.com/KFILE/status/1055119363613904903
But he/she/they cast a pretty wide net:
Breaking — The Sunrise, Florida, office of Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz has been evacuated after a suspicious package was found mailed there this morning, according to a spokesman for the police department. Are is secured and the bomb squad is on site.
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) October 24, 2018
Talk about holding a grudge; Wasserman Schultz hasn’t been DNC chair for nearly two years.
Update: This might explain why Wasserman Schultz was included — the bomber used her address as the return address on the packages. That was also true with the Soros bomb:
https://twitter.com/AliVelshi/status/1055124131216347136
Meanwhile, Vice President Mike Pence condemned the attacks as “cowardly and despicable,” and Trump added his endorsement to the statement:
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1055127893112696832
Update: Eric Holder got a package, too:
BREAKING: Authorities intercept suspicious package that was sent to former AG Eric Holder, officials tells @PeteWilliamsNBC. pic.twitter.com/7GD2FYeljI
— NBC News (@NBCNews) October 24, 2018
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