Following Wednesday morning’s multiple incidents of “potential explosive devices” found at the residences of former President Barack Obama in Washington, D.C., former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton in Chappaqua, New York, and at the headquarters of CNN at the Time Warner Center in downtown Manhattan, more devices and suspicious packages have been found addressed to current and former government officials and elected leaders.
Additional packages have been found addressed to former Attorney General Eric Holder and New York Governor Andrew Cuomo (D). Authorities are also investigating a suspicious package addressed to ex-CIA chief John Brennan, NBC reports. The package is said to appear similar to the one which forced an evacuation of the Time Warner Center.
The device at the Time Warner Center was found in the building’s mail room and was addressed to “John Brennan c/o CNN,” however, Brennan does not work at CNN, and is a contributor at MSNBC.
The return address on the packages containing explosive devices was listed as Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman-Schultz (FL-23), who was also the former chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee. The suspicious package sent to the congresswoman’s Florida office was intended for Holder, but had the wrong address, thus was sent to her office, law enforcement officials said. They added that it was the same return address for the packages sent to both Obama and Clinton.
Earlier this week, a package sent to billionaire and Democratic mega-donor George Soros also had the return address of Wasserman-Schultz, but the package was believed to have been hand delivered and placed in his mailbox. NYPD Commissioner James O’Neill said the device appeared to be a “live explosive,” which resembled a pipe bomb. As well, there was an envelope with white powder in the original packaging, which is currently being tested for its contents.
The San Diego office of Senator Kamala Harris (D-CA) was also evacuated this morning after at least five “suspicious packages” were found near the building, but they were not addressed to the senator or her office, CNN reports.