FBI aware of threats, working with law enforcement partners

28/11/2024 6:04

        Several of
        President-elect Donald Trump's cabinet and administration picks
        were targeted this week with actions including bomb threats and
        "swatting," a spokesperson for the transition team said on
        Wednesday.
        
        The threats were made Tuesday night and Wednesday morning,
        and law enforcement acted quickly to ensure the safety of those
        targeted, spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said in a statement.
        
        Elise Stefanik, a Republican U.S. representative and Trump's
        choice to be U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, and Lee
        Zeldin, a former Republican congressman who is Trump's pick to
        head the Environmental Protection Agency, both said in separate
        statements they had been the targets of bomb threats.
        
        An FBI spokesperson said the bureau is aware of numerous
        bomb threats and swatting incidents targeting incoming
        administration nominees and appointees, and is working with its
        law enforcement partners.
        
        Swatting is the filing of false reports to police to induce
        a potentially heavy, armed response by officers at someone's
        home. Law enforcement experts see it as a form of intimidation
        or harassment that is increasingly being used to target
        prominent figures.
        
        "We take all potential threats seriously, and as always,
        encourage members of the public to immediately report anything
        they consider suspicious to law enforcement," the FBI
        spokesperson said.
        
        Stefanik said in a statement on Wednesday that she, her
        husband and their 3-year-old son were driving from Washington,
        D.C., to their family home in New York state when they were
        informed of the threat against their home.
        
        Zeldin said he and his family also had been targeted.
        
        "A pipe bomb threat targeting me and my family at our home
        today was sent in with a pro-Palestinian themed message," Zeldin
        said in a statement posted on X. "My family and I were not home
        at the time and are safe. We are working with law enforcement to
        learn more as this situation develops."
        
        In Florida, the Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office said the
        home of a family member of former Republican congressman Matt
        Gaetz had also been targeted with a bomb threat.
        
        Gaetz, Trump's first nominee to be U.S. attorney general,
        withdrew his name from consideration on Nov. 21 after he faced
        opposition from U.S. Senate Republicans over alleged past sexual
        misconduct, which he denies.
        
        "The mailbox was cleared and no devices were located. The
        immediate area was also searched with negative results," the
        sheriff's office said in a statement.
        
        A White House spokesperson said Democratic U.S. President
        Joe Biden had been briefed about the threats.
        
        "Federal law enforcement's response, alongside state and
        local authorities, remains ongoing. The president and the
        administration unequivocally condemn threats of political
        violence," the spokesperson said.
        
        Trump, who has been announcing picks for his cabinet and
        other high-ranking administration positions following his Nov. 5
        election victory, has not commented on the threats.
        
        They come months after Trump was wounded in an assassination
        attempt in Pennsylvania in July. In a separate incident in
        September, a man was charged with attempted assassination after
        allegedly positioning himself with a rifle outside one of
        Trump's Florida golf courses.