FBI Releases Statement on Suspicious Packages

The FBI has released a statement on the spate of suspicious packages that were addressed to current and former government officials, including Hilary Clinton and former president Barack Obamas.

The statement reads:

Between October 22 and 24, 2018, suspicious packages were received at multiple locations in the New York and Washington, D.C., areas and Florida. The packages are being sent for analysis at the FBI Laboratory in Quantico, Virginia.

“This investigation is of the highest priority for the FBI. We have committed the full strength of the FBI’s resources and, together with our partners on our Joint Terrorism Task Forces, we will continue to work to identify and arrest whoever is responsible for sending these packages,” said FBI Director Christopher Wray.

“We ask anyone who may have information to contact the FBI. Do not hesitate to call; no piece of information is too small to help us in this investigation.”

The packages are similar in appearance, as depicted in the below photograph, and contain potentially destructive devices.

The packages were mailed in manila envelopes with bubble wrap interior. The packages were affixed with computer-printed address labels and six Forever stamps.

All packages had a return address of “DEBBIE WASSERMAN SHULTZ” [sic] in Florida.

Packages identified to date were addressed to:

• George Soros
• Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
• Former President Barack Obama
• Former CIA Director John Brennan, care of CNN
• Former Attorney General Eric Holder

The package addressed to former Attorney General Holder did not reach its intended destination, but was rerouted to the return address in Florida.

The FBI will continue to work with our federal law enforcement partners at the United States Secret Service, United States Postal Inspection Service, and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, as well as our state and local law enforcement partners, to identify and arrest the person or people responsible for sending these packages.

It is possible that additional packages were mailed to other locations. The FBI advises the public to remain vigilant and not touch, move or handle any suspicious or unknown packages.

If you have information about these packages, please contact the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI or tips.fbi.gov. If you observe any suspicious activity that requires an immediate response, please call 911 or contact your local law enforcement. According to the Secret Service, the packages were intercepted during routine mail screening and posed no danger to the intended recipients.

Officials have also clarified that Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, whose name was spelt wrong on the return labels, is not suspected in the case.

John Miller, the police department’s top counterterrorism official, said at a news conference on Oct. 24 that there was evidence to suggest that the person who sent the package to CNN also sent the packages to Clinton, Obama, and billionaire George Soros.

Trump 'Extremely Upset'

President Trump has since condemned the “abhorrent” attacks, saying that he and his administration were “extremely upset.”

“This egregious conduct is abhorrent to everything we hold dear and sacred as Americans.”

Trump told a crowd that the White House on Oct. 24 that he had been briefed by the FBI, Department of Justice, Department of Homeland Security, and the United States Secret Service, promising the American people that “the full weight of our government” was being deployed to investigate the crimes.

“The safety of the American people is my highest and absolute priority,” Trump said.

'We Have to Unify'

Trump also called for national unity in the face of the acts of political violence. “In these times, we have to unify. We have to come together,” he said.

The packages came weeks after multiple packages that tested positive for the poison ricin and contained ground castor beans—which are used to make the poison—were intercepted by officials. They were addressed to Pentagon officials and President Donald Trump, respectively. A Utah man was arrested after an investigation.

Other packages that allegedly contained ricin have recently been sent recently to Republican, including the home of Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and an office of Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas). The package sent to Collins’s home forced an evacuation and triggered a large response.

It came just before a New York man was arrested and charged with leaving voicemails at the offices of two officials, later identified as Collins and Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa). The man threatened to kill them if they voted to confirm Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.

NTD.tv writer Zachary Stieber and The Associated Press contributed to this report

From NTD.tv