Obama, Clinton among targets of package bombs

Former US president Barack Obama and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton were among the targets of suspected package bombs delivered to several high-profile Democrats and CNN, which the FBI said it was investigating as an act of terrorism.

At least eight suspicious parcels were intercepted before reaching any intended recipients, including Obama's attorney general, Eric Holder, former CIA director John Brennan and prominent Democratic Party donor George Soros.

Two packages were sent to California Congresswoman Maxine Waters, the FBI said. Investigators were trying to track down another suspicious parcel they believe was addressed to Obama's vice president, Joe Biden, a federal official told Reuters late on Wednesday.

None of the eight packages detonated, and nobody was hurt. There was no immediate claim of responsibility.

But news of the bomb threats heightened tension in a nation deeply polarised ahead of elections on 6 November that will decide whether Democrats take control of one or both houses of Congress from Republicans and deny president Donald Trump the majority his party now holds in both.

Some leading Democrats were quick to accuse Trump himself of stoking the potential for political violence by frequently engaging in hyper-partisan, vitriolic rhetoric.

Trump told a political rally in Wisconsin on Wednesday his government would conduct "an aggressive investigation."

"Any acts or threats of political violence are an attack on our democracy itself," Trump said. "We want all sides to come together in peace and harmony."

But he said the media has a responsibility "to stop the endless hostility and constant negative and oftentimes false attacks and stories."

Manila Envelopes

The first package, which turned up on Monday, was addressed to Soros, the billionaire financier and frequent target of right-wing conspiracy theories.

The parcel intended for Holder ended up rerouted to the return address printed on all the packages - the Florida office of US Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who formerly chaired the Democratic National Committee, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The FBI said late on Wednesday it had confirmed that two additional packages, similar in appearance to the others, were addressed to US Representative Waters, a veteran Democratic congresswoman from Los Angeles and also an outspoken Trump critic.

An earlier FBI statement said the other packages consisted of a manila envelope with a bubble-wrap interior containing "potentially destructive devices." Each bore a computer-printed address label and six "Forever" postage stamps.

Other officials said the devices contained in the envelopes were all similar to one found in the mailbox of the Soros home and later detonated by police. At least one bomb was packed with shards of glass, one federal source said.

The US Secret Service intercepted packages addressed to Obama at his Washington home and to Clinton, the 2016 Democratic nominee for president, at her home in New York state.

The CNN bureau in New York received a package addressed to Brennan, who has appeared as an on-air CNN analyst, leading police to evacuate the Time Warner building in a busy Manhattan neighbourhood near Central Park. It contained an envelope of white powder that experts were analysing, Police Commissioner James O'Neill said.

The package to Clinton was found late on Tuesday while the one addressed to Obama was recovered early on Wednesday, both during routine off-site mail screenings, the Secret Service said. Obama and Clinton were not at risk, they said.

"So far the devices have been what appeared to be pipe bombs," John Miller, the New York City police deputy commissioner for intelligence and counterterrorism, told a news conference.

An FBI-led Joint Terrorism Task Force of federal, state and local law enforcement agencies "will continue to work to identity and arrest whosoever is responsible for sending these packages," FBI Director Christopher Wray said in a statement.

'Words matter'

All of the targets are frequently maligned by right-wing critics. Trump has repeatedly criticised CNN as "fake news" and disparaged the mainstream news media as an "enemy of the people."

"There is a total and complete lack of understanding at the White House about the seriousness of their continued attacks on the media," CNN President Jeff Zucker said in a statement read on CNN. "The president, and especially the White House press secretary, should understand that their words matter. Thus far they have shown no comprehension of that."

US Democratic leaders in Congress said Trump's call for unity rang "hollow" because of his past statements condoning acts of violence.

Last week, Trump, who has joined other Republicans in accusing Democrats of encouraging "mob" tactics, heaped praise on a Montana congressman who assaulted a reporter in 2017.

At an event in Austin, Texas on Wednesday, Brennan also faulted Trump for frequent inflammatory rhetoric, saying the president "too often has helped incite some of these feelings of anger, if not violence, when he points to acts of violence."

"He should not be beating the tom-toms of anger and animosity and war," said the former CIA chief, whose security clearance was revoked by Trump after he criticised the president's summit earlier this year with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Trump at the Wisconsin rally called attention to "how nice I’m behaving tonight." "Have you ever seen this? We’re all behaving very well and hopefully we can keep it that way, right?"

Trump's rhetoric tied to suspected bombs

The undercurrent of rage that has been driving US politics for the past few years surfaced in a series of the suspected bombs sent to prominent US Democrats and the news outlet CNN less than two weeks before congressional elections.

None of the devices went off and no injuries were reported, but a number of top Democrats were quick to label the threats a symptom of a coarsening brand of political rhetoric promoted by President Donald Trump, who also condemned the acts.

During his presidential campaign, Trump regularly urged his supporters to chant "Lock her up," a threat to jail Clinton, and supported conspiracy theories that Soros plays an underhanded role in influencing US politics. Trump has also disparaged the mainstream media and criticised CNN as "fake news."

At a political rally in Wisconsin on Wednesday night, Trump sought to project a message of unity, pledging to find those responsible for the suspected bombs and calling on Americans to come together.

"You see how nice I’m behaving tonight? Have you ever seen this?" he asked the crowd in Mosinee, Wisconsin. "We’re all behaving very well and hopefully we can keep it that way."

Democrats were having none of it, saying the Republican president had little credibility to act as a unifying figure.

"President Trump's words ring hollow until he reverses his statements that condone acts of violence," Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer and House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi said in a statement earlier in the day.

"For years now, Donald Trump has been calling for the jailing of his critics and has lauded violence against journalists," said US Representative Bill Pascrell, a New Jersey Democrat. "The danger of right-wing extremism cannot be ignored and more attention must be paid to it before even worse violence occurs."

Politicians from both major parties have made condemning the harsh tone of politics part of their everyday stump speeches.

Republicans have criticised Democrats and liberal activists as a "mob," decrying protesters crowding the US Capitol to oppose Trump's Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, and confronting and chastising Republican lawmakers in restaurants and other settings. Scenes of small-scale violence also marked Trump's 2017 inauguration.

A recent Reuters/Ipsos poll found rising anger would be a factor driving voters on the 6 November elections when Democrats are seeking to regain control of at least one of the two chambers of Congress.

Heated Tone

Trump sometimes invokes images of violence in remarks to his supporters. Last week, he reiterated his support for a Montana congressman who body-slammed a reporter in 2017. In August, Trump warned that if Democrats gained control of Congress, they would "quickly and violently" overturn his agenda.

Last year, he said there were bad people on both sides of a clash in Charlottesville, Virginia, between white supremacist groups and counter-protesters.

Some of the people who received suspicious packages, including Obama, Clinton and former Attorney General Eric Holder, have been targeted by online groups such as QAnon that push vast conspiracy theories saying Democrats are behind international crime rings.

Posts on online message boards dismissed the cluster of suspected bombs as a "false flag," an allegation that a widely covered news event was a politically motivated hoax.

Paul Achter, a professor of rhetoric at the University of Richmond, said Trump's frequently violent tone increased the likelihood of violent actions.

"Verbal abuse has consequences," Achter said. "Just because Trump did not send a bomb or beat up a reporter or shoot up a newsroom doesn't excuse this kind of speech."

But Republican US Representative Steve Scalise, who was wounded last year by a gunman who opened fire on Republican lawmakers during a baseball practice, said it was a mistake for Democrats to criticise Trump for the suspected bombs.

"I think it was important that the President did come out with a statement the way he did - strongly," Scalise said in a statement. "I heard silence a lot of times, when Republicans were under attack, from Democrat leaders. We all should be calling this out, whether a Republican or Democrat is under attack."

Trump promises thorough investigation

Donald Trump said that threats of political violence have no place in the United States, promising a full investigation into suspicious packages. 

"The full weight of our government is being deployed to conduct this investigation and bring those responsible for these despicable acts to justice. We will spare no resources or expense in this effort," Trump, a Republican, said at an event on opioid abuse.

"In these times, we have to unify, 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."

Source: Reuters