WASHINGTON: Several members of Donald Trump’s incoming administration have received threats including bomb alerts, the FBI said Wednesday, with one nominee reporting a pipe-bomb scare sent with a pro-Palestinian message.
“The FBI is aware of numerous bomb threats and swatting incidents targeting incoming administration nominees and appointees, and we are working with our law enforcement partners,” the agency said in a statement.
Swatting refers to the practice in which police are summoned urgently to someone’s house under false pretenses. Such hoax calls are common in the United States and have seen numerous senior political figures targeted in recent years.
Karoline Leavitt, a spokeswoman for Trump’s transition team, earlier said that several appointees and nominees “were targeted in violent, unAmerican threats to their lives and those who live with them.”
Elize Stefanik, a Trump loyalist congresswoman tapped to be UN ambassador, said her residence in New York was targeted in a bomb threat.
She said in a statement that she, her husband, and small son were driving home from Washington for the Thanksgiving holiday when they learned of the threat.
Lee Zeldin, Trump’s pick to lead the Environmental Protection Agency, said his home was targeted with a pipe bomb threat sent with a “pro-Palestinian themed message.”
The former congressman from New York said he and his family were not home at the time.
Fox News Digital quoted unidentified sources saying that John Ratcliffe, Trump’s nominee to head the CIA, and Pete Hegseth, the defense secretary pick, were also targeted.
Ahead of his return to the House in January, Trump has already swiftly assembled a cabinet of loyalists, including several criticized for a severe lack of experience.
The Republican, who appears set to avoid trial on criminal prosecutions related to attempts to overturn his 2020 election loss, was wounded in the ear in July in an assassination attempt during a campaign rally. The shooter was killed in counter-fire.
In September, authorities arrested another man accused of planning to shoot at Trump while he played golf at his course in West Palm Beach, Florida.
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FBI says bomb threats made against Trump nominees
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FBI says bomb threats made against Trump nominees
- “The FBI is aware of numerous bomb threats and swatting incidents targeting incoming administration nominees and appointees,” the agency said
- Elize Stefanik, a Trump loyalist congresswoman tapped to be UN ambassador, said her residence in New York was targeted in a bomb threat
New Zealand floods kill one, leave thousands without power
WELLINGTON: Heavy rains and strong winds have lashed New Zealand in recent days, killing one man, flooding large areas and cutting off several communities, authorities said.
The severe storm since Friday has prompted a state of emergency in North Island, where the Waikato Regional Council said “one in 100 year” rainfall had caused widespread flooding.
Police said a man died on Friday after the car he was driving was trapped in flood waters near North Island’s Otorohanga.
The storm has continued down the country, reaching the capital Wellington on Monday before moving toward Christchurch in the South Island on Tuesday.
Energy operator PowerCo. said about 10,000 households were without power in the lower North Island on Tuesday, while another electricity company, Orion, said more than 200 households were without power on Banks Peninsula outside Christchurch.
Near Wellington, Wairarapa township Lake Ferry had been cut off after the only road access to the town was washed out.
National broadcaster RNZ reported residents were forming a human chain to pass supplies across a washed out bridge.
The town of Akaroa outside Christchurch was also isolated on Tuesday due to flooding and slips on the highway leading to it, the New Zealand Transport Agency said.
National meteorological agency MetService said winds that struck Wellington on Monday were the strongest since 2013.
Wind gusts of 193 kilometers (120 miles) per hour were recorded in the city, MetService said.
The severe storm since Friday has prompted a state of emergency in North Island, where the Waikato Regional Council said “one in 100 year” rainfall had caused widespread flooding.
Police said a man died on Friday after the car he was driving was trapped in flood waters near North Island’s Otorohanga.
The storm has continued down the country, reaching the capital Wellington on Monday before moving toward Christchurch in the South Island on Tuesday.
Energy operator PowerCo. said about 10,000 households were without power in the lower North Island on Tuesday, while another electricity company, Orion, said more than 200 households were without power on Banks Peninsula outside Christchurch.
Near Wellington, Wairarapa township Lake Ferry had been cut off after the only road access to the town was washed out.
National broadcaster RNZ reported residents were forming a human chain to pass supplies across a washed out bridge.
The town of Akaroa outside Christchurch was also isolated on Tuesday due to flooding and slips on the highway leading to it, the New Zealand Transport Agency said.
National meteorological agency MetService said winds that struck Wellington on Monday were the strongest since 2013.
Wind gusts of 193 kilometers (120 miles) per hour were recorded in the city, MetService said.
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