“Potential explosive devices” were intercepted in the mail of both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, the Secret Service said in a statement on Wednesday.
Here is the Secret Service’s full statement:
The U.S. Secret Service has intercepted two suspicious packages addressed to Secret Service protectees. Late on October 23, 2018, the Secret Service recovered a single package addressed to Former First Lady Hillary Clinton in Westchester County, New York. Early this morning, October 24, 2018, a second package addressed to the residence of Former President Barack Obama was intercepted by Secret Service personnel in Washington, DC. The packages were immediately identified during routine mail screening procedures as potential explosive devices and were appropriately handled as such. Both packages were intercepted prior to being delivered to their intended location. The protectees did not receive the packages nor were they at risk of receiving them. The Secret Service has initiated a full scope criminal investigation that will leverage all available federal, state, and local resources to determine the source of the packages and identify those responsible.
The packages came just days after a similar item arrived at the Westchester County, New York, home of billionaire financier George Soros. None of the devices actually came close to their intended targets and Clinton, Obama and Soros were all unharmed, MSNBC reported Wednesday.
Later on Wednesday, Chelsea Clinton thanked the Secret Service for their work handling the situation.
Every day, I am grateful to the women and men of the United States Secret Service. Thank you.
— Chelsea Clinton (@ChelseaClinton) October 24, 2018
All three figures have faced regular criticism from President Trump and Republicans. Though the president has never called for violence, his base has often pushed conspiracies that Soros or the Clintons were secretly funding a large caravan of migrants now moving through Mexico toward the United States
In a statement, the White House forcefully condemned the situation.
“These terrorizing acts are despicable, and anyone responsible will be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law,” press secretary Sarah Sanders said in a statement that also called the perpetrators “cowards.”