Washington (AFP) – 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.
Karoline Leavitt, a spokeswoman for Trump’s transition team, earlier said that several appointees and nominees “were targeted in violent, un-American threats to their lives and those who live with them.”
Elise 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.
As he prepares to return to the White 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.
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