Investigators dig for the bomb motif, warn that we could find others

This image, obtained on Wednesday, October 24, 2018 and provided by ABC News, shows a package addressed to former CIA President John Brennan, as well as an explosive device sent to CNN's New York office. The bomb threat was expanded on Thursday as law enforcement officials seized more suspicious parcels. (ABC News via AP)

WASHINGTON – Investigators on Thursday searched across the country for the authors of the mysterious conspiracy behind the bizarre plot to criticize the president, analyzing the guts of rudimentary devices to determine whether they were intended to detonate or to to sow fear. two weeks before polling day.

Three other devices were linked to the conspiracy – two addressed to former Vice President Joe Biden and one to actor Robert De Niro – bringing the total to 10 in a politically charged and unprecedented threat epidemic, even none. Authorities warned that there could be more.

Law enforcement officials told The Associated Press that the devices, containing timers and batteries, were not rigged like trapped booby traps that could explode when they opened. But they still did not know if the devices were poorly designed or had never been intended to cause physical harm. A search in a postal database suggested that at least some of them had been sent from Florida, said a manager.

Officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not allowed to discuss nominally the ongoing investigation.

New details on the devices emerged as the four-day postal bomb alert spread throughout the country, involving investigators from dozens of federal, state, and local agencies to identify one or more perpetrators.

Targets include former President Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, CNN and California representative Maxine Waters. The common denominator between them was obvious: Critical words for Donald Trump and frequent and harsh criticism in return.

At a press conference held Thursday in New York, officials have not discussed the possible reasons, or details on how packages found themselves in the US postal system. Nor would they say why none of these packages had exploded, but they pointed out that they still treated them as "live devices".

"When it comes to hoaxes, we do not treat them that way," said Police Commissioner James O'Neill.

The details suggested a pattern – that the items were wrapped in kraft paper envelopes, addressed to important Trump critics, and wore American postage stamps. The devices were examined by technicians from the FBI Forensic Laboratory in Quantico, Virginia.

The packages fueled tensions and fears nationwide as voters were ready to vote on November 6 to determine congressional control of Congress – a campaign described almost apocalyptically by both parties. Even with the sender still unknown, politicians from both parties took advantage of these threats to denounce a toxic political climate and blame anyone.

"A very big part of the anger we see today in our society is caused by the deliberately false and inaccurate reporting of mainstream media that I call false news," Trump said on Twitter. "It's become so heinous and hateful that it's beyond description. Mainstream Media has to put order in its business, FAST! "

Former CIA director John Brennan, the target of a package sent to CNN, fought back.

"Stop blaming others. Look in the mirror, "tweeted Brennan. "Your incendiary rhetoric, insults, lies, and encouragement of physical violence are outrageous. Clean up your act … try to act presidential. "

The list of bombing targets has expanded from New York, Delaware and Washington DC to Florida and California.

The explosive devices were wrapped in envelopes with a bubble-film interior bearing six US flag stamps and the return address of Florida representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the former chair of the National Committee Democrat.

The bombs seized Wednesday were about six inches long and were filled with powder and broken glass, according to a law enforcement official who viewed x-rays. The official said the devices were made from PVC pipes and covered with black tape. At the briefing held in New York, the authorities confirmed that at least some of the packages were distributed by US Post and warned that there may be additional devices in the postal system. They said investigators looking for more suspicious packages had found none during the previous eight hours.

David Chipman, retired federal FTA officer and now senior policy adviser for the Giffords Center, said the details revealed revealing signs that could help guide the investigators.

The recording on the pipe is "the dream of an investigator," he said, recalling a case in Texas that was resolved because the fibers of the recording were traced back to the dog's Suicide bomber. He said that bombers tend to plot methodically.

"It's someone who sits and who spends time thinking about what he's going to do to someone else." And some people like to taste that, "he said.

The new packages discovered Thursday triggered a new wave of alarm.

A retired New York police inspector working in the De Niro office in Manhattan called the police after he saw images of a parcel bomb sent to CNN and recalled a similar package sent to the actor , officials said.

The parcels sent to Biden were intercepted in the Delaware postal facilities in New Castle and Wilmington, according to a law enforcement official who, like others, was not allowed to discuss the investigation and was talking under cover of anonymity.

Like previous targets, Biden and De Niro both strongly criticized Trump. The actor dropped an insult to Trump at this year's Tony Awards and also apologized to Canadians for the "silly behavior of my president." Biden said last week that the president may not "know what he's doing" and pester dictators.

Trump called Biden "Crazy Joe" and "mentally weak".

The packages "clearly aimed to terrorize people politically, to choose them for political ends and to attack them because of their beliefs," said New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio.

The first crude bomb to be discovered was delivered Monday to the outer suburbs of New York George Soros, billionaire liberal and major contributor to democratic causes. Soros called the Trump presidency "dangerous".

Similar packages addressed to Clinton and Obama were intercepted while they were traveling to Clinton's home in New York, where she lives with former President Bill Clinton, and to Washington, where Obama lives with his wife Michelle. The secret services stated that neither one nor the other package had reached its intended recipient.

Others have been sent to frequent criticism of Trump, Waters, D-Calif., And the former Attorney General of Obama, Eric Holder. He ended up in the office of Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz in Sunrise, Florida, who was on the list of return addresses.

A police team removed the parcel sent to Brennan on Wednesday from the CNN office in New York, which was evacuated.

In response to the events, Trump decried political violence but also joked that he was moving to more polite speeches.

"Let's go," he said at a rally in Wisconsin on Wednesday night. "By the way, do you see how well I behave tonight? Have you ever seen this? "/ Kga

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