WASHINGTON -- A pipe bomb was addressed to former President Barack Obama's home in the Kalorama neighborhood of D.C. early Wednesday morning.
Secret Service said they intercepted the explosive devices addressed to the Obamas, and also to Hillary Clinton's home outside of New York City, before the packages reached their residences.
Former President Obama and his family have lived in the Kalorama neighborhood, which is located in Northwest D.C., since his second term as president ended. The area includes both Kalorama Triangle and Sheridan-Kalorama.
Secret Service police presence and barricades mark entry points to the neighborhood. President Donald Trump's daughter Ivanka also lives in the neighborhood.
President Obama did not receive the package due to routine screening procedures, according to the Secret Service. The devices were found late overnight into Wednesday morning.
"The packages were immediately identified during routine mail screening procedures as potential explosive devices and were appropriately handled as such," the Secret Service said in a statement. "The protectees did not receive the packages nor were they at risk of receiving them."
A criminal investigation is ongoing. No suspects have been identified, and no one has yet claimed responsibility for the attempted attacks.
That makes at least six packages to have been sent via mail containing explosive devices. Other locations where the packages were sent or intended for include: CNN's New York offices, the Florida offices of Rep. Debbie Wassermann-Schultz, and the offices of former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder.
Investigators believe the devices are linked to one found Monday at the compound of liberal billionaire George Soros in Bedford, N.Y.
The devices were sent just weeks after suspicious envelopes were intercepted meant for President Donald Trump and top military leaders, some of which contained the natural ingredients used to make the deadly poison ricin. Federal authorities arrested a U.S. Navy veteran in Utah.
Secret Service released the following 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 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.”
Also Wednesday, a police bomb squad was sent to CNN’s offices in New York City and the newsroom was evacuated because of a suspicious package.
According to CNN, the package was addressed to former CIA director John Brennan. Brennan doesn't work for CNN and is a contributor to MSNBC.
