FBI confirms Trump cabinet picks targeted with bomb threats, ‘swatting’

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in the United States has issued a statement confirming that several picks for President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming administration have been the subject of threats in the days since their nominations.

“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 bureau said on Wednesday.

“We take all potential threats seriously and, as always, encourage members of the public to immediately report anything they consider suspicious to law enforcement.”

The short statement echoed reports from within the Trump transition team itself.

Earlier in the day, Trump spokesperson Karoline Leavitt indicated that cabinet nominees such as Lee Zeldin and Elise Stefanik were among those targeted.

“Last night and this morning, several of President Trump’s Cabinet nominees and Administration appointees were targeted in violent, unAmerican threats to their lives and those who live with them,” she wrote in a press release.

Zeldin, a former congressman from New York, posted about his experience on social media, confirming he and his family were safe.

“A pipe bomb threat targeting me and my family at our home today was sent in with a pro-Palestinian themed message,” said Zeldin, who has been tapped by Trump to lead the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA).

Stefanik, a US representative from New York and Trump’s pick to serve as ambassador to the United Nations, issued a statement through her office explaining that she too had been the subject of a bomb scare.

“This morning, Congresswoman Elise Stefanik, her husband, and their three year old son were driving home to Saratoga County from Washington for Thanksgiving when they were informed of a bomb threat to their residence,” the statement said.

“New York State, County law enforcement, and US Capitol Police responded immediately with the highest levels of professionalism.”

Citing an anonymous law enforcement official, The Associated Press news agency also reported that incoming chief of staff Susie Wiles, former attorney general pick Matt Gaetz, and his replacement Pam Bondi were targeted as well.

The FBI cited instances of “swatting”, in which law enforcement is called to a home or office under false pretences, creating a potentially dangerous situation for the person inside.

Recent incidents like the attack on the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, have heightened concerns about the threat of political violence in the US.

That riot saw thousands of Trump supporters storm the US Congress in an attempt to disrupt the certification of the 2020 presidential election.

A 2023 investigation from the news agency Reuters found 213 cases of political violence happened in the years since the Capitol riot.

Concerns over political violence continued into the 2024 election cycle, when Trump faced two apparent assassination attempts.

One, in July, resulted in a bullet grazing Trump’s ear while he stood on stage at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. An audience member, firefighter Corey Comperatore, was killed in the attack.

A second attempt on Trump’s life was averted outside his golf resort in West Palm Beach, Florida, in September, when a gunman was discovered hiding in the bushes.

Also in September, the city of Springfield, Ohio, also received hoax bomb threats at its government buildings, after Trump depicted the local Haitian American population as a threat.

In the aftermath of those threats, politicians on both sides of the aisle called for voters to “turn down the temperature” on hostile political rhetoric.

One study even found that tolerance for “partisan violence” declined among Republicans after the assassination attempts.

“We cannot, we must not go down this road in America. We’ve traveled it before throughout our history. Violence has never been the answer,” President Joe Biden, a Democrat, said in a speech.

Then-candidate Donald Trump greets Lee Zeldin at a campaign event at a Pennsylvania farm on September 23 [Alex Brandon/AP Photo]

Trump, meanwhile, accused Democrats of spurring the violence, though critics point out he has shown little aversion to painting political opponents as dangerous enemies.

“Because of this Communist Left Rhetoric, the bullets are flying, and it will only get worse!” Trump wrote on social media in September.

He also told Fox News that Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, his rival in the presidential race, were to blame.

“Their rhetoric is causing me to be shot at, when I am the one who is going to save the country, and they are the ones that are destroying the country – both from the inside and out,” he said.

There is, however, no evidence that any of the attacks against Trump were motivated by his Democratic rivals.

Still, on Wednesday, Leavitt pointed to Trump as a role model for how to handle the recent threats.

“With President Trump as our example, dangerous acts of intimidation and violence will not deter us,” Leavitt said.