More Suspicious Packages Sent to Trump Critics

(CN) – Two more suspicious packages appearing to contain rudimentary pipe bombs – one bound for the home of former Vice President Joe Biden and another delivered to a property belonging to actor Robert De Niro, an outspoken critic of President Donald Trump -- were discovered by authorities Thursday.

According to law enforcement, the devices were delivered in the same style of packaging as those that were sent to former President Barack Obama, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, CNN’s offices in New York, billionaire philanthropist George Soros, former Democratic National Committee chairwoman Rep. Deborah Wasserman Schultz and on Wednesday evening, Rep. Maxine Waters, of California.

Reports Wednesday of similar devices sent to the Washington, D.C. office of Sen. Kamala Harris, D-California, and to New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, were determined to be false alarms, according to authorities.

The devices discovered Thursday addressed to Biden and De Niro were the eight and ninth potentially explosive packages sent to high profile public figures this week.

Law enforcement intercepted the suspicious package intended for Biden at a mail facility in Delaware.

The package appearing to target De Niro was found by security guards patrolling outside Tribeca Productions, the Oscar-winner’s film company in Manhattan.

Before the packages were discovered, on Wednesday night at a rally in Mosinee, Wisconsin, the president called for “peace and harmony,” s saying people should not “mob” or “destroy public property.”

He also told rally-goers it was the media’s responsibility to “set a civil tone” and stop the “endless hostility and constant negative and often false attacks and stories.”

On Thursday morning, after the latest packages were discovered, the president continued the theme, tweeting: “A very big part of the Anger we see today in our society is caused by the purposely false and inaccurate reporting of the Mainstream Media that I refer to as Fake News.”

He continued: “It has gotten so bad and hateful that it is beyond description. Mainstream Media must clean up its act. FAST!”

The president, who encouraged violence against protesters at his campaign rallies in 2016 and last week joked about Montana Rep. Greg Gianforte body slamming a journalist, said a day earlier that  “acts or threats of political violence have no place of any kind in the United States of America.”

His comments did little to mollify CNN President Jeff Zucker, who released a statement on Twitter that said “there is a total and complete lack of understanding at the White House about the seriousness of their continued attacks on the media.

“The president, and especially the White House Press Secretary [Sarah Sanders], should understand their words matter. Thus far, they have shown no comprehension of that,” Zucker added.

The package delivered to CNN caused the New York City Police Department to order a mass evacuation of the Time Warner Center in Midtown Manhattan.

According to the U.S. Secret Service, the packages were caught during routine screenings.

CNN anchors Poppy Harlow and Jim Sciutto were reporting about the bomb deliveries when a fire alarm began blaring in the background of the television studio, forcing them to interrupt an interview and cut to a commercial break before being forced outside of the news building.

The package sent to CNN was addressed to former CIA director John Brennan, an MSNBC contributor, the crudely filled out return address on the label was that of Wasserman Schultz.

Other homemade devices were reportedly found at the Washington, D.C. offices of Sen. Kamala Harris, D-California, former attorney general Eric Holder and at the offices of New York Governor Andrew Cuomo.

According to the Associated Press, the devices found in New York at the Clinton home were believed to be related to those found at the Soros home.

In a separate statement by the Secret Service, the organization said it had initiated a “full scope criminal investigation.”

“[It] will leverage all available federal, state and local resources to determine the source of the packages and identify those responsible,” the agency said.

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