Trump’s Cabinet Nominees Recieves Bomb Threat

Several of Donald Trump’s cabinet nominees and picks for his White House team have been targeted by bomb threats.

The FBI said it was aware of “numerous bomb threats” as well as “swatting incidents”, in which hoax calls are made to attract a police response to the target’s home.

Threats were made against at least nine people chosen by Trump to lead the Departments of Defence, Housing, Agriculture and Labor, as well as his pick for US ambassador to the United Nations, among others.

Police are investigating the incidents, which happened on Tuesday night and Wednesday.

Karoline Leavitt, a spokeswoman for Trump’s transition team, said the Trump appointees “were targeted in violent, unAmerican threats to their lives and those who live with them”.

“With President Trump as our example, dangerous acts of intimidation and violence will not deter us,” she said.
Neither Leavitt nor the FBI identified any of the targets by name.

New York Republican Elise Stefanik, who Trump has named to be the US ambassador to the United Nations, was the first to say her family home had been targeted by a bomb threat.

Defence secretary nominee Pete Hegseth later confirmed that he was also targeted.

“I will not be bullied or intimidated. Never,” he wrote. “President Trump has called on me to serve – and that is what I intend to do.”

None of those targeted this week were protected by the US Secret Service, according to media reports.

Lee Zeldin, who Trump has nominated to become administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, also confirmed he was targeted, saying a “pipe bomb threat” was sent to his home with a “pro-Palestinian themed message”.

US Capitol Police, which protects Congress, said in the statement that it was working with federal law enforcement agencies on any “swatting”, but declined to provide further details “to minimise the risk of copy-cats”.

Pam Bondi, who was selected to replace Gaetz as Trump’s nominee, was also targeted along with incoming White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, according to CBS.

Similar hoax tactics have been recently used against other high-profile political figures, including against the judges and prosecutors who oversaw the criminal cases against Trump.

BBC/Ejiofor Ezeifeoma