NEW YORK – Law enforcement officials were on a feverish hunt for more suspicious packages following the discovery of potentially dangerous deliveries — including pipe bombs — to prominent Democrats across the country including former President Barack Obama in Washington, Hillary Clinton in suburban New York, and Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz in South Florida.
Bryan Paarmann, the FBI’s special agent in charge of the counterterrorism task force in New York, said packages also were sent Monday night to liberal philanthropist George Soros' residence in Westchester County, and on Wednesday to CNN offices in New York City.
ABC also was reporting Wednesday that Capitol Hill police intercepted a package at a Maryland facility that was addressed to California Democratic Congresswoman Maxine Waters.
The packages are being taken to the FBI lab for examination.
"So far, the devices have been what appear to be pipe bombs," NYPD Deputy Commissioner John Miller said during a news conference in Manhattan Wednesday.
“It appears that an individual or individuals sent out multiple similar packages,” Miller said.
The joint terrorism task force is working with FBI field offices to search for other suspicious packages. Authorities began looking for more packages after the first two arrived, and New York police were already at CNN when that package was discovered.
All of the recipients identified so far have been high-profile targets of President Donald Trump.
That drew attention from the president's critics on social media, including Obama's former top political strategist David Axelrod who asked in a tweet what tone the president planned to take "given the serial bombs that were delivered to several of his favorite verbal targets?"
At the White House, Trump slammed "this egregious conduct," calling it "abhorrent to everything we hold dear and sacred as Americans."
He promised to "get to the bottom of this" and punish the perpetrators.
"The safety of the American people is my highest and absolute priority," he said. "The full weight of our government is being deployed to conduct this investigation and bring those responsible for these despicable acts to justice. We will spare no resources or expense in this effort."
Arizona GOP Sen. Jeff Flake, who's been a target of Trump's ire, said the president should stop labeling the media as the "enemy" or verbally castigating political opponents.
"Words matter," Flake told CNN. "If he were to take a more civil tone, it would help … We all need to watch the rhetoric that we use. People hear them and then follow it ...Those of us in office need to keep that in mind. The stakes are too high right now."
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo initially said a "device" had been found Wednesday morning at his New York City office. That turned to be a letter and USB flash drive, according to the New York City Police Department.
The flash drive included computer files on The Proud Boys, a hate group that was recently in New York City, Cuomo spokesman Rich Azzopardi said.
Cuomo said he anticipated more suspicious packages may be found at additional locations.
The types of explosives and packaging will provide a wealth of information for investigators, along with potentially fingerprints and DNA left behind by the bombmakers, according to Anthony Roman, president of Roman & Assoc. Inc., a risk-management and commercial-investigation firm in Uniondale, N.Y.
“The scientific forensic abilities today are absolutely magical,” Roman said. “The way bombs are constructed and the materials used to construct them provide a fingerprint and tell an investigative story about who the perpetrators of this crime are.”
Bomb materials can be traced. Manufacturers and distributors could provide information. Video cameras where the packages were mailed or delivered could provide images of the perpetrators, as they helped during the Boston Marathon bombing investigation.
“Unlikely this will go unsolved,” Roman said.
The Secret Service said packages addressed to Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama were intercepted by law enforcement officials.
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. NYPD said that included in the package was an envelope with white powder.
James O’Neill, New York Police Department commissioner, said the building was swept with dogs and equipment and no additional threats were found.
"We will not be intimidated and we will bring these perpetrators to justice," O’Neill said.
New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said there were no other credible threats in the city.
According to CNN, the package sent to its office was addressed to former CIA director John Brennan. Brennan often contributes to CNN but doesn't work for the company. He also is a contributor to MSNBC.
Meanwhile, the FBI confirmed another suspicious package" went to Rep. Wasserman Schultz’ office in Sunrise, Florida, the Associated Press reported.
Citing law enforcement sources, CNN reported a suspicious package also was supposed to be delivered to former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder. It ended up being sent to the Sunrise, Florida, office of Wasserman Schultz, the former chair of the Democratic National Committee, because that was the return label on the package, CNN reported.
Administration officials said they know of no threatening packages sent to the White House. They also note that packages to the White House have to go through an off-site processing center, so a suspicious package would not reach the building.
The package addressed to Clinton, the former first lady and secretary of state, was sent to her home in Westchester County, New York, and discovered late Tuesday night. The package sent to former President Obama was sent to Washington and intercepted Wednesday morning.
The Secret Service said earlier that it has launched a criminal investigation into the incidents.
"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."
Nick Merrill, a spokesman for Hillary Clinton, tweeted Wednesday morning that no suspicious package made it to her home. Clinton was campaigning for Democrats in Florida and wasn’t at the family’s suburban New York residence at the time.
"It is a troubling time. It is a time of deep divisions. We have to do everything we can to bring our country together," Clinton said Wednesday while on the campaign trail.
Clinton added that when she is asked how she is doing, says ""As a person I am great. As an American I am worried."
In New York City, a police officer was stationed outside the Manhattan building that houses George Soros’ Open Society Foundation, but there was no evacuation there Wednesday morning.
Property managers at the New York office building that houses the Clinton Foundation warned tenants about the suspicious package mailed to the Clinton home and said the office building at 1633 Broadway was cleared by the NYPD of any suspicious activity or devices.
The White House on Wednesday condemned the attempted attacks.
More: Suspicious packages delivered to Clintons, Obamas, Soros, CNN: What we know so far
More: Explosive device found in mailbox of George Soros' home in New York
More: CNN office evacuates while live on air after package intercepted at New York office
"These terrorizing acts are despicable, and anyone responsible will be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law," press secretary Sarah Sanders said in a statement. "The United States Secret Service and other law enforcement agencies are investigating and will take all appropriate actions to protect anyone threatened by these cowards."
The packages come just weeks after suspicious envelopes were sent to 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.
Larry Johnson, a former 24-year Secret Service agent who is now CEO of CyberSponse Inc., said mail for former presidents is routinely screened off-site, so that explosives, chemical or biological threats can be investigated before a package ever reaches its target. Former presidents get suspicious mail almost daily, he said.
“I’m very surprised that an organization as large as CNN doesn’t do off-site screening of packages,” Johnson said.
To have numerous high-profile recipients in one day suggests the perpetrator might be much larger than a single disgruntled letter writer, he said.
“It could be a nation state, it could be terrorism, it could be organized crime,” said Johnson, who worked in presidential protection and headed the Secret Service’s criminal-investigative division. “It’s connecting the dots.”
The packages should yield clues about who built them, which investigators can track down. Many times in presidential protection, the correspondent is somebody who law enforcement know from previous interactions, Johnson said.
“A lot of times, the person is on record. It’s not the first time,” Johnson said. But investigators will work quickly to determine who sent the packages and why because if it’s larger than a single person, information about the threat needs to be pushed out across the government.
“If it’s something that’s nation-state driven or national security or terrorism, it’s much bigger than one agency,” Johnson said.
At Time Warner Center in New York, a police officer with a black, bomb-sniffing dog checked trees set in large planters along the sidewalk on the street’s southern side shortly after 11 a.m., checking for any suspicious activity.
There, well over 200 people stood outside. Some people, a mix of tourists, reporters and NYC residents, were curious, others were much more cautious.
“There’s always something going on in the city but this feels a little more serious than usual," Jocelyn Hernandez, 23, said. "It’s weird because people are just standing around waiting for something to happen but the officers sounded pretty serious about the threat."
Rinchen Tesphal got a CNN news alert and ran outside to see what was happening.
"It’s a very sad time we’re living in with people coming after the media – incidents where people go after journalists. It’s really disheartening," Tesphal, 23, said. "I'm here because I’m curious.”
Dareen Mohamed also received an alert about a bomb threat.
"I think I’m more shocked than I am scared," Mohamed, 18, said. "You always hear of these things happening but you’re never there. For once in my life I get to actually be on the scene."
Contributing: David Jackson in Washington; Kevin McCoy and Dalvin Brown in New York, Joseph Spector and Jon Campbell in Albany, N.Y.
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