The U.S. Secret Service announced Wednesday it has launched a full criminal investigation after it "intercepted two suspicious packages" addressed to former President Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.
News broke Wednesday morning that a suspicious package had been discovered late Tuesday at the Chappaqua home of Clinton, the 2016 Democratic nominee for the presidency. A second was addressed to Obama and discovered Wednesday in Washington, D.C., where the former president lives with his family.
The agency stressed neither Clinton nor Obama were ever in danger of opening the packages in question.
"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 Secret Service said in a statement.
"The packages were immediately identified during routine mail screening procedures as potential explosive devices and were appropriately handled as such. 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."
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President Donald Trump has been briefed on the packages, and the White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders released a statement condemning "attempted violent attacks," going them "despicable" and saying all necessary actions will be taken against "these cowards."
"We condemn the attempted violent attacks recently made against President Obama, President Clinton, Secretary Clinton, and other public figures. These terrorizing acts are despicable, and anyone responsible will be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law. 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," Sanders said.
The report follows the discovery of an explosive device to progressive billionaire and megadonor George Soros at his home on Monday. Like the Clintons, the home is in New York's Westchester County. Bomb squad technicians safely detonated the bomb, which appeared to have been hand-delivered to his mailbox.