Authorities have now discovered a sixth explosive device, this time at a Congressional mail sorting facility in Maryland. The package is reportedly addressed to Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA).
Two law enforcement sources reportedly confirmed to CNN that a package similar to the ones mailed to former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, former President Barack Obama, former Attorney General Eric Holder, Democratic mega-donor George Soros, and former CIA chief John Brennan, turned up at a clearinghouse for Congressional mail located in Capitol Heights, Maryland.
CNN reports that Capitol Police’s bomb squad is on the scene. All other packages, now six in total, are said to be rudimentary but operational explosive devices.
ABC News reporter Tara Palmeri says sources told the network the intercepted package was addressed to Waters, but did not give further details about the item.
NEWS: Suspicious package intercepted by Capitol Hill police was addressed to Democratic California congresswoman Maxine Waters, according to three sources.
— Tara Palmeri (@tarapalmeri) October 24, 2018
This is the sixth such package to appear at a mail sorting facility or office this week. On Tuesday, someone reportedly hand-delivered a small explosive device to the New York home of George Soros. The Secret Service intercepted two packages, one in New York and one in Washington, D.C., addressed to Clinton and Obama, respectively. A fourth package appeared in the mailroom of the Time Warner center, addressed to Brennan via CNN (though Brennan works as a strategist for MSNBC). A fifth package, addressed to Holder, turned up at Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz’s home office in Florida.
Authorities are also investigating a suspicious packages sent to New York governor Andrew Cuomo. They have yet to confirm that it is connected to the other packages. An eighth suspicious package, received by the San Diego Union-Tribune newspaper, was not a bomb.
All of the suspicious items shared similar characteristics: they are all rudimentary but functional explosive devices constructed in a similar manner, all were packaged in manila envelopes covered in stamps, and all listed Wasserman Schultz’s office as the return address. Holder’s package was “returned to sender,” and rerouted back to Wasserman Schultz.