As It Is

Explosive Devices Sent to Clinton, Obama, Former Officials

A member of the New York Police Department bomb squad is pictured outside the Time Warner Center in the Manhattan borough of New York City after a suspicious package was found inside the CNN Headquarters in New York, U.S., October 24, 2018. (REUTERS/Kevin Coombs)

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Explosive Devices Sent to Clinton, Obama, Former Officials

Explosive devices were sent Wednesday to former President Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and the New York offices of CNN television.

The devices appeared to target well-known members of the Democratic Party. The news comes as Americans get ready to vote in the upcoming mid-term elections.

President Donald Trump condemned the attempted bombings.

Trump said, “Acts or threats of political violence have no place in the United States.”

He added, “We have to unify, we have to come together.”

The U.S. Secret Service said that the “potential explosive devices” were identified and removed before reaching Obama and Clinton.

A package containing a "live explosive device" according to police, received at the Time Warner Center which houses the CNN New York bureau, in New York City, is shown in this handout picture provided Oct.24, 2018.

The device sent to CNN was addressed to John Brennan, a fierce critic of President Donald Trump. He served as director of the Central Intelligence Agency under Obama.

The New York Police Department said explosives experts removed a pipe bomb from the CNN office. The device appeared to be similar to the one sent Monday to financier George Soros, a long-time supporter of the Democratic Party.

In Florida, the Federal Bureau of Investigation is investigating an envelope at the office of Representative Deborah Wasserman Schultz. She was the former chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee.

The envelope had Schultz’s office as the return address and was first sent to Eric Holder with the wrong address. Holder served as Attorney General in the Obama administration. Schultz’s address was also the return address on the envelope sent to Brennan.

No injuries were reported in any of the incidents.

FBI Director Christopher Wray confirmed that five packages were sent to Soros, Obama, Clinton, Brennan and Holder.

He said in a statement, “This investigation is of the highest priority for the FBI. We have committed the full strength of the FBI’s resources and, together with our partners on our Joint Terrorism Task Forces, we will continue to work to identify and arrest whoever is responsible for sending these packages.”

I’m Jonathan Evans.

Hai Do wrote this story for VOA Learning English, based on reports from the Associated Press and Reuters. Mario Ritter was the editor.

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Words in This Story

potential –adj. able to become real

address –v. to write on an envelope, package or letter the name and address of the person it is being sent to

pipe bomb –n. a simple explosive device often in the form of a pipe

envelope –n. an enclosed cover for a letter

cowards –n. someone who is too afraid to do what is right or expected