The Time Warner Center, where CNN’s New York bureau is located, was evacuated Wednesday due to a suspicious package. | AP Photo/Richard Drew Crime FBI investigating potential explosives sent to CNN and famous Democrats Additional packages turned up in California.

Authorities are investigating potential explosives sent to CNN and liberal political figures, including former President Barack Obama, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and the billionaire donor George Soros, as the White House on Wednesday denounced the “terrorizing acts.”

The FBI, in a statement late Wednesday afternoon, said that the packages, which were mailed in manila envelopes with a return address of “DEBBIE WASSERMAN SHULTZ,” were sent to Soros, Clinton, Obama, former CIA Director John Brennan at CNN’s offices, and former Attorney General Eric Holder. The package to Holder was returned to Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz’s office in Sunrise, Fla., which was evacuated on Wednesday.


Late Wednesday, the FBI said on Twitter that Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) was also sent two packages that are similar to the others. The Associated Press reported that federal authorities intercepted the packages addressed to Waters at a Los Angeles mail facility. The California Democrat had said earlier that her Washington office was also a target, but it is unclear whether the packages sent to California are related to that situation.

All envelopes contained “potentially destructive devices” and are being analyzed at the FBI Laboratory in Quantico, Va., according to the bureau, which warned that additional packages could have been mailed to other locations.

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The rash of packages to some of President Donald Trump's avowed rivals has injected a tense new dimension into the final stretch before the midterm elections.

Trump said at the White House on Wednesday afternoon that a major federal investigation was underway and that the government would “bring those responsible for these despicable acts to justice.”

“I just want to tell you that in these times, we have to unify, we have to come together, and send one very clear, strong, unmistakable message that acts or threats of political violence of any kind have no place in the United States of America,” the president said, despite his own track record of engaging in divisive and, at times, violent rhetoric, including a recent reference to Democrats as an “angry, ruthless, unhinged mob.”

Trump said that investigators “will spare no resources or expense in this effort.”

“We’re extremely angry, upset, unhappy about what we witnessed this morning, and we will get to the bottom of it,” the president concluded.

John Miller, deputy commissioner of intelligence and counterterrorism for the New York Police Department, said during a news conference in New York earlier in the day that all the devices in that region, including the one sent to Clinton’s home, were being described as “pipe bombs.”

In addition, a white substance was found with the package that was delivered to CNN’s New York offices. The Time Warner Center, where CNN’s New York bureau is located, was evacuated. The network’s president, Jeff Zucker, said in a statement released at noon that the package had been removed from the building.

Later Wednesday afternoon, Zucker condemned Trump and his administration’s relationship with the news media. The president often refers to the press as “fake news” after reports about his administration that he disagrees with, and has in the past dubbed journalists “the enemy of the people.”

“There is a total and complete lack of understanding at the White House about the seriousness of their continued attacks on the media,” Zucker said in a statement. “The President, and especially the White House Press Secretary, should understand their words matter. Thus far, they have shown no comprehension of that.”

The series of packages were condemned widely by politicians on both sides of the aisle, and Democrats also took the president to task over his past rhetoric.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.)and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said in a joint statement that they “listened with great interest to the president’s remarks,” but added that those words “ring hollow until he reverses his statements that condone acts of violence.”

“Time and time again,” they said, “the president has condoned physical violence and divided Americans with his words and his actions: expressing support for the congressman who body-slammed a reporter, the neo-Nazis who killed a young woman in Charlottesville, his supporters at rallies who get violent with protesters, dictators around the world who murder their own citizens, and referring to the free press as the enemy of the people.”

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) called the suspicious packages “attempted acts of domestic terrorism.”

“As we continue to learn more, Americans are united in gratitude for the first responders — the Secret Service, the Postal Service, and other law enforcement — who protect our leaders and public figures from such unconscionable acts,” he said in a statement.

Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) tweeted that the “targeted acts of terror are despicable cowardice,” and Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), tweeted that he hopes “this terrorist is caught & punished to full extent of the law.”

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), meanwhile, warned against engaging in heated rhetoric.

“Some already giving in to temptation to react to this terror attack by either assigning blame for or rationalizing it,” Rubio tweeted. “No sane or well intentioned person,no matter how partisan,would do this. It’s either the work of a demented person or terror aimed at further dividing America.”

Waters thanked the U.S. Capitol Police for intercepting the suspicious package sent to her in D.C.

“I am appreciative of the law enforcement entities who intercepted the package and are investigating this matter,” she said in a statement. “I unequivocally condemn any and all acts of violence and terror.”

The attacks come as Trump has recently received fresh scrutiny for appearing to incite violence. The president last week told a rally in Montana that GOP Rep. Greg Gianforte, who body slammed a reporter in 2017, was “my kind of guy.” He has also frequently encouraged his crowds to chant “Lock her up!” about Hillary Clinton and to physically remove protesters from his rallies.

The president has recently called out a number of people targeted this week.

Earlier this month, Trump accused Soros of paying people to protest against Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. The president has also bashed Waters, at times calling her “unhinged” and claiming she is not intelligent.

The White House has at times singled out CNN among the news media, with press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders engaging in heated exchanges with the network’s White House correspondent Jim Acosta, as well as reporters with other outlets. In addition, CNN White House correspondent Kaitlan Collins was once blocked from attending an open-press event, and the president has skipped over Acosta at a news conference.

White House officials sent out various statements decrying the suspected bombs Wednesday, with Sanders saying the administration condemns “the attempted violent attacks recently made against Presidents Obama and 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,” she said. “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.”

She later added to her statement as more details emerged about the suspicious device sent to CNN’s New York offices.

“Our condemnation of these dispicable [sic] acts certainly includes threats made to CNN as well as current or former public servants,” she said on Twitter. “These cowardly acts are unacceptable and wont be tolerated.”

Attorney General Jeff Sessions was scheduled to attend an annual award ceremony for Justice Department employees Wednesday but did not show up early in the event to make remarks.

Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein relayed an assurance from Sessions that Justice Department leaders are responding promptly to the series of suspected bombs.

“We condemn those actions and the person or persons who sent those devices in the strongest possible terms and we are determined that justice will be done,” Rosenstein said, reading a statement from Sessions. “In the meantime, as we proceed to carry out our duties, we will not be intimidated by any threats.”

The Secret Service on Wednesday morning released a statement that it had intercepted two packages, one addressed to Clinton and another to Obama.

It said the package addressed to Clinton at her Westchester County, N.Y., home was intercepted late Tuesday. On Wednesday, a second package was intercepted that was addressed to Obama at his residence in Washington.

The Secret Service said that “the protectees did not receive the packages nor were they at risk of receiving them.” The packages were identified during routine mail screening procedures.

“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,” the agency said in the statement.

Clinton said during an event on Wednesday the she and former President Bill Clinton “are fine, thanks to the men and women of the Secret Service who intercepted the package addressed to us long before it made its way to our home.”

“Every day we are grateful for their service and commitment and obviously never more than today,” Clinton said. “But it is a troubling time, isn’t it? And it’s a time of deep divisions, and we have to do everything we can to bring our country together.”

The Associated Press reported that the explosive device found at the Clintons’ home in Chappaqua was believed to be linked to one that was found in a mailbox on Monday at the residence of Soros, who was not there at the time.

The series of packages also sparked several false alarms. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo initially said he, too, had received a suspicious package. Rich Azzopardi, the governor’s senior deputy communications director, later tweeted that a preliminary investigation showed it was actually “computer files on the hate group, The Proud Boys, who recently appeared in New York.”

A building in San Diego was also briefly evacuated because of a stack of suspicious packages. The building houses The San Diego Union-Tribune and the office of Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.). Police later determined that the boxes were filled with miscellaneous items, including children’s books, according to The Union-Tribune.

Josh Gerstein, Gloria Pazmino, Matthew Choi and Caitlin Oprysko contributed to this report.