The US Secret Service has intercepted “potential explosive devices” that were sent to former US President Barack Obama and former presidential candidate and first lady Hillary Clinton.
The explosives sent to Clinton was found late Tuesday while the one addressed to Obama was found early Wednesday, the Secret Service said in a statement on Wednesday.
“The packages were immediately identified during routine mail screening procedures as potential explosive devices and were appropriately handled as such.” the agency said.
Neither Clinton nor Obama received the explosives and the packages never reached their homes because of security procedures, the Secret Service said.
The packages sent to the two leading Democrats and a bomb delivered to one of the party’s major donors days earlier come roughly two weeks before the Nov. 6 elections that will determine whether Republicans maintain control of Congress in a deeply polarized nation.
Hillary Clinton was attending campaign events for Democrats in Florida on Tuesday and Wednesday and was not at the family’s residence in Chappaqua, New York, at the time. Bill Clinton was home at the time the package was intercepted.
The Time Warner Building in New York City was also evacuated on Wednesday after a suspicious package that had been mailed was found in the CNN mail room, the New York Police Department and CNN said.
The discovery of the packages came after a small bomb was found earlier this week at the home of billionaire Democratic donor George Soros in the New York City suburb of Katonah, about 10 miles (16 km) from the Clintons’ home.
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