The transition team on Wednesday said that several cabinet picks and appointees were “targeted in violent, un-American threats to their lives and those who live with them.”
“These attacks ranged from bomb threats to ‘swatting.’ In response, law enforcement and other authorities acted quickly to ensure the safety of those who were targeted. President Trump and the entire Transition team are grateful for their swift action,” transition spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said in a statement.
Swatting is a form of harassment in which a caller falsely reports a dangerous incident to law enforcement in hopes of provoking an armed police response.
President Joe Biden was briefed on the incidents and condemned threats of political violence, according to a White House spokesperson speaking on the condition of anonymity. The White House has been in touch with federal law enforcement and Trump’s team on the matter and a federal law enforcement response is ongoing, the spokesperson said.
New York State troopers received an email about 8 AM Wednesday claiming that a bomb had been placed in the mailbox of Lutnick’s Upper East Side home in Manhattan, according to a person familiar with the matter.
The office of Representative Elise Stefanik of New York, Trump’s pick to be US ambassador to the United Nations, said she was also one of the nominees who had been targeted by a bomb threat.
“This morning, Congresswoman Elise Stefanik, her husband, and their three year old son were driving home to Saratoga County from Washington for Thanksgiving when they were informed of a bomb threat to their residence,” according to the statement. “New York State, County law enforcement, and U.S. Capitol Police responded immediately with the highest levels of professionalism.”
Brooke Rollins, Trump’s pick to run the US Department of Agriculture, and Lee Zeldin, who Trump named to run the Environmental Protection Agency, said they received threats.
Pete Hegseth, who the president-elect named as his nominee for secretary of defense, said in a post on X that a police officer came to his home on Wednesday morning and “notified my wife and I that they had received a credible pipe bomb threat targeting me and my family. We are all safe and the threat has been cleared.”
The FBI in a statement Wednesday said it is “aware of numerous bomb threats and swatting incidents targeting incoming administration nominees and appointees.” The agency said it takes potential threats seriously, is working with law enforcement partners and encouraged people with any information to report it.
The Trump transition team did not respond to a request for additional details on which nominees were targeted by the harassment campaign.
Leavitt said Trump and his team remained focused on their work and that “dangerous acts of intimidation and violence will not deter us.”
US political figures have increasingly been targeted in swatting-style attacks. Earlier this year, a caller using a fake number falsely claimed a fire at the White House, prompting the District of Columbia to deploy firefighters and medics to the building. President Joe Biden was spending the weekend at Camp David when the incident occurred.
Prominent Republican lawmakers including Rick Scott, a senator from Florida, and Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia have previously reported swatting incidents.
