Trump's Cabinet picks targeted with bomb threats, transition team says

A number of President-elect Donald Trump's most prominent Cabinet picks have been targeted by bomb threats and 'swatting attacks,' his transition team said Wednesday.

"Last night and this morning, several of President Trump’s Cabinet nominees and Administration appointees were targeted in violent, un-American threats to their lives and those who live with them," Trump transition spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said in a statement.

She said the attacks ranged from bomb threats to swatting, in which attackers initiate an emergency law enforcement response against a target victim under false pretences.

Among those targeted were Elise Stefanik, Trump's pick to be the next ambassador to the UN; Matt Gaetz, Trump’s initial pick to serve as attorney general, and former New York congressman Lee Zeldin, who has been tapped to lead the Environmental Protection Agency.

Susie Wiles, Trump's incoming chief of staff, and Pam Bondi, the former Florida Attorney General whom Trump has chosen as Gaetz's replacement, were also targeted, according to a law enforcement official who spoke on condition of anonymity amid the ongoing investigation.

The FBI said in a statement that it was "aware of numerous bomb threats and swatting incidents targeting incoming administration nominees and appointees" and was "working with our law enforcement partners. We take all potential threats seriously, and as always, encourage members of the public to immediately report anything they consider suspicious to law enforcement."

The threats come less than a month after Trump's victory in the election after he led a campaign that was marred by violence including two attempted assassination attempts against the president-elect.

Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson called the threats "dangerous and unhinged".

"This year, there was not just one but TWO assassination attempts on President Trump. Now some of his Cabinet nominees and their families are facing bomb threats,” he wrote on X. "It is not who we are in America."

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