NEW YORK — Several of President-elect Donald Trump’s top Cabinet picks and appointees have been targeted by bomb threats and “hit attacks,” Trump’s transition team said Wednesday. The FBI said it was investigating.

“Last night and this morning, several of President Trump’s Cabinet nominees and administration appointees were targeted by violent, un-American threats against their lives and those who live with them,” said Trump transition spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt, in a statement.

She said the attacks ranged from bomb threats to hit-and-runs, where attackers initiate an emergency law enforcement response against a targeted victim under false pretenses. The tactic has become a popular one in recent years.

Leavitt said law enforcement and other authorities acted quickly to ensure the safety of those who were targeted, and Trump and his transition team are grateful.

Among those targeted were Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York, Trump’s pick to serve as the next ambassador to the United Nations; Matt Gaetz, Trump’s initial pick to serve as attorney general; and former New York congressman Lee Zeldin, who was appointed to lead the Environmental Protection Agency.

Law enforcement officials are also looking into whether Susie Wiles, Trump’s chief of staff, and Pam Bondi, the former Florida attorney general whom Trump tapped to replace Gaetz, and other administration officials were also , victims – as well as how each was targeted. , according to a law enforcement official who spoke on condition of anonymity while the investigation continues.

Wiles and Bondi did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The FBI said in a statement that it is “aware of numerous bomb threats and confrontational incidents targeting future administration nominees and appointees” and is investigating with its law enforcement partners.

The FBI added, “We take all potential threats seriously and, as always, encourage members of the public to immediately report anything they consider suspicious to law enforcement.”

A bomb threat targeting me and my family at our home today was sent with a pro-Palestinian themed message. My family and I were not home at the time and are safe. We are working with law enforcement to learn more as this situation develops. We are grateful for the speedy…

— Lee Zeldin (@LeeMZeldin) November 27, 2024

White House spokeswoman Saloni Sharma said President Biden had been informed and that the White House was in contact with federal law enforcement and Trump’s transition team.

Biden “continues to monitor the situation closely,” Sharma said, adding that the president and his administration “condemn threats of political violence.”

Stefanik’s office said that on Wednesday morning, she, her husband and their 3-year-old son were driving home from Washington for Thanksgiving when they were informed of a bomb threat to their Saratoga County residence.

Her office said “New York State, county law enforcement and the U.S. Capitol Police responded immediately with the highest level of professionalism.”

New York State Police said a team was dispatched to sweep Stefanik’s home Wednesday morning in response to the bomb threat, but did not locate any explosive devices. The agency referred other questions to the FBI.

Zeldin said in a social media post that he and his family had been threatened.

“A bomb threat targeting me and my family at our home today was sent with a pro-Palestinian message,” wrote on X. “My family and I were not at home at the time and we are safe. We are working with law enforcement to learn more as this situation develops.”

Police in Suffolk County, Long Island, said emergency officers responded to a bomb threat Wednesday morning at an address listed in public records as Zeldin’s home and were checking the property.

In Florida, the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office he said on Facebook that it “received notification of a bomb threat referencing former Congressman Matt Gaetz’s alleged mailbox at a home in the Niceville area” around 9 a.m. Wednesday.

While a family member lives at the address, the office said Gaetz is “NOT a resident.” No threat devices were found.

Gaetz was Trump’s initial pick for attorney general, but he withdrew from consideration after allegations that he paid women for sex and slept with underage women. Gaetz has vehemently denied any wrongdoing and said last year that a Justice Department investigation into allegations of sex trafficking involving underage girls ended without federal charges against him.

The threats follow a political campaign marked by disturbing and unprecedented violence. In July, a gunman opened fire at a Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, grazing the then ear with a bullet and killing one of his supporters. The Secret Service later foiled a subsequent assassination attempt on Trump’s golf course in West Palm Beach, Florida, when an agent saw the barrel of a gun piercing a perimeter fence while Trump was playing golf.

Trump has also been the subject of an Iranian murder-for-hire plot, with one man saying he was tasked with planning the assassination of the Republican president-elect.

Also this week, authorities arrested a man they say posted videos on social media threatening to kill Trump, according to court documents. In a video posted Nov. 13, Manuel Tamayo-Torres threatened to shoot the former president while holding what appeared to be an AR-15-style rifle, authorities said.

Among the other videos he posted was one from an arena in Glendale, Arizona, on Aug. 23, the same day Trump held a campaign rally there, according to court documents. An attorney for Tamayo-Torres did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday.

Public figures across the political spectrum have been targeted in recent years by fake bomb threats and false reports of shootings at their homes.

About a year ago, the FBI responded to a spike in such incidents at the homes of public officials, state capitols and courthouses across the country around the holidays. Many were jailed and evacuated in early January after receiving bomb threats. No explosives were found and no one was injured.

Some of those targeted last year were Lt. Govt. Georgia Burt Jones, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu and Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost.

This year, there has been not just one, but TWO assassination attempts on President Trump. Now some of his Cabinet nominees and their families are facing bomb threats.

This is dangerous and confusing. It’s not who we are in America.

Joe Biden and all Democratic leaders have a…

– Speaker Mike Johnson (@SpeakerJohnson) November 27, 2024

In Wu’s case, a man who called told police he shot his own wife and tied up another man. When police and EMT responders arrived at the address given by the caller, they quickly realized it was the home of the mayor of Boston. Wu, a Democrat, has also been the target of many smear calls since taking office in 2021.

Judges overseeing the civil fraud case against Trump in New York and the criminal election interference case against him in Washington were both targeted earlier this year. Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith, who recently dropped the two criminal cases he brought against Trump, was also the subject of a fake 911 call on Christmas Day last year.

Earlier this year, schools, government buildings and the homes of city officials in Springfield, Ohio, received a series of fake bomb threats after Trump falsely accused members of Springfield’s Haitian community of kidnapping and eating cats and dogs.

And in 2022, scores of historically black colleges and universities across the country have been targeted by dozens of bomb threats, with the vast majority arriving during Black History Month celebrations.

The United States Police said in a statement Wednesday that whenever a member of Congress is the victim of an assault, “we work closely with our local and federal law enforcement partners.” The force declined to provide further details, in part to “minimize the risk of copycats”.

Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson called the threats “dangerous and disturbing.”

“This year, there was not just one, but TWO assassination attempts on President Trump,” wrote on X. “Now some of the Cabinet nominees and their families are facing bomb threats.” He added, “We are not who we are in America.”

Associated Press writers Colleen Long and Eric Tucker in Washington, Scott Bauer in Madison, Wis. and Anthony Izaguirre in Albany, New York contributed to this report.

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