President Donald Trump said Friday that news coverage of a rash of suspected mail bomb threats had slowed election momentum for Republicans, as two new suspected explosive devices were found on Friday, one in Florida which was addressed to Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ), and another sent to former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, via CNN offices in New York.
"This is definitely domestic terrorism, no question about it in my mind," Clapper said in an interview on CNN.
Like another package sent to former CIA Director John Brennan, the Clapper package was addressed in care of CNN in New York - this time, it was discovered at a postal facility several blocks away from the network's offices.
Clapper, who has strongly criticized President Trump at times since leaving his post in 2017, cited comments from Brennan earlier this week.
"This is not going to silence the administration's critics," Clapper said by phone.
The discovery of the Booker and Clapper packages raised the number of suspicious devices to a dozen:
+ 2 to former Vice President Joe Biden
+ 2 to Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA)
+ 1 to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
+ 1 to former President Barack Obama
+ 1 to Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ)
+ 1 to former Attorney General Eric Holder, which was returned to the sender's address of Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL)
+ 1 to former CIA Director John Brennan via CNN
+ 1 to former DNI James Clapper via CNN
+ 1 to actor Robert DeNiro
+ 1 to political activist George Soros
Postal inspectors in New York had expressed hope on Thursday afternoon that no more packages were in the system, but the discoveries in Manhattan and south Florida raised the question of whether additional packages would still be uncovered.
"We cannot provide additional information at this time due to the ongoing federal investigation," the Miami-Dade Police Department stated.
As the new packages were uncovered, President Trump complained that the coverage of the "bomb stuff" had slowed the momentum of Republicans in the mid-term elections, as he said the 'news is not talking politics.'
Overnight - at 3:14 am EDT - the President was evidently awake and aggravated with CNN and the press in general about the bomb story, and sent out this tweet.
Democrats have called on the President to stop using harsh words against the press and his critics, arguing it could incite violent acts.
"The President knows better," said Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), who has been a frequent target of the President. "CNN & other press are not the monsters he seeks to make them — but words can breed real ones."
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