By William K. Rashbaum, Alan Feuer and Adam Goldman
Oct. 25, 2018
Federal authorities investigating a spate of pipe bombs sent this week to several prominent critics of President Trump have turned their attention toward southern Florida, believing that a number of the explosive devices were mailed from the area, two people briefed on the matter said Thursday.
The focus on Florida came as law-enforcement officials around the country were scrambling for another day to respond to the mysterious and repeated discovery of the crude devices contained in similar packages. Three more devices were found in Delaware and New York, the F.B.I. said Thursday morning. Two were addressed to former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., a Delaware resident, and a third to the actor Robert De Niro, who lives and works in Lower Manhattan.
All of the 10 packages that have been discovered since Monday bore return addresses from Debbie Wasserman Schultz, a Democratic congresswoman from Florida.
The continuing wave of bombs has prompted an intense, nationwide investigation into whether people who have criticized the president and been vilified by the right are being targeted. None of the devices has so far exploded on its own, and investigators have been trying to determine whether the devices were indeed capable of detonating.
Investigators are now focusing on Florida because an analysis of information collected by the United States Postal Service indicated that many of the packages were mailed from the state. The Postal Service records images of mail that comes into its system. As part of the investigation, officials have been searching those images in an effort to determine where the packages were sent from as well as to identify and catch any other possible explosive devices by the bomber or bombers.
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