Trump’s picks for new administration are focus of bomb threats and ‘swatting’

Pete Hegseth, nominated to be Donald Trump’s defense secretary, was among several cabinet nominees and appointees of the president-elect’s incoming administration who were targeted with bomb threats and so-called “swatting” on Wednesday, the Guardian has learned.

Elise Stefanik, Republican congresswoman of New York and Trump’s nomination for US ambassador to the United Nations, who has emerged as a hard right loyalist of Trump in the last few years, was the subject of a bomb threat, her office said.

The home of Howard Lutnick, Trump’s nominee for commerce secretary and part of his transition team, was threatened, Bronx outlet News 12 reported. And Lee Zeldin, the Environmental Protection Agency pick, saw his Long Island home threatened, News 12 in Long Island also reported.

A report also emerged via CNN that Matt Gaetz was also targeted. The former congressman who was Trump’s first choice for US attorney general but withdrew after eight days amid a sexual misconduct scandal that meant he risked not being confirmed by the Senate.

A spokesperson for Trump confirmed threats against some of his cabinet picks but did not initially give any names or say how many people had received threats.

The FBI then later said it was involved in investigating the incidents.

But Hegseth, the military veteran steeped in controversy over his hardline conservative views and a sexual scandal, was understood to be among those threatened, according to two people familiar with the developments.

He was understood to have received a threat at home of a pipe bomb targeting him. It was unclear early on Wednesday afternoon whether the threats related to real weapons or were hoaxes. The threat is understood to have prompted a law enforcement bomb squad to deploy to his residence.

A wave of bomb threats also occurred during the election campaign, with election officials and their offices often targeted.

Trump has so far put together one of the most controversial and incongruous cabinet teams in US presidential history, which has delighted many who voted Republican in the election earlier this month but dismayed opponents.

The threats were made on both Tuesday night and Wednesday morning. Members of law enforcement and various authorities acted quickly to ensure the safety of those targeted, according to Karoline Leavitt, Trump’s spokesperson and incoming White House press secretary, who released a statement.

Leavitt did not give further details on the nature of the different threats. Spokespeople for the FBI and the justice department did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Leavitt said the attacks “ranged from bomb threats to ‘swatting’,” when a hoax call is made to police designed to prompt them to dispatch a significant, armed response to someone’s home and cause fear and maximum chaos.

Stefanik’s office said in a post on X: “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. New York State, county law enforcement, and US Capitol police responded immediately with the highest levels of professionalism.”

Wednesday’s developments follow two assassination attempts against Trump himself during his election campaign.

On 13 July, a shooter fired into the crowd during an open-air Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, injuring two attendees and killing one. Trump was grazed by the gunfire but emerged almost entirely uninjured.

Two months later, on 15 September, a suspect was caught while pointing a gun toward Trump’s Mar-a-Lago golf course, where Trump was golfing. He was apprehended the same day.

Both incidents prompted the campaigns of both Trump and his rival, Democratic candidate Kamala Harris, to adopt heightened security for the duration of the race. After the Pennsylvania shooting, Trump frequently appeared at rallies behind bulletproof glass.