FBI: Bomb threats target Trump's cabinet picks

WASHINGTON — Several members of Donald Trump's incoming US administration have received threats including bomb alerts, the FBI said on Wednesday.

The President-elect's picks for UN ambassador and head of the Environmental Protection Agency, as well as his former choice to be US attorney general, said they were among those who had received the threats.

"The FBI is aware of numerous bomb threats, and swatting incidents targeting incoming administration nominees and appointees, and we are working with our law enforcement partners," the agency said.

Swatting refers to a practice in which police are summoned urgently to someone's house under false pretenses. Such hoax calls are common in the United States and have seen numerous senior political figures targeted in recent years.

Karoline Leavitt, a spokeswoman for Trump's transition team, said several appointees and nominees "were targeted in violent, un-American threats to their lives and those who live with them".

Outgoing President Joe Biden "has been briefed" on the threats, the White House said.

Congresswoman Elise Stefanik, tapped to be US ambassador to the United Nations, said her residence in New York was targeted in a bomb threat.

Lee Zeldin, Trump's pick to lead the Environmental Protection Agency, said his home was targeted with a pipe bomb threat accompanied by a "pro-Palestinian themed message".

Matt Gaetz, who dropped out as Trump's pick to be attorney general after facing opposition over sexual misconduct allegations, reposted Zeldin's message on X and said, "Same."

Ahead of his return to the White House in January, Trump has swiftly assembled a cabinet of loyalists, including several who have been criticized for a severe lack of experience.

His pick to be secretary of the Navy, John Phelan, has not served in the military or held a civilian leadership role in the service.

Trump has campaigned on expanding the Navy and would need to fight bureaucratic inertia to do so. But it is uncertain whether a secretary with no military experience, either in uniform or as a defense civilian, would be well-positioned to lead that effort.

"It will be difficult for anyone without experience in the Pentagon to take over the leadership of a service and do a good job," said Stacie Pettyjohn, director of the defense program at the Center for a New American Security.

Agencies via Xinhua