The FBI on Friday found two more packages with suspicious devices � to New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker and to former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper � while President Donald Trump attempted to downplay the seriousness of the acts of terrorism as a political ploy intended to help Democrats.
"Republicans are doing so well in early voting, and at the polls, and now this 'Bomb' stuff happens and the momentum greatly slows _ news not talking politics," Trump tweeted Friday. "Very unfortunate, what is going on. Republicans, go out and vote!"
Trump's tweet is in direct contradiction to law enforcement officials, who said repeatedly at a Thursday news conference that the devices need to be treated as potentially dangerous and active bombs, even if they did not detonate. They have also called the plot an act of terrorism.
Trump's tweet, on the edge of embracing "false flag" conspiracy theories about the packages, is yet another striking departure from normal presidential behavior in the face of such acts.
By spreading a conspiracy theory that has circulated for days on fringe web sites and begun to spread into mainstream media, Trump again is casting himself as the victim, even as critics say his rhetoric may have played a role in the attacks.
The FBI confirmed the package to Booker on its social media account, saying it was recovered in Florida and was similar in appearance to the others. FBI sources confirmed the Clapper package to media separately.
"This is definitely domestic terrorism. No question about it in my mind," Clapper told CNN.
Clapper and Booker, like the other targets, have clashed publicly with Trump. But even as the targets share commonalities, authorities have still not established a motive or named a suspect.
Law enforcement officials have said at least some of the packages were sent from South Florida. They are marked with the return address of Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, a Florida Democrat who previously led the Democratic National Committee.
Trump previously called Clapper the "world's dumbest former intelligence head, who has the problem of lying a lot."
Trump has also accused Clapper, who served in the Obama administration, of lying to Congress.
Booker, a Democrat believed to have presidential ambitions, is a frequent target of Trump in his political rallies.
Other recipients of the packages include President Obama and Hillary Clinton, the former secretary of state and Democratic presidential nominee who is still the subject of "Lock her up" chants at Trump's rallies.
Trump briefly called for unity in the face of the attacks but has since lashed out at his critics, saying he has been unfairly blamed.
