CNN Says Suspicious Package Was Addressed to Former CIA Director and MSNBC Contributor John Brennan
CNN reported on Wednesday that the package containing an explosive device sent to its New York City bureau, forcing the building’s evacuation, was addressed to former CIA Director John Brennan.
“This suspicious package was in fact addressed to CNN but it was specifically addressed to the former CIA director John Brennan,” CNN’s Wolf Blizter said. “He is a contributor to MSNBC and NBC News, but not CNN.”
Brennan, who served as CIA director during the Obama administration, has been a fierce and frequent critic of President Donald Trump.
In June, Brennan called Trump’s conduct during a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki, Finland, “treasonous,” adding it “rises & exceeds the threshold of ‘high crimes and misdemeanors.'”
In other words, the former top intelligence official was arguing that Trump should be impeached.
The package with a suspicious device sent to CNN’s New York offices today was addressed to former CIA Director John Brennan, according to city and local law enforcement officials https://t.co/BmgkJ2qaIE pic.twitter.com/iKEN9blBSc
— CNN (@CNN) October 24, 2018
The president revoked Brennan’s security clearance in August explaining, “Mr. Brennan has recently leveraged his status as a former high-ranking official with access to highly sensitive information to make a series of unfounded and outrageous allegations – wild outbursts on the internet and television – about this Administration.”
“The conduct and behavior far exceeded the limits of any professional courtesy that may have been due him,” Trump added.
MSNBC/NBC hired Brennan in February as a military and intelligence analyst.
In a tweet earlier this month, Brennan wrote, “It is impossible to overstate @realDonaldTrump’s corrosive impact on our political culture & national character. Rejection of his demagoguery, his lies, and the politics of fear espoused by McConnell & Graham is at hand. If you want to make a difference, vote!!!”
It is impossible to overstate @realDonaldTrump’s corrosive impact on our political culture & national character. Rejection of his demagoguery, his lies, and the politics of fear espoused by McConnell & Graham is at hand. If you want to make a difference, vote!!!
— John O. Brennan (@JohnBrennan) October 9, 2018
In addition to the package addressed to Brennan, others were sent to former President Barack Obama, former secretary of state and first lady Hillary Clinton, and former Obama administration attorney general Eric Holder.
The package sent to Holder ended up at the Sunrise, Florida congressional office of former Democratic National Committee chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, whose name was used as a return address.
NEW: a law enforcement source familiar with the #ExplosiveDevice investigations tells me that the Florida address of #WassermanSchultz was listed as the return address on the suspicious package sent to @EricHolder @HillaryClinton @BillClinton @BarackObama
— Brooke Singman (@brookefoxnews) October 24, 2018
Trump announced at the White House on Wednesday the FBI and other agencies were investigating the suspicious packages and their origins.
This is a photograph of the suspicious package sent to the CNN building in New York City earlier this morning. Police say it appeared to be a live explosive device. https://t.co/aG9JsTfwhx pic.twitter.com/tcICHJErda
— CNN Breaking News (@cnnbrk) October 24, 2018
“The full weight of our government is being deployed to conduct this investigation and bring those responsible for these despicable acts to justice,” the president said.
“This egregious conduct is abhorrent to everything we hold dear and sacred as Americans,” Trump added. “We are extremely angry, upset, unhappy about what we witnessed this morning, and we will get to the bottom of it.”
Truth and Accuracy
We are committed to truth and accuracy in all of our journalism. Read our editorial standards.
