New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) said Thursday that an investigation into a spate of explosive devices addressed to prominent Democratic officials could lead to updated security at the Postal Service.
Cuomo addressed reports that at least some of the suspicious packages addressed to former President Barack Obama, Bill and Hillary Clinton, former Vice President Joe Bien and others may have been handled by the Postal Service.
“That is no doubt one of the focal points of the investigation,” Cuomo said on CNN.
{mosads}”If it turns out to be true that these devices did go through the PS then I think that is going to be a serious line of investigation,” he added.
Cuomo said authorities are still looking into whether a courier dropped off packages at certain locations or whether they traveled through U.S. Postal Service screening facilities. If the latter is true, he said it will likely renew scrutiny on how the agency screens and tracks packages.
“That’s how we learn,” Cuomo said. “Things are revealed, flaws in the system are revealed because people exploit them. But if it is true, then I think one of the first things fed government has to turn to is better precautions at the postal service.”
Authorities have intercepted or been alerted to 10 different suspicious packages since Monday, when an explosive device was discovered in the mailbox outside the home of Democratic megadonor George Soros.
Since then, packages authorities have been alerted to similar packages addressed to Obama, the Clintons, Biden, former Attorney General Eric Holder, Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), actor Robert De Niro and CNN’s New York City offices. The latter parcel was specifically addressed to former CIA Director John Brennan, who works as a contributor for NBC News.
The Associated Press reported that two packages addressed to Biden were fielded at postal facilities in Delaware, and the parcel addressed to Holder made it back to its return address at the offices of Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who has said she is “deeply disturbed” that the perpetrator used her name.
Authorities declined to comment at a press conference on Thursday on the origin of the packages, or about which ones were handled by the Postal Service.
The AP noted the Postal Service does not have the resources to put every package it handles through an X-ray scanner, and instead relies on inspectors to filter out potentially dangerous items.