Biden says working with FBI on hoax threats to US lawmakers, Trump cabinet picks

US President Joe Biden said on Friday (local time) that his administration was working with the FBI to address “swatting” and bomb threats made this week targeting lawmakers and several of President-elect Donald Trump’s cabinet picks.

Representative Seth Magaziner, a House Democrat from Rhode Island, said on Friday he was targeted by a bomb threat at home, a day after six Democratic lawmakers from Connecticut reported similar threats to their homes over the Thanksgiving Day holiday. Law enforcement in each case found no evidence of explosive devices, the lawmakers said.

Pete Hegseth, Trump’s choice to become US defence secretary, and Lee Zeldin, Trump’s pick to lead the Environmental Protection Agency, were among nominees targeted with bomb threats and swatting attempts on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Swatting is a false report made to police to induce chaos and fear by drawing a potentially heavy and armed response by officers at someone’s home. Law enforcement experts say it’s a form of harassment that is increasingly being used to target prominent figures.

“House Democrats will not be deterred or intimidated from serving the people by violent threats,” Democratic House leader Hakeem Jeffries said in a statement on Friday.

Trump was wounded in an assassination attempt in Pennsylvania in July. In a separate incident in September, a man was charged with attempted assassination after allegedly positioning himself with a rifle outside one of Trump’s Florida golf courses.

Biden, speaking on Friday to reporters in Nantucket, Massachusetts, where he is spending the Thanksgiving holiday, said he expected to speak to Trump again during the transition.