Former Hillary Clinton aide Philippe Reines appeared on MSNBC on Wednesday to discuss the bombs sent to Clinton, Barack Obama, numerous other Democratic politicians and the CNN offices in New York City earlier that day.
The U.S. Secret Service intercepted the bomb that was addressed to Clinton, as well as a possible explosive that was sent to the former president.
Meanwhile, the Time Warner Center CNN office was evacuated following a discovery of a suspicious package containing an explosive device. The device, which contained wires, has been removed from the building and was taken to a remote location to be inspected for clues.
“Obviously the first thing they thought of is the gratitude they have to the Secret Service,” Reines said about the Clinton team’s initial response to the news, according to a report by Mediaite. “These are very lucky people and that the former first families have Secret Service protection with such robust protocols.”
“If you look at who they’ve targeted so far, it’s almost like they’re following Donald Trump’s Twitter feed,” he said of the source of the packages. Reines added that not everyone in public office has security teams. “Starting with Debbie Wasserman Schultz, not everyone has that kind of security and you have to be really concerned that while everything so far has not hurt anyone, that might not hold,” he said.
Reines then criticized the statement sent out from the White House following the evacuation. The statement condemned “the attempted violent attacks recently made against President Obama, President Clinton, Secretary Clinton, and other public figures.”
“I don’t think that’s quick,” Reines said about the time it took for the White House to release the statement. “Until Donald Trump tweeted a few moments ago, he’s been mum and the other part of Sarah Sanders’ statement is those who are responsible will be held accountable, and I think you have to ask how much Donald Trump is responsible for the climate that we’re in where things like this happen.”
