Bomb threat at Lee Zeldin's home probed by Suffolk police, officials say

Suffolk County police are investigating a pipe bomb threat at the Shirley home of former Rep. Lee Zeldin, who is President-elect Donald Trump's nominee to lead the Environmental Protection Agency.

Suffolk County Emergency Services officers responded to the home on St. George Drive at 8:52 a.m. and searched the property after police received an email threatening a bomb at Zeldin's home, Deputy Police Commissioner Kevin Catalina said.

He said police cordoned off the property and bomb technicians found no device at the home. 

The threat was apparently part of what Trump's transition spokeswoman called a spate of "violent, un-American threats" against Cabinet nominees and administration appointees made Tuesday night and Wednesday morning.

"These attacks ranged from bomb threats to 'swatting,' " Trump spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said in a statement.

The FBI said it was working with local police to investigate "multiple bomb threats and swatting incidents targeting incoming administration nominees and appointees." Swatting entails generating an emergency law enforcement response against a target victim under false pretenses.

"We take all potential threats seriously, and as always, encourage members of the public to immediately report anything they consider suspicious to law enforcement," the FBI said in a statement.

Also targeted was Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-Schuylerville), nominated for U.N. ambassador, who received a threat at her home in Saratoga County as she was driving back from Washington, D.C., for Thanksgiving with her husband and 3-year-old son, according to her office. 

Police in Florida were also investigating a threat targeting former Rep. Matt Gaetz, who withdrew as nominee for attorney general. The threat was made to a mailbox at a Niceville, Florida, home that did not belong to Gaetz, according to the Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office. 

Oregon Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer, whom Trump chose to lead the Department of Labor, received a pipe bomb threat at her home in Clackamas County Tuesday night, the local sheriff's department confirmed to Oregon Public Broadcasting.

White House spokesperson Saloni Sharma said President Joe Biden had been briefed and the White House is in touch with federal law enforcement and Trump's transition team.

In a statement Wednesday, Zeldin said he and his family were not home when the threat came in.

"A pipe bomb threat targeting me and my family at our home today was sent in with a pro-Palestinian themed message," Zeldin said in the statement. "My family and I were not home at the time and are safe. We are working with law enforcement to learn more as this situation develops. We are thankful for the swift actions taken by local officers to keep our family, neighbors, and local community secure."

Suffolk County Executive Edward P. Romaine said police had responded to a mailbox pipe bomb threat, which Catalina confirmed.

"The threat was very specific and that is the area we searched and we determined there was no device in a mailbox," Catalina said. 

Romaine condemned the threat and called for peace and civility toward government officials and politicians.

"I’m very happy this was a hoax, but nevertheless an attempt to disrupt the Thanksgiving holiday for the Zeldin family," Romaine said. "In government and politics, we should have respect for one another and violence has no place in our politics at all. Threatening someone with a pipe bomb in the mailbox, it’s not something we want to see,"

The threat at Zeldin's house targeted the same home outside of which an alleged gang member shot at three people, hitting two in the chest, in December 2022 while Zeldin's family was inside. No one in the house was injured.

Zeldin was nominated by Trump earlier this month to serve as the EPA administrator.

— With AP and James Carbone

By John Asbury

john.asbury@newsday.comJohnAsbury

John Asbury is a breaking news and general assignment reporter. He has been with Newsday since 2014 and previously worked at The Press-Enterprise in Riverside, California.