WASHINGTON—The Republican National Committee’s headquarters in Washington was temporarily placed under lockdown on the morning of May 22 due to blood vials arriving at the main fundraising and campaign arm of the GOP, a source familiar with the matter told The Epoch Times.
The vials were addressed to former President Donald Trump, said the source. Whether there was a message alongside the vials is uncertain.
A Hazmat team was called to the scene.
Part of First Street near the Capitol was roped off to allow Capitol Police to investigate the matter, which ended up without damage done. A bomb squad was also on the scene.
In a statement, RNC Chairman Michael Whatley said that the “lockdown has been cleared and staff has resumed their office duties because we remain unintimidated and undeterred in our efforts to elect President Trump to the White House.”
There is no known active threat against the RNC at this time, according to the source.
The U.S. Capitol Police have said they would continue to investigate. It was unclear if anyone came into contact with the blood and to whom it belonged.
Earlier on May 22, the Capitol Police issued a statement advising people to avoid the block where the RNC is located.
The House sergeant at arms, the House of Representatives chief law enforcement and protocol officer, sent out information advising traffic restrictions in the area “due to law enforcement activity at the RNC.”
The D.C. Metropolitan Police Department did not respond to an Epoch Times request for comment.
The RNC is expected to make a statement about the matter, the source familiar with the incident told The Epoch Times.
Also affected by the road closure was the Capitol Hill Club, a popular hangout for Republicans.
The incident comes less than two months from the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, where President Trump is slated to become the party’s official 2024 nominee and where significant protests are expected.
According to a letter sent last month to the Secret Service, RNC counsel Todd Steggerda asked officials to keep protesters back farther from the site than had been originally planned. He said that an existing plan “creates an elevated and untenable safety risk to the attending public.”
President Trump’s handpicked leadership—including his daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, as the party’s national vice chair and Mr. Whatley, who previously served as chairman of the North Carolina GOP, as RNC chairman—recently took charge of the RNC.
This completed the former president’s takeover of the national party as he closes in on a third straight GOP presidential nomination.
A Trump campaign senior adviser, Chris LaCivita, has become the RNC chief of staff.
President Trump and other members of his “Make America Great Again” movement had grown disenchanted with the RNC’s leadership, blaming the organization for the party’s lackluster performances in 2018, 2020, and 2022.
They said they were also concerned about the RNC’s financial position.
The RNC brought in $76 million in April and $65.6 million in March—up from just $10.6 million in February.
The increase also reflects changes in donation limits after President Trump, in March, became the party’s presumptive nominee.
The Democratic National Committee, by comparison, raised far less in April—$51 million, down from $72 million in March.
