Secret Service, Justice Dept locate person of interest in swatting attacks on DHS Secretary Mayorkas and other officials

Federal agents have located a person of interest in over 100 swatting calls, which included calls targeting  Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, Cybersecurity, Infrastructure and Security Agency Director Jen Easterly and other senior Biden administration officials, according to law enforcement officials.

Officials say the person of interest lives in Serbia; charges have not yet been filed, but sources say they could be filed soon. The person of interest is alleged to have made phone calls targeting officials over the Christmas holidays, according to the sources.

Swatting is a dangerous and illegal scheme in which people try to harass or menace others by making false emergency calls in an attempt to prompt police to dispatch SWAT teams to the homes of public figures, celebrities or personal enemies.

Sources familiar with the matter said that U.S. Secret Service and the FBI participated in a search of the  person of interest's residence in Serbia and confiscated computers and other electronic devices.

The chief of staff for Rep. Brandon Williams, a New York Republican who was the victim of a swatting on Christmas Day, confirms his office has been notified that a "foreign national living overseas" has been located in connection with the incident. Williams was featured in recent "CBS Mornings" and "CBS Evening News" reports on swatting.

The U.S. Secret Service, Justice Department, FBI and CISA declined to comment. 

Scott MacFarlane

Scott MacFarlane is a congressional correspondent. He has covered Washington for two decades, earning 20 Emmy and Edward R. Murrow awards. His reporting resulted directly in the passage of five new laws.

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