Should it be this easy to buy bomb parts?
The increasingly common practice of purchasing materials used in homemade explosives online is being eyed for renewed scrutiny by federal authorities in the wake of last weekend's bombing campaign in New York and New Jersey, Attorney General Loretta Lynch said Thursday.
"We'll be reviewing ways in which suspects are gaining access to bomb components by way of the Internet,'' Lynch said.
Earlier this week, federal prosecutors alleged the lone suspect in the bombings, Ahmad Rahami, shopped on eBay beginning in June and as recently as August for igniters, ball bearings and circuit boards used in the assembly of devices planted at four separate locations, including Manhattan where 31 people were injured when a pressure-cooker device detonated Saturday evening.
eBay has said the company is cooperating in the ongoing federal investigation, yet acknowledged a central concern of law enforcement: "The types of items bought by the suspect are legal to buy and sell in the United States and are widely available at online and offline stores,'' the company said in a statement.
Spokesman Ryan Moore said the company has "internal processes in place to detect and report suspicious activity to authorities, including risk-based reporting and filters tied to buying and selling activity, items that may be associated with criminal activity and various other identifiers."
"We routinely meet with various federal and local law enforcement entities to refine these processes, while also working collaboratively with them in investigations," he said.
In the Rahami case, according federal court documents, the suspect made no apparent effort to disguise his identity — using his name as the registered user on the website — or a New Jersey address linked to him.
Meanwhile, Lynch said federal investigators in the bomb inquiry continue to examine Rahami's travels abroad, including extended visits in Pakistan and Afghanistan, where he was born in 1988. He arrived in the U.S. in 1995. Authorities also have been questioning Rahami's wife, Asia Bibi Rahami, who returned to the U.S., late Wednesday after spending more than two months abroad, a federal law enforcement official said.
The official, who was not authorized to comment publicly, said the suspect's wife has been cooperative during questioning and there is no immediate indication she knew of her husband's alleged plan. Rahami's wife left the U.S. in June and was previously scheduled to return this month, the official said. Authorities believe she may be able to provide details about her husband's past travels abroad.
Ahmad Rahami, 28, was taken into custody Monday following a gunfight with police in Linden, N.J., not far from where he lives in Elizabeth, N.J. Rahami was shot more than six times, the official said, with one bullet penetrating the abdomen.
He has been intubated and unconscious for much of the time since his arrest but could be available for questioning soon, Robert Reilly, spokesman for the FBI's Newark office, said Wednesday.
Rahami was identified from fingerprints lifted from an unexploded pressure-cooker device left blocks from the scene of Saturday's attack. He is charged with multiple counts of attempted murder and other charges stemming from the shootout. He also faces federal charges related to the bombing, including use of weapons of mass destruction and bombing a place of public use.
Federal authorities also issued an alert for two unidentified men seen on surveillance cameras at the location of the unexploded bomb where they apparently removed the device from a suitcase and left with the luggage. They are not considered suspects, but authorities want to question them in part to determine whether other unidentified fingerprints on the device match them, the official said.
The federal complaint alleges Rahami was inspired by overseas terror groups. A journal seized from Rahami shortly after his arrest suggested the suspect drew inspiration from al-Qaeda leaders Osama bin Laden, whom he referred to as "brother," and Anwar al-Awlaki, both killed in separate U.S. operations.
Rahami has yet to make a court appearance. Lynch said Wednesday that Rahami would be brought “in the near future” to federal court in Lower Manhattan, not far from the site of Saturday's blast. Hours before that explosion, a pipe bomb detonated in a trash can in Seaside Park, N.J., before a 5K charity run. No one was injured, but Rahami has been linked to the blast.
On Monday, authorities said another device, also linked to Rahami and found in a backpack near the Elizabeth train station, exploded while a bomb squad robot was trying to disarm it.
