Police in Norway have contacted the FBI as part of an investigation into a fake nomination for Donald Trump to win this year’s Nobel Peace Prize.

Norwegian police have contacted the FBI as part of a probe into a fake nomination of US President Donald Trump for this year’s Nobel Peace Prize.

The Norway-based Nobel Committee earlier this week said it had made a police complaint.

Rune Skjold of the Oslo police force’s economic crimes unit on Thursday confirmed reports that the FBI was contacted for assistance.

“We are investigating possible forgery of documents,” Skjold said, adding that he could not offer details or name any suspects.

Forging documents can result in several years in prison, he added.

Skjold said the Nobel Committee had contacted Oslo police about a month ago. Police had also been alerted last year over a similar suspect nomination for Trump.

A meeting with FBI officials was due next week in Oslo, Skjold said.

Concerning “the nomination of the US president, I can say that we have good reason to believe it is a fake nomination,” Olav Njolstad, non-voting secretary of the Nobel Committee, had told Norwegian public broadcaster NRK earlier this week.

Njolstad, who is also head of the Norwegian Nobel Institute, which assists the five-strong award panel in vetting nominated candidates, declined to comment further.

This year the committee received 329 nominations, the second-highest number to date. Last year’s prize went to the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN). </s> For the love of President Donald Trump, a person appears to have stolen someone’s identity to nominate him for the Nobel Peace Prize — for the second year in a row.

Olav Njolstad, director of the Norwegian Nobel Institute and secretary of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, which awards the Peace Prize, told The Washington Post via email that it appears the same person is responsible for both forged nominations. The perpetrator had pretended to be someone else to make the nomination, Njolstad said — someone who was qualified.

“We receive many invalid nominations each year in the sense that they don’t meet the deadline or the nominator is not in fact qualified to nominate,” Njolstad said. “But to my knowledge this is the first example of a forged nomination where someone has stolen the identity of another person.”

Njolstad said he discovered that the Trump nominations were forged when he called the person whose name was listed as the nominator, who confirmed that the nominations were a fraud. Njolstad declined to reveal the identity or gender of that person. He has filed a report with the Oslo Police District for investigation.

Oslo Inspector Rune Skjold, head of the economic crimes section, told The Post that police did not know the location of the person who sent the forged nominations when asked whether they came from the United States. However, he said Oslo police have contacted the FBI for assistance. The perpetrator, he said, had used the same false identity two years in a row.

The process for Nobel Prize nominations and selections is secretive and has been so since the prize’s inception in 1901. The names of the nominees and any information about how the winners were selected cannot be revealed for 50 years. Nominators must meet various criteria to qualify. They can be, among other things, members of national governments or heads of states, certain university professors, former Peace Prize winners and current and former members or advisers of the Norwegian Nobel Committee.

Njolstad said the committee routinely reviews nominations for authenticity, “and this time the routine check showed there was cause for concern.” He said he was limited in the details he could provide due to the ongoing police investigation.

This year, there are 329 candidates for the Nobel Peace Prize, the second-highest number of candidates ever, just behind 2016’s 376 candidates. Of the 329 candidates, 217 are individuals and 112 are organizations. Last year’s winner was the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, of Switzerland.
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Over the past 10 years, Nobel Peace Prize winners have included Malala Yousafzai in 2014, who had been attacked by the Taliban after campaigning for girls’ education in Pakistan; Liu Xiabo in 2010, the Chinese dissident who was imprisoned by China at the time he was awarded the prize; and President Obama in 2009, whose selection was controversial given he had just sent more than 30,000 troops to Afghanistan a week before accepting it and it was only months into his presidency. Obama is one of four U.S. presidents who have been awarded the prize. The others were Jimmy Carter, Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson.

The 2018 winner will be announced in Oslo on Dec. 10. </s> OSLO, Norway — President Donald Trump has been twice nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize — but both nominations appear to be fraudulent, The New York Times is reporting.

Olav Njolstad, the secretary of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, which awards the prize, told the Times the committee had uncovered the forged nominations and raised the issue with the Oslo police.

The same person is responsible for both forged nominations and had pretended to be someone qualified to make the nomination, Njolstad told The Washington Post.

“We receive many invalid nominations each year in the sense that they don’t meet the deadline or the nominator is not in fact qualified to nominate. But to my knowledge this is the first example of a forged nomination where someone has stolen the identity of another person,” Njolstad said in an email to the Post.

According to the New York Times, the Oslo police has been in touch with the FBI. CNN has reached out to the Norwegian Nobel Committee.

A nomination for the prize is only valid if its submitted by someone who falls into a category that meets the committee’s criteria — like current heads of state, former Nobel Peace Prize winners and professors of history, law or philosophy, among others.

There are 328 candidates, including individuals and organizations, being considered for this year’s Nobel Peace Prize, the second highest number of candidates ever, according to the organization. Since first awarding the prize in 1901, the committee has kept every candidate’s identity and its selection process secret, only divulging its secrets 50 years after the decision and for the purposes of research.

Four US Presidents have been Nobel laureates — Barack Obama (2009), Jimmy Carter (2002), Woodrow Wilson (1919) and Theodore Roosevelt (1906).

The Nobel Peace Prize is traditionally announced in early October and will be awarded this year on December 10 in Oslo. </s> “We receive many invalid nominations each year in the sense that they don’t meet the deadline or the nominator is not in fact qualified to nominate,” Njolstad said. “But to my knowledge this is the first example of a forged nomination where someone has stolen the identity of another person.”

Njolstad said he discovered that the Trump nominations were forged when he called the person whose name was listed as the nominator, who confirmed that the nominations were a fraud. Njolstad declined to reveal the identity or gender of that person. He has filed a report with the Oslo Police District for investigation.

Oslo Inspector Rune Skjold, head of the economic crimes section, told The Post that police did not know the location of the person who sent the forged nominations when asked whether they came from the United States. However, he said Oslo police have contacted the FBI for assistance. The perpetrator, he said, had used the same false identity two years in a row.

The process for Nobel Prize nominations and selections is secretive and has been so since the prize’s inception in 1901. The names of the nominees and any information about how the winners were selected cannot be revealed for 50 years. Nominators must meet various criteria to qualify. They can be, among other things, members of national governments or heads of state, certain university professors, former Peace Prize winners, and current and former members or advisers of the Norwegian Nobel Committee.

Njolstad said the committee routinely reviews nominations for authenticity, “and this time the routine check showed there was cause for concern.” He said he was limited in the details he could provide due to the ongoing police investigation.

This year, there are 329 candidates for the Nobel Peace Prize, the second-highest number of candidates ever, just behind 2016’s 376 candidates. Of the 329 candidates, 217 are individuals and 112 are organizations. Last year’s winner was the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, of Switzerland.

Over the past 10 years, Nobel Peace Prize winners have included Malala Yousafzai in 2014, who had been attacked by the Taliban after campaigning for girls’ education in Pakistan; Liu Xiaobo in 2010, the Chinese dissident who was imprisoned by China at the time he was awarded the prize, and President Obama in 2009, whose selection was controversial given he had just sent more than 30,000 troops to Afghanistan a week before accepting it and it was only months into his presidency. Obama is one of four U.S. presidents who have been awarded the prize. The others were Jimmy Carter, Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson.

The 2018 winner will be announced in October, followed by a ceremony in Oslo on Dec. 10.

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Someone forged a Nobel Peace Prize nomination for Trump, Norwegian officials say

Mennonite woman jailed for refusing on religious grounds to testify in death-penalty case </s> (Newser) – President Trump is (or was) apparently up for the Nobel Peace Prize that will be announced this fall, a surprise revelation since who's in the running is usually kept under wraps by the Norwegian Nobel Committee. But the New York Times explains Trump's candidacy was divulged because of something fishy going on with his nomination, a matter that Oslo police are looking into. It seems the person who allegedly nominated the president, when contacted, said the nomination wasn't authentic—and the forgery happened last year as well; police say the same person is behind both false nominations. The fraud regarding 2017's nomination, which was put through the same comprehensive forensic scrutiny that this year's will undergo, wasn't reported to the public until now. Trump was said to have been nominated for his "ideology of peace by force," per the BBC.

The Week explains that nominations can come only from certain parties, including a head of state, someone who's already won a Nobel, or a qualified lawmaker or university professor, among others. It's reported there are 329 nominations for this year's prize: 217 individuals and 112 groups. "We receive many invalid nominations each year in the sense that they don't meet the deadline or the nominator is not in fact qualified to nominate," Olav Njolstad, the head of the Norwegian Nobel Institute, says, per the Washington Post. "But to my knowledge this is the first example of a forged nomination where someone has stolen the identity of another person." The chief of the Oslo police's economic crimes division says that although they haven't yet been able to confirm where the forger is located, the FBI is assisting his team in investigating. (Read more President Trump stories.) </s> Denis Mukwege and Nadia Murad were awarded this year's Nobel Peace Prize for "their efforts to end the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war and armed conflict," the Norwegian Nobel Committee announced Friday.

The committee received nominations for 216 individuals and 115 organizations for the 9 million Swedish kronor ($1.01 million) award.

Last year’s winner was the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons.

Past winners who came under criticism include former U.S. President Barack Obama, who won in 2009 after less than a year in office.

Among those put forward this year were the Syrian civilian aid group White Helmets, Russia’s Novaya Gazeta newspaper, Edward Snowden and the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees.

More: Does Donald Trump deserve to win a Nobel Peace Prize? </s> (CNN) -- BREAKING NEWS 10:55 A.M. ET: Federal authorities have arrested a man in connection to the suspected explosive packages discovered this week, multiple law enforcement sources tell CNN.

ORIGINAL STORY: Authorities have intercepted suspicious packages intended for Sen. Cory Booker and former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, authorities said Friday.

The packages are the latest to be sent to prominent Democrats and critics of President Donald Trump that were discovered earlier this week.

The FBI said Friday that the package addressed to Booker, a New Jersey Democrat, was discovered in Florida and is "similar in appearance to the others." Sources told CNN the package was addressed to the senator's Camden, New Jersey, office. Booker confirmed the package was intended for him but declined to comment further to CNN.

The package intended for Clapper also was addressed to CNN, a law enforcement official said. It was found at a New York City postal facility and was similar to the other packages, the official added.

The package arrived in a manila envelope with six US flag stamps, similar to other packages discovered this week. The return address is that of Florida Democratic Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz's Florida office, which was the address on packages intended for former President Barack Obama, former Vice President Joe Biden, billionaire and Democratic donor George Soros, actor Robert De Niro, former Attorney General Eric Holder, 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton and former CIA Director John Brennan. There is no information that suggests Wasserman Schultz sent the packages.

Trump was being briefed on the latest developments Friday morning, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said. As the situation unfolded, the President tweeted about illegal immigration, a key campaign issue he's highlighted ahead of the midterm elections.

On Thursday, two law enforcement officials familiar with the investigation told CNN that the nationwide manhunt for the person or people who sent the potential bombs has led authorities to a mail facility in Opa-locka, Florida.

Law enforcement authorities are treating the bombs as a domestic terror matter. The motive is unknown, but the recipients are all prominent targets of right-wing criticism and, in many cases, of Trump himself.

Speaking at the Justice Department Friday morning, Attorney General Jeff Sessions said various agencies, including the FBI and Secret Service, were "working tirelessly" to investigate the packages.

"I can tell you this: we will find the person -- persons responsible, and we're going to bring them to justice," Sessions said. A Justice official told CNN that Sessions canceled a trip to Louisiana scheduled for Friday to ensure that all resources, such as his plane and personnel required for his travel, would be available for the ongoing investigation.

Clapper, who has frequently criticized Trump, vowed to CNN Friday morning that he wouldn't be intimidated in light of the discovery.

"I do want to just echo one thing that John Brennan said and that this is not going to silence the administration's critics," Clapper said.

This story is breaking and will be updated. </s> A 56-year-old Florida man faces five federal charges in connection with a sweeping investigation of at least 13 improvised explosive devices addressed to prominent Democrats and their supporters, Department of Justice officials said Friday.

Law enforcement officials identified the man as Cesar Sayoc, who was born in Brooklyn, New York. Records show Sayoc has a criminal history dating back nearly three decades, including a 2015 arrest in Broward County, Florida, for petty theft and probation violation.

Sayoc was charged with five federal crimes, including interstate transportation of an explosive, illegal mailing of an explosive and threats against former presidents.

Sayoc was arrested near an auto store in Plantation, Florida. Police examined a white van shrouded in stickers, covered the vehicle with a blue tarp and took it away on the back of a flatbed truck. The stickers included images of President Donald Trump, American flags and what appeared to be logos of the Republican National Committee and CNN, though not all the images were clear.

FBI Director Christopher Wray said a fingerprint recovered from an envelope mailed to U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters matched Sayoc's fingerprint.

Wray said investigators tracked more than a dozen devices mailed to high-profile Democrats and their supporters that all were similar. Each mailed device included six inches of PVC pipe, a small clock, battery, wiring and potentially explosive material designed to give out heat and energy.

"These are not hoax devices," Wray said.

When asked why the suspect seemed to target Democrats, Attorney General Sessions said, "I don't know." He said he could not comment on the suspect's motive.

Earlier Friday, Trump applauded the suspect's arrest, calling it "an incredible job" by law enforcement. The bombing attempts were "despicable" and have "no place in our country," Trump said during an event for African-American Republicans at the White House.

“We must never allow political violence take root in America," Trump said, and "I’m committed to doing everything in my power to stop it."

The total number of bombs reached at least 13 Friday after three more suspicious packages were recovered, one in Florida addressed to New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker, another in New York addressed to former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper and a device recovered at Sen. Kamala Harris’ office in Sacramento, California.

Harris’ office says it was informed that the package was identified at a Sacramento mail facility. The FBI responded to the facility in a South Sacramento neighborhood that’s been blocked off by caution tape.

A package addressed to Clapper was recovered at a Manhattan postal facility. Like some of the previous packages, the one found in New York City on Friday had the office of Florida Democratic Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz as the return address, a photo obtained by CBS News showed.

The nation has been on heightened alert in the wake of the mail bombs sent to Trump critics, including the residences of former Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton.

The suspect in the mail bomb investigation has been identified as Cesar Sayoc.

Records show that Sayoc has a history of arrests dating back to at least the early 1990s. He also had financial troubles, filing for personal bankruptcy in Florida in 2012 during the Great Recession.

In 2002, Sayoc was charged with threatening to “throw, project, place, or discharge any destructive device," according to online court records from Miami-Dade County.

More recently, Sayoc was arrested in May 2015 and later convicted of theft, according to court records. West Palm Beach Police reported that he stole a briefcase and a garment bag from Walmart.

Sayoc's estimated his monthly income at $923 after payroll deductions and monthly expenses at $1,070. He collected unemployment compensation in 2009, 2010 and 2012, according to the bankruptcy filing.

The suspicious package intended for Clapper was spotted by a postal worker at the Radio City Station postal facility at around 8:15 a.m. Realizing the package looked like the previous ones found this week, the employee contacted U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and they contacted the NYPD and FBI.

NYPD Bomb Squad officers scanned the package and saw what appeared to be a pipe bomb, similar to the others recovered this week, NYPD Deputy Commissioner for Intelligence and Counterterrorism John Miller said at a Manhattan news conference.

The bomb squad relocated the package in its total containment vessel to the NYPD facility at Rodman's Neck in the Bronx. After being secured there, the package will be sent to the FBI Laboratory in Quantico, Virginia, for analysis, Miller said.

The device addressed to Booker was recovered at a mail sorting distribution center in Opa Locka, Florida, which has drawn intense investigative interest in recent days, as authorities believe that many of the suspected explosive devices passed through the state, a law enforcement official said.

Investigators are continuing to review mail streams in and out of Florida, attempting to pinpoint locations where the parcels may have originated, said the official who is not authorized to comment publicly.

In New York, police have investigated multiple unattended packages in recent days and are urging the public to report anything that could be deemed dangerous.

The powder found in packaging in New York addressed to CNN's offices wasn’t a biological weapon, but further testing was being done, O’Neill said. The devices were examined at the FBI lab in Virginia.

FBI Assistant Director Bill Sweeney on Thursday said the investigation is nationwide and noted that more devices could be discovered. “It does remain possible that further packages have been or could be mailed," he said. "These devices should be considered dangerous.”

Wray echoed those sentiments Friday. "Today's arrest doesn't mean we are out of the woods."

Contributing: Herb Jackson, Hannan Adely and Phaedra Trethan for the USA TODAY Network </s> Sen. Kamala Harris, Tom Steyer targeted by pipe bombs, FBI investigating

Emergency personnel monitor the scene after two suspicious packages addressed to Senator Kamala Harris and democratic activist and billionaire Tom Steyer at the U.S. Post Office at 1625 Rollins Road in Burlingame, Calif. Friday, Oct. 26, 2018. less Emergency personnel monitor the scene after two suspicious packages addressed to Senator Kamala Harris and democratic activist and billionaire Tom Steyer at the U.S. Post Office at 1625 Rollins Road in ... more Photo: Jessica Christian / The Chronicle Buy photo Photo: Jessica Christian / The Chronicle Image 1 of / 4 Caption Close Sen. Kamala Harris, Tom Steyer targeted by pipe bombs, FBI investigating 1 / 4 Back to Gallery

Explosive devices targeting U.S. Senator Kamala Harris and billionaire Democratic activist Tom Steyer were intercepted Friday in what authorities called a Florida man’s plot to mail more than a dozen pipe bombs to politicians and public figures critical of President Trump.

An improvised explosive device, or IED, sent in a package addressed to Harris was discovered by a post office worker in Sacramento, according to the FBI. A second bomb in a package addressed to Steyer was found at a mail processing facility at 1625 Rollins Rd. in Burlingame.

The packages were discovered on the same day a nationwide manhunt ended with the arrest of Cesar Sayoc, 56, who was taken into custody in Plantation, Fla. His fingerprints and DNA were allegedly found on another bomb mailed to Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Los Angeles.

At least 13 packages containing pipe bombs were sent to Democratic Party leaders including former President Barack Obama, former Vice President Joe Biden and Trump’s 2016 election opponent, Hillary Clinton, authorities said.

Postal service workers in Burlingame were escorted out of the Rollins Road facility after the device was discovered. Agents continued investigating the scene Friday afternoon.

The device was taken off-site, according to Burlingame police. FBI officials in San Francisco tweeted that the package was “rendered safe” around 1 p.m.

Mail carrier Cynthia Maffei said she was about to leave the facility around 10 a.m. when the package sent to Steyer was found by another employee. Thirty minutes later, Maffei said, the post office was evacuated.

“They were seriously telling us to get out now,” she said. “It makes me nervous.”

Supervisors told her to “forget everything,” get out of the building and not come back for the day, Maffei said.

Steyer ran the hedge fund Farallon Capital for 26 years and has donated $65 million to Democratic candidates and environmental causes during the 2016 elections, according to Forbes. He has also led an effort to have Trump impeached.

At a youth summit Friday, Trump said he was “pleased” with the arrest of Sayoc, but many Democratic leaders blamed the president’s rhetoric for creating a dangerous political climate.

Lily Adams, a spokeswoman in Harris’ office, said it was time for “leaders across the political spectrum to take seriously the power they hold,” adding that elected officials should “elevate our discourse and bring people together.”

Steyer tweeted out a statement calling on the Republican Party to denounce any attacks “on the rights and dignity of any American.”

“We are seeing a systematic attack on our democracy and our rule of law that extends much further than just one isolated terrorist in Florida,” Steyer wrote. “Whether it’s voter suppression, voter intimidation, attacks on our free press, gerrymandering, or attempted violence — the trust and norms that are the actual basis of our civil society and political system are being eroded.”

In total, 13 IEDs consisting of six inches of PVC pipe, a small clock, battery, wiring and energetic material have been found, according to the criminal complaint against Sayoc. FBI Director Christopher Wray warned that more packages could be found in the coming days.

Authorities declined to comment on the motive behind the bombs, though Sayoc, who has a long arrest record, had expressed contempt for liberals and reverence for Trump, including on social media. In Florida, authorities seized Sayoc’s white van, which was adorned with pictures of Trump and stickers critical of Democratic leaders and news network CNN, another of the alleged bomber’s targets.

Rep. Jackie Speier, D-Hillsborough, told The Chronicle that Sayoc’s targets are people on “the president’s enemies list.”

Trump “has gone out of his way to throw verbal bombs,” Speier said. “He elevates people who do violent things. This could have been catastrophic to our country.”

Attorney General Jeff Sessions said he “didn’t know” why Democrats were targeted.

Sayoc was charged with five federal crimes that included transporting explosives across state lines, illegally mailing explosives, threatening former presidents and other people, threatening interstate communications, and assaulting assaulting federal officers, according to the criminal complaint.

He could face up to 48 years in prison if convicted, Sessions said.

Prior to the announcement of the arrest, Trump was criticized for bashing CNN in a Friday morning tweet that used quotation marks around the word “bomb.”

Republicans are doing so well in early voting, and at the polls, and now this “Bomb” stuff happens and the momentum greatly slows - news not talking politics. Very unfortunate, what is going on. Republicans, go out and vote! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 26, 2018

“Republicans are doing so well in early voting, and at the polls, and now this ‘Bomb’ stuff happens and the momentum greatly slows — news not talking politics,” Trump wrote. “Very unfortunate, what is going on. Republicans, go out and vote!”

Chronicle staff writer Jill Tucker contributed to this story.

Sarah Ravani and Gwendolyn Wu are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: sravani@sfchronicle.com, gwendolyn.wu@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @SarRavani @gwendolynawu
Police in Oslo, Norway, say that the FBI is assisting in the investigation into two forged nominations of Donald Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize. The impersonator allegedly used the same stolen identity twice.