Law enforcement agents raided residences in New York City on Monday as part of a terrorism investigation, and began briefing Congress about the probe.

New York Police Department spokesman Paul Browne confirmed that searches were conducted in the borough of Queens by agents of a joint terrorism task force. He would not discuss the matter further.

Separately, federal authorities started briefing a series of senior lawmakers in Congress about the case.

CBSNews adds a few additional details but information is still sketch at this point.

WCBS TV’s John Slattery reports the federal search warrant spelled out all manner of possible bomb-making components, including powders, gels, TNT, and fuses.

Building resident Assad Niazi told WCBS, “I don’t know [the other residents]. They are roommates – they go to work in the morning, and at night they come back.”

Updates as new details emerge.

Update (8:45 p.m.): Reuters is reporting that the NYPD and FBI raided at least apartments in Queens early this morning one of which was shared by five Afghan men:

New York City police and the FBI raided homes in the borough of Queens early on Monday as part of an investigation into suspected terrorism, focusing on one man who has been under surveillance, officials said.

Authorities searched at least two apartments including one shared by five Afghan men, taking some of them in for questioning, said one man who was questioned.

Members of U.S. Congress briefed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation said there was no imminent danger.

“There was nothing imminent, and they are very good now at tracking potentially dangerous actions and this was preventive,” said Charles Schumer, a U.S. Senator from New York who was among those briefed by FBI officials.

A man who identified himself as Amanullah Akbar, a 30-year-old taxi driver, said the FBI raided the apartment he shares with four other Afghan men at 2:30 a.m. (1630 GMT)

He was brought in for questioning and released and said he had no idea why his home was targeted, adding that he believed one of his roommates was arrested.

According to news reports the focus appears to be on one man who was being watched, authorities grew concerned as he met with people in Queens over the weekend and applied for search warrants late yesterday… The agents were apparently searching for all manner of possible bomb-making components, including powders, gels, TNT, and fuses.

Update II (9:10 p.m.): The Wall Street Journal is reporting that the individual at the center of the investigation may have been trying to obtain materials that could have been used in making a chemical, biological or radiological device:

Authorities executed search warrants and seized evidence early Monday morning at locations in the Queens borough of New York City as part of a terrorism investigation, according to a senior official familiar with the case.

This person said some counterterrorism officials were concerned that the individual at the center of the investigation may have had access to, or an interest in acquiring, materials that could be used for a chemical, biological or radiological device. One aspect of the probe involves whether the person had some contact or connections with suspicious individuals overseas, the official said. He stressed that the investigation was still at its earliest stages.

No wonder they were briefing Congress.

As I mentioned yesterday the FBI and Secret Service have opened a criminal investigation into the unauthorized access of Sarah Palin’s private e-mail account. That investigation is undoubtedly progressing quietly outside the public view.

According to media reports the Associated Press has refused a Secret Service request for copies of the stolen e-mails. Smooth move AP, I can understand your desire to protect your sources, but the theft of those e-mails represent a gross violation of Sarah Palin’s privacy. You can either be part of problem or part of the solution.

On the bright side the operator of the proxy service used by the hacker is ready and willing to cooperate with investigators. From The Register:

Memo to US Secret Service: Net proxy may pinpoint Palin email hackers
Not quite Anonymous
By Dan Goodin in San Francisco
Posted in Security, 18th September 2008 01:22 GMT

Memo to law enforcement investigators tracking down who broke into Sarah Palin’s Yahoo email account: Gabriel Ramuglia might be a good place to start.

The 25-year-old webmaster and entrepreneur is the operator of Ctunnel.com, the browsing proxy service used by the group that hacked into the vice presidential candidate’s personal email account and exposed its contents to the world. While he has yet to examine his logs, he says there’s a good chance they will lead to those responsible, thanks to some carelessness on their part.

“Usually, this sort of thing would be hard to track down because it’s Yahoo email, and a lot of people use my service for that,” he told El Reg in a phone interview. “Since they were dumb enough to post a full screenshot that showed most of the [Ctunnel.com] URL, I should be able to find that in my log.”

Ramuglia got into the proxy business a few years ago, after schools began blocking access to an online game site he used to co-own. Pretty soon, people began using the proxy service to access YouTube, Gmail, MySpace, and dozens of other sites that are routinely blocked by IT departments.

As an aside… I used to carry a badge, criminal investigations happen at their own pace. I wouldn’t expect to hear much, if anything, about the progress of this investigation for several days.

Update: I’ve seen several reports stating that the son of Tennessee state Representative has been contacted by investigators in connection with the probe into the hacking of Sarah Palin’s personal e-mail account. I will not quote from or link to those reports until such time as there is statement from the FBI or Secret Service… If reports are accurate that person has not been arrested or charged with any crime. I would urge everyone to tread lightly until we know more.

Update 10:12 p.m. eastern: Dean @ blogs4God has good rundown on how Sarah Palin’s e-mail private e-mail was hacked:

In plain English – how they hacked Sarah Palin’s Yahoo account

Sep 18th, 2008, by Dean.

Here is a plain English explanation of how Sara Palin’s Yahoo email account was compromised via Yahoo’s password recovery system – and the ugly fall-out that ensued.

Prologue

• Last week, the Washington Post published an article about Sarah Palin’s use a private Yahoo e-mail account , allegedly for State business.
• gov....@yahoo.com is published for public consumption by ThinkProgress.org and CommonDreams.org.
• Not long after that, the account was locked after numerous attempts by individuals attempting to gain access.

For Additional Updates see:

• A Quick Update on the Palin E-mail Hacking Case
• Newsflash: Palin E-mail Hacker Indicted

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