Lawmakers Face Record ‘Wide Range’ of Violent Threats
Threats against lawmakers, their families and staff skyrocketed last year, with the numbers more than doubling since 2017, the United States Capitol Police reported Monday.
The Capitol Police said it investigated 9,474 cases in 2024—up from 8,008 in 2023 and 7,501 in 2022. The uptick in threats against members of Congress is staggering, considering that in 2017, officers investigated 3,939 such threats.
Since then, cases have climbed, reaching a high of 9,625 in 2021—the year of the Jan. 6 Capitol attack aimed at keeping Donald Trump in power after he was defeated by Joe Biden.
Mitch McConnell, the former Senate Republican leader, criticized Trump on Sunday for pardoning convicted Jan. 6 rioters, telling CBS’s 60 Minutes: “I think pardoning people who’ve been convicted is a mistake.”
Asked about Trump and his supporters calling Jan. 6 “a day of love,” McConnell deadpanned to Leslie Stahl: “Yeah, no, it was an insurrection.”
Capitol Police Chief Tom Manger on Monday cited his department’s work to make security enhancements in response to the deadly assault, when police officers were gassed, beaten and even killed.
“Our team has completed all of the 103 Inspector General recommendations regarding the safety of the U.S. Capitol after January 6, but we must keep working to ensure the safety of the Congress while the Members are away from Capitol Grounds,” Manger said.
His department said both Republicans and Democrats have received a “wide range of threats and concerning statements that are sent through the mail, email, telephone, social media, and the internet.”
USCP said the individuals who are issuing the threats have a “false sense of anonymity on social media,” which has led to the sharp increase in investigations.
Threat of political violence against all politicians has risen. The Capitol Police announcement Monday follows two attempted assassinations against Trump during the 2024 presidential campaign.
Dozens of lawmakers—including Reps. Joe Courtney, Jim Himes, John Larson, Marjorie Taylor Greene and Jahana Hayes—were targeted with bomb threats around the Thanksgiving holiday last year. And a number of Trump’s Cabinet picks were harassed with bomb threats and swatting.
Rep. Jared Moskowitz was the target of an assassination attempt last year. A man who intended to attack former Speaker Nancy Pelosi—but instead bludgeoned her husband, Paul Pelosi, with a hammer—is serving a life sentence in prison. Moskowitz and Pelosi are from Florida and California, respectively, two states—in addition to the District of Columbia—that account for the highest number of cases involving threats against members of Congress, according to Capitol Police.
The U.S. Capitol Police hired attorneys and “detailed them to work for the Department of Justice (DOJ) as prosecutors who specialize in the unique types of threat cases faced by the Congress,” the USCP said Monday.
The statement also said special assistant U.S. attorneys are currently handling between 20 and 25 cases.
Trump on Friday fired hundreds—if not more—of FBI agents and others within the Department of Justice involved in the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection investigation. The top FBI field office agent in New York has declared “battle” against the Trump administration for spreading “fear and angst within the FBI ranks.”