- Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said officials are facing an “unprecedented increase” in threats
- Law enforcement agencies are investigating more than 100 threats against elected leaders and judicial officials
- Monaco also said the US is addressing a “heightened threat environment” fueled by the war between Israel and Hamas
Law enforcement agencies are grappling with an “unprecedented” increase in threats against elected and judicial officials as the U.S. faces a “very challenging threat environment,” federal officials warn.
Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said death threats and threats of violence against officials are increasing across the country.
She told ABC's This Week that threats have been made against “law enforcement, prosecutors, judges, election officials… and we're seeing that and responding.”
Monaco said it is receiving reports from lawyers across the country detailing the threats, adding that law enforcement is also dealing with increased terror reports in the wake of the war between Israel and Hamas.
She said, “Just this week… we've had cases involving threats to kill FBI agents, a Supreme Court justice and three presidential candidates.”
President Joe Biden appeared shocked after a car crashed into a Secret Service SUV in Delaware on December 17
She added: “On a weekly basis, sometimes more often, I receive reports of threats against government officials, threats against our prosecutors, threats against law enforcement officers working at the Department of Justice, and threats against judges.
“Many of these reports and these threats, or tips, are resolved without incident. But many also develop into research.
“And as we sit here, the FBI has opened more than a hundred investigations in response to these reports.”
Earlier this month, Vivek Ramaswamy and his supporters faced death threats from a New Hampshire man ahead of a campaign trip to the state for the early primaries.
Tyler Anderson, 30, of Dover was arrested by the FBI and faces up to five years in prison, three years of probation and a maximum fine of $250,000 for threatening a presidential candidate.
A week later, a Florida man who suffers from paranoia and delusions pleaded guilty to threatening to kill Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts.
Then again this month, the FBI began investigating death threats against the Colorado Supreme Court justices who ruled to block Donald Trump from the state's primary.
Threats included: “This ends when we kill these f–kers” and “What do you call seven Colorado Supreme Court justices at the bottom of the ocean?” A good start.'
Threats against elected and judicial officials have seen an “unprecedented rise.”
Monaco said authorities were investigating more than 100 threats against officials
Monaco insisted that the Justice Department had not been biased in its investigations and that Biden had never tried to influence their investigations
In addition to threats against officials, Monaco said there is a general “heightened threat environment” caused by “the current conflict.”
She said: “What we are seeing is foreign terrorist organizations taking advantage and calling on their allegiance to take action, to do something.
“And then we see individuals and – and small groups that we fear will actually draw distorted inspiration from conflicts abroad and from the very searing images that we see coming out of the brutal, brutal terrorist attacks that took place on October 7 . .'
Monaco's warning followed FBI Director Christopher Wray's testimony earlier this month before the Senate Judiciary Committee, when he said he sees “flashing lights” everywhere warning of possible terror attacks.
Monaco also shrugged off accusations that the Justice Department had been biased in its investigations of Hunter Biden and Donald Trump, saying claims of bias “bear no resemblance to the Justice Department that I know.”
She also denied that President Biden had tried to influence the department's investigations, saying, “The attorney general has been exceptionally clear on this point.”