Law enforcement is facing a surge in threats to elected officials and judicial officials — as well as to their own numbers, the Justice Department’s top national security official warned on Sunday.
Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco told ABC’s “This Week” that investigators are monitoring “an unprecedented increase in threats to public officials across the board.”
“Law enforcement agents, prosecutors, judges, election officials,” he told reporter Pierre Thomas. “And we see it and react to it.
“Just this week, just this week, Pierre, we had a case involving threats to kill an FBI agent, a Supreme Court justice and three presidential candidates,” Monaco added.
Last week, a New Hampshire man was charged with sending death threats to a trio of White House contenders.
A few days earlier, a Florida man pleaded guilty to a charge related to threats against Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts.
Lisa Monaco defended the Justice Department from criticism and explained that officials are facing a surge in threats. AP
Monaco explained that he received what he called “immediate reports” from US attorneys across the country detailing the threat.
“Many of these reports and threats, or tips, are resolved without incident. But many also develop into investigations. And today as we sit here, the FBI has opened more than 100 investigations from that report,” he said.
Monaco’s warning followed testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee earlier this month by FBI Director Christopher Wray, in which he said he saw “flashing lights everywhere” warning of possible terrorist attacks.
Jim Jordan is leading House Republicans’ efforts to investigate allegations the Justice Department is weaponized for political purposes. Reuters
“I think we are in a very challenging threat environment,” he said Sunday. “I think we’re in a unique moment where what we’re most concerned about is individuals or small groups who are often radicalized online and who are motivated and influenced by various ideologies.”
Meanwhile, some Republicans in Congress have slammed the FBI and DOJ for political bias in its investigations — especially former President Donald Trump and current eldest son Hunter Biden.
Monaco dismissed the accusations, saying they “have nothing in common with the Department of Justice that I know of.
“The Justice Department that I know is filled with dedicated men and women, investigators, lawyers, prosecutors, analysts, professional staff who wake up every day … regardless of who is in the White House or who is in Congress,” he said. “It really bothered me when I heard the allegations because it hurts the men and women of the Justice Department.”
Donald Trump has accused federal prosecutors of launching a ‘witch hunt’ against him. Reuters
Monaco also denied that President Biden had tried to influence either the investigation into his son, the two special counsels investigating Trump, or the examination of Biden’s handling of classified documents from his time as a US senator.
Deputy AGs have faced Trump’s wrath on Truth Social in the past. Last month, he called her and other officials at the DOJ, including special counsel Jack Smith, “a team of losers and misfits.”
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
