Members of Congress and other U.S. public servants targeted by President Donald Trump’s “retaliation” are taking extra security measures for themselves and their families, and are now facing arrest after Trump’s return. He said he was preparing for the extreme scenario of possibly being arrested. White House.
Two Democratic House members who have been vocal critics of Mr. Trump and his policy agenda told the Guardian that they and their colleagues were preparing for a “pretty surreal and dystopian scenario.” The content ranges from bogus investigations and tax audits of current and former federal members to outright violence inspired by President Trump’s revenge rhetoric.
“My I hope that my Democratic colleagues do not become the American corollaries of Alexander Navalny.”
“(My colleagues in the House) are considering a legal defense against a weaponized Justice Department,” Huffman added. “They may have to be prepared to be arrested and arrested. They have to have family planning to protect themselves in ways that I don’t want to talk about publicly…
“So many of our colleagues are living under constant and violent threats against them, their families and staff… These are dark times. We are all keeping our eyes wide open.”
President Trump has repeatedly called out the same names over and over again on the campaign trail and in social media posts, including former Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Congressman and Sen.-elect Adam Schiff, and special counsel Jack.・Includes Smith and former Republican congressmen. Representative Liz Cheney and former FBI Director James Comey said he should be arrested and charged with treason and other crimes.
I hope my Democratic colleagues don’t become Navalny’s American corollaries.
Congressman Jared Huffman
Mike Davis, a Trump-friendly lawyer reportedly set to serve in the administration, has vowed to send journalists and disloyal former Republicans to “gulag camps.”
Separately, Trump supporters with ties to disgraced former National Security Adviser Mike Flynn circulated a “Deep State Target List,” which led to Congressional committees investigating the January 6 riot and Republican and vowed retaliation against intelligence agencies whose members had signed a letter accusing them of being deceived by Russia. Among other things, disinformation about Joe Biden’s son Hunter and those involved in two Congressional efforts to impeach Trump.
Biden, Kamala Harris, Barack Obama and Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer are also on the list.
Democratic Rep. Dan Goldman of New York, who worked closely with Schiff as lead counsel for Trump’s first impeachment in 2019, said he was not primarily concerned about his own well-being. “I dare them to weaponize the Department of Justice and go after me. That’s not going to work for them,” he said.
Rather, his immediate concern was with members of the federal bureaucracy, including intelligence and national security officials, who rebelled against Trump during the president’s first term. There were many other ways to pursue them.
Goldman said a determined administration could demote or fire government workers if they are still government employees, and could consider suspending security clearances or stripping them of health insurance or pensions. It is said that there is a sex. They could be subject to defamation lawsuits, and many have already been filed, but even if the lawsuits are ultimately dismissed, they will be tied up in court and the legal costs will be huge. . Or they could become a target for the Internal Revenue Service’s inspector general or the Justice Department’s criminal prosecutors.
We have to prepare for all kinds of worst-case scenarios so we don’t get caught by surprise
Mark Zaid, attorney
“If you have supporters at the top of various government agencies, the list of different ways he (President Trump) can retaliate is almost endless,” Goldman said.
This is not the first time Trump has spoken of revenge against people he perceives to be against him. During his first term as president, he frequently described the news media as “enemies of the people,” aides said, leaving them to leak documents or publicly criticize him. He became so furious with insiders that he could be heard calling out to them: their arrest, and even their execution.
Olivia Troy, who worked in Trump’s White House as national security adviser to Vice President Mike Pence, said Trump was especially furious about an anonymous op-ed published in the New York Times in 2018. , he said, referring to “resistance” within the state. This is an administration that was trying to rein in President Trump’s worst instincts.
Troy recalled that Trump called op-ed reporters “traitors.” Later, when the author revealed his true identity as Homeland Security Chief of Staff Miles Taylor, he felt forced to go into hiding and drained his bank account with bodyguards and lawyers.
The difference this time around, according to those targeted by President Trump and his lawyers, is that the incoming administration is far better prepared, more ambitious in scope, and more determined to follow through on President Trump’s policies. It is said that there are signs that there is.
“This isn’t 2017, when they weren’t organized,” said Mark Zaid, a lawyer with a long list of national security and intelligence clients. Many of them are concerned that they are now on the line of firefight. “They (Trump supporters) have been there before, and they know what they want to do and how to do it.”
Those whose names are on the target list are also better prepared than last time. Zaid said some are planning to leave the country to see how the first few months of the new government go. Others set up go-bags, move money to avoid asset seizure, identify safe locations, and hire security guards.
“We have to prepare for all kinds of worst-case scenarios so we are not caught by surprise,” Zaid added. “I’m not going to be naive like my German ancestors 90 years ago. I’ve been loyal to this country and I don’t think they’re going to come after me. ”
We’re seeing the oligarchy unite here, and it’s really scary
Olivia Troy, former national security official
The threat of political violence is already evident. Democratic Rep. Jared Moskowitz of Florida reported that on the eve of the presidential election, police stopped an ex-felon armed with a rifle and bulletproof vest from attempting to carry out a plot against his life.
Fred Wellman, who briefly headed the anti-Trump Lincoln Project, said several times he saw a man sitting outside his suburban St. Louis home late at night and had to call the police to chase him away. said.
Zaid, the lawyer, said someone mirrored his phone number and called local police in Maryland in 2021, claiming he was being held hostage in his home by gunmen with explosives. . Heavily armed police stormed the home, apparently aiming to cause chaos. The only reason it didn’t happen, he said, was because police knew his identity and knew the call was a fake call.
Such threats are amplified by efforts by far-right activists to release addresses and phone numbers of people on target lists. And there is no doubt that these possibilities are becoming even more likely as Trump himself ramps up his rhetoric. In the run-up to the election, he threatened long prison sentences for those he deemed to have “cheated” in voting and threatened to use military force against liberal politicians whom he described as “the enemy within.” Threatened and entertained the idea of Liz Cheney. A rifle is pointed at his face.
“The Trump people are emboldened right now, that’s obvious,” said Troy, a former national security official. “The American people are going to know exactly what they’ve chosen, even if they think it’s an exaggeration and an exaggeration…We’re seeing an oligarchy coming together here. But it’s really scary.”
Some of the threats may be more explicit — Troy said the Trump supporters she knows would be happy just to know they’re in the enemy’s head. But many of the people on the target list take their threats frighteningly seriously anyway.
The administration is especially concerned now that controversial Trump supporters have been nominated to top positions at the Justice Department, including embattled lawmaker Matt Gaetz and defense attorney Fox News host Pete Hegseth. is about the means used to initiate criminal prosecution and even court-martial. .
Prosecutors said they could pounce on the former national security official’s television appearance to allege leaking classified information in violation of the Espionage Act. Alternatively, they could allege election interference based on political statements made during the election period. Or it could use techniques under the Uniform Code of Military Justice to reclassify veterans as active duty soldiers and put them on trial for badmouthing the commander-in-chief.
“They can always find crime where they need to be,” said Wellman, a former director of the Lincoln Project who now works on veterans affairs. His attorney, Zaid, agreed: “There are laws on the books that could be stretched.”
In Washington, where Republicans control the White House and both houses of Congress, Trump’s critics see few guardrails to prevent future presidents from going after their opponents in this way. “It is incumbent on those around him and other Republicans to uphold their oath to the Constitution and ensure the survival of our democracy,” New York Representative Goldman said in a statement.
Asked what the outlook is, Goldman added: “I don’t see much enthusiasm from my Republican colleagues.”
