Trump Funding Case Judge Says Threats ‘Shook’ Faith in System

A judge who heard a challenge to the Trump administration’s federal funding freeze received over 400 threatening voicemails and six credible death threats in an onslaught that he said “shook his faith” in the judicial system.

John McConnell, the chief judge of the US District Court for the District of Rhode Island, recounted on Thursday a months-long period of “incredible personal harassment, attacks, and threats” against him and his family, as threats against federal judges have risen in recent months.

In one expletive-ridden voicemail, played aloud at a virtual event, a man said to tell McConnell that “we’re going to come for him,” threatened to send him to prison, and said he wished he would be assassinated.

“I’ve been on the bench almost 15 years and I must say, it’s the one time that actually shook my faith in the judicial system and the rule of law,” McConnell said.

McConnell this year ruled against the administration’s effort to freeze trillions in federal funding, a decision kept in place by a federal appeals court. In February, McConnell found the administration didn’t comply with his “clear and unambiguous order” to release the money.

Following that ruling, far-right political activist Laura Loomer posted the name and photo of McConnell’s daughter on the social media platform X, where Loomer has more than 1 million followers, and accused the judge of having a conflict of interest in the case.

The judge said he’s also faced political attacks. The conservative America First Legal and two members of Congress submitted judicial misconduct complaints against him, McConnell said.

A House Republican from Georgia also filed an impeachment resolution against McConnell over his handling of the funding case, one of several impeachment efforts filed by Republicans against judges who ruled against President Donald Trump’s agenda.

Threats Rising

McConnell shared his experience as threats to judges have risen nationwide and Trump and his allies have blasted federal judges on social media.

More than 400 threats were made against federal judges from October through mid-June, according to data shared by US District Judge Esther Salas of the District of New Jersey, who has led judicial security efforts since the murder of her son, Daniel Anderl, in their home five years ago by a disgruntled litigant.

Judges have also received pizzas delivered to their homes in the name of Salas’ son, interpreted as a threat to tell the recipient that the sender knows where they live. Salas said state court judges in Florida have also received unwanted pizza deliveries.

Trump referred to judges in a May post on the social media platform TruthSocial as “USA hating” and “monsters.”

Salas called on political leaders “from the top down, to stop fanning these flames, to stop using irresponsible rhetoric, to stop referring to judges as corrupt and biased and monsters that hate America.”

“What they’re doing when they do that irresponsible rhetoric, is they are inviting people to do us harm. They’re inviting that man to call you, because now he feels emboldened to use those words against you,” she said at the Thursday event.

Senior Judge John Coughenour of the Seattle-based US District Court for the Western District of Washington, who ruled against Trump’s birthright citizenship restrictions, said Thursday that he’d been “swatted” twice.

In one instance, sheriffs got a call that he’d murdered his wife and showed up to his house with weapons. Shortly after, the FBI notified him of a bomb threat in his house, he said.

“It’s unspeakable that people will do these things,” Coughenour said.

Judge Robert Lasnick, another senior judge on the Seattle federal trial court, said he started receiving “hate” after giving an interview to public radio about threats to judges. He and two of his adult children received pizza deliveries, all three in Salas’ son’s name, he said.

“What’s the message to Judge Lasnik? We know where you live, we know where your children live, and they could end up dead like Judge Salas’ son did. That’s a pretty cruel thing to do,” Lasnik said.