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A man who took part in the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol and received a full pardon from President Donald Trump was arrested last week after making threats to the life of House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries.
Prosecutors charged Christopher Moynihan with making terroristic threats toward the Democratic New York lawmaker. He will make his first court appearance on Thursday.
Moynihan’s text messages constitute a clear murder threat against Jeffries.
“Hakeem Jeffries makes a speech in a few days in NYC I cannot allow this terrorist to live,” Moynihan is alleged to have said in one message.
“Even if I am hated, he must be eliminated, I will kill him for the future,” Moynihan also said.
The New York State Police Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI) was reportedly advised about the texts by the FBI on October 18. Although it’s unclear when those messages were sent, last week also saw White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt describe Democrats and No Kings protesters as “terrorists,” among other derogatory descriptors.
The Trump administration, including Leavitt herself, has frequently demanded Democrats tone down their rhetoric, arguing that they incite political violence — despite the fact that Trump himself is often invoked in direct connection with violent acts or threats of violence.
Moynihan was one of over 1,500 individuals who took part in the January 6 attack who were later pardoned by Trump earlier this year. He had previously been found guilty of obstructing an official proceeding, and was sentenced to 21 months in prison.
The broad pardoning power granted to presidents means that Trump could, theoretically, pardon Moynihan again. Article II of the Constitution places no limits or oversight on presidents to pardon individuals for federal crimes, except in cases of impeachment.
Many of Trump’s pardons have centered on his personal relationships and political views rather than taking into consideration leniency or justice, with the president often rewarding his loyalists with pardons or commutations based solely on their continued support for him. Trump recently commuted the sentence of former Republican Rep. George Santos, who was convicted for wire fraud and identity theft and set to serve a multi-year prison sentence.
Trump claimed he granted Santos a commutation because of his negative experiences behind bars. “George has been in solitary confinement for long stretches of time and, by all accounts, has been horribly mistreated,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post announcing the commutation.
But the president also appeared more willing to forgive Santos because, as Trump wrote, he “at least…had the Courage, Conviction, and Intelligence to ALWAYS VOTE REPUBLICAN!”
The statement indicates Trump may not be so forgiving when it comes to others who have experienced mistreatment in prisons. Indeed, while he offered Santos’s solitary confinement as a reason to commute his sentence, the practice has increased under Trump’s watch, particularly for those being detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) since the start of the second Trump term.
Trump also tends to grant his pardons to celebrities. This week, it was reported that Trump is giving serious consideration to pardoning or commuting the conviction of music producer Sean “Diddy” Combs, who is serving a 50-month sentence relating to several sex-based crimes.
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