White House Has Absolutely Unhinged Response To Judicial Threats

The Trump administration has never seen a fire they were *uninterested* in pouring gasoline on, and this story has a lot of that energy. We all know that the right-wing has repeatedly screamed about federal judges holding the line on the rule of law and even attempted to get them removed from office for the audacity of doing their jobs. And all that vitriol has had an entirely predictable consequence, which is an increase in threats to judges.

As documented by Reuters, 11 federal judges that they spoke with say they have rising concerns about their own safety. The U.S. Marshals Service has also reportedly briefed judges about the mounting safety concerns as well. At least two judges, Paul Engelmayer and Jeannette Vargas, have received extra security details after their rulings put a pause on the DOGE takeover and resulted in right-wing backlash.

There are also reports that several judges in the D.C. area had pizzas sent anonymously to their homes. Which is not seen as a act of tasty goodwill, but is interpreted by law enforcement as a intimidation tactic meant to demonstrate that *someone* knows exactly where the judges live.

This is all awful, but the response from White House spokesperson Harrison Fields is simply off the hook wild.

“The White House condemns any threats to really any public officials, despite our feelings that a lot of these people are leftist, crazy judges that aren’t following the constitution,” Fields said. “Just because these people are leftist, crazy, unconstitutional people doesn’t mean they deserve to be harmed. That’s not how you engage with disputes in this country.”

This is not the sort of measured statement you’d expect from someone skilled at PR. And it sure as shit isn’t the response of someone genuinely concerned about the safety of federal judges. The Trump administration is playing roughshod with the Constitution and folks are hoping like hell the court system is at least a speedbump for conservatives. This reaction to real threats to public servants shows the Trump administration’s utter contempt for the very concept of checks and balances.

Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, host of The Jabot podcast, and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter @Kathryn1 or Mastodon @Kathryn1@mastodon.social.

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