A spokesperson at the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) says the agency has thrown its resources into responding to threats faced by judges in Colorado in connection to decisions there jeopardizing Donald Trump’s appearance on the ballot in the currently unfolding presidential race.
Trump’s eligibility was challenged on the basis of his alleged responsibility for the violence at the U.S. Capitol of January 6, 2021, which challengers insisted implicated provisions of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution that block individuals who took an oath of office and then engaged in insurrection from later holding a wide variety of government positions. Though a trial judge declined at first to apply the Constitutional rules to the office of the presidency, Colorado’s state Supreme Court subsequently made such a connection, though they held off their ruling from taking effect. The U.S. Supreme Court could soon provide its own input.
In the meantime, as in other cases when Trump has been targeted under the law, figures perceived as opposing him are under threat, with judges on Colorado’s highest state court facing threatening rhetoric on social media that precedent has shown can escalate into real-world violence.
“The FBI is aware of the situation and working with local law enforcement. We will vigorously pursue investigations of any threat or use of violence committed by someone who uses extremist views to justify their actions regardless of motivation,” Vikki Migoya, that FBI spokesperson, said. The statement was shared by an ABC affiliate in New York. Threats stemming from deceptive rhetoric have recently been a public focus after former Georgia election workers Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss secured a $148 million judgment against Rudy Giuliani in a defamation case they filed. A lawyer speaking to a niece for former President Trump suggested he could also be vulnerable to such litigation — and steep consequences — for the deception that he propagated about them, including after exiting the presidency.
