Shenna Bellows, the Democrat currently serving as Secretary of State in Maine, recently ruled against former President — and continued presidential candidate — Donald Trump appearing on the ballot in her state for the unfolding presidential race, affecting most imminently the GOP’s presidential primary. Like the set-up after a similar decision by Colorado’s state Supreme Court, a subsequent appeals process was looming.
In the meantime, Bellows says that she, her family, and members of her staff have been targeted by threatening communications. Trump himself has at this point posted (already public) details on Bellows to a social media profile of his, clearly drawing his fans’ attention towards the prospect of targeting her, no matter how Trump might explain away his original intentions. The situation is similar to what unfolded amid trial last year in New York on a fraud case against Trump from the state’s Attorney General Letitia James. Trump linked to evidently a social media page belonging to a clerk of the presiding judge, which spurred a gag order from that judge. It was later upheld as Trump challenged its legitimacy.
Glenn Kirschner, an ex-federal prosecutor, says Trump should be detained ahead of trial after the latest bout of worrying threats. “We need to keep calling on the institutions of government and the good men and women who populate them to stop forcing our nation to watch this movie on an endless loop,” Kirschner said, as Newsweek reported. “Someone tries to hold Donald Trump accountable in accordance with the law, and that person’s life instantly is endangered by Trump. The threats pour in. Police are sent to their homes via false reports. Put a stop to it. Apply the law of pretrial detention as it was intended to be applied.”
Bellows was also the victim of swatting, meaning a call to law enforcement utilizing faked details that’s oriented to spur an often serious response by local authorities to a targeted address. Find video of Kirschner below:
