Interim D.C. U.S. Attorney Ed Martin opened a preliminary investigation into Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) over threatening comments he made to Supreme Court justices in 2020.
While speaking on the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court in March of that year, Schumer told Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorscuch that they will “pay a price” if they voted to overturn Roe V. Wade, which they ultimately did in 2022.
“Over the last three years, women’s reproductive rights have come under attack in a way we haven’t seen in modern history. From Louisiana, to Missouri, to Texas, Republican legislatures are waging a war on women, all women, and they’re taking away fundamental rights,” Schumer declared. “I want to tell you, Gorsuch, I want to tell you, Kavanaugh, you have released the whirlwind and you will pay the price. You won’t know what hit you, if you go forward with these awful decisions.”
Schumer quickly walked his comments back while speaking from the Senate floor a few days later, stating that he was not threatening Supreme Court justices. In a non-apology, the top Senate Democrat stated that he “shouldn’t have used the words I did” while claiming that conservatives were attempting to “generate outrage” over his comments. He was later hit with an ethics complaint that went nowhere.
In a January 21 letter that was obtained by the Washington Post, interim D.C. U.S. Attorney Ed Martin confirmed that he is opening a “preliminary inquiry” into Schumer’s threatening comments. “We take threats against public officials very seriously. I look forward to your cooperation,” Martin wrote in the letter, which was addressed to Schumer.
The nation’s top elected Democrat has a history of making ominous, threatening comments towards his political opponents. During the opening stages of the bogus Russian collusion investigation, Schumer stated that President Trump was “really dumb” for “taking on” U.S. intelligence agencies before suggesting that there would be retribution.
“Let me tell you, you take on the intelligence community, they have six ways from Sunday at getting back at you,” Schumer told MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow. “So even for a practical, supposedly hard-nosed businessman, he’s being really dumb to do this.”
In a separate memorandum issued Friday, acting deputy attorney general Emil Bove ordered the termination of dozens of prosecutors who worked on the politicized investigations into President Donald Trump and his allies. Bove stated that “subversive” prosecutors must be removed before they can hinder Martin’s work in the nation’s capital. “I will not tolerate subversive personnel actions by the previous Administration at any U.S. attorney’s office,” Bove wrote.
An email sent by Martin informed recipients to preserve all documents relating to “personnel decisions regarding attorneys hired to support casework” regarding the January 6 Capitol protests. Martin added that the new guidance was issued in accordance with President Trump’s directive to end the weaponization of government.
