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A young man from Pennsylvania accepted a plea deal in federal court on Friday for threatening to kill Tri-Valley Congressman Eric Swalwell in a series of “terrifying” phone calls two months ago.
Joshua Hall faces a maximum of five years in prison after pleading guilty for the threatening calls across state lines that prosecutors say occurred while the 23-year-old man from Mechanicsburg, Penn., was out of custody pending sentencing after admitting to wire fraud for impersonating then-President Donald Trump’s family members online to trick people into donating money to a fake political organization.
“I am deeply grateful to the FBI, U.S. Capitol Police, Yonkers Police Department, and the U.S. Department of Justice for taking these threats — and the safety of me and my staff seriously — and for seeking accountability,” Rep. Swalwell (D-Livermore) said in a statement.
“Politics can be polarizing, but we must never normalize or tolerate death threats. Today, MAGA political violence is at peak level in America and it’s going to get someone killed. I urge GOP leaders to denounce the violence,” Swalwell added.
The plea deal for the threats against Swalwell and his office came on the same day that Paul Pelosi, husband of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco), was seriously injured in an assault by a Richmond man whom authorities say broke into the couple’s San Francisco home around 2 a.m. Friday seeking to kidnap and injure Speaker Pelosi — who was in Washington, D.C. at the time — and hit 82-year-old Paul Pelosi in the head with a hammer.
Swalwell has become a lightning rod figure of sorts in the U.S. House of Representatives in recent years as a vocal critic of congressional Republicans, Trump and his supporters.
The Tri-Valley Democrat, who was raised in Dublin, sued the former president and others including Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Ala.) in 2021 for inciting the violence in the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. The civil case is set for oral arguments in the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals on Dec. 7.
“Joshua Hall made terrifying threats to the staff of a United States Congressman whom he disliked rather than attempting to effect change through any of the freedoms of expression that all Americans enjoy,” said Damian Williams, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, which prosecuted the case against Hall.
“These threats of violence endanger our public officials and thwart common decency, which is why this Office will continue to prosecute crimes like those committed by Joshua Hall,” Williams added.
According to prosecutors, Hall made a series of calls from the Yonkers, N.Y., area on Aug. 29 to congressman’s office and “conveyed threats to kill the congressman to at least three different members of the congressman’s staff”. The federal press release did not identify the victim, but Swalwell confirmed he was the targeted congressman in question.
In one exchange with Swalwell’s staff, Hall stated “that he had a lot of AR-15s; that he wanted to shoot the congressman; that he intended to come to the congressman’s office with firearms; and that if he saw the congressman, he would kill him,” according to prosecutors.
Hall also threatened to beat up Swalwell, to find Swalwell wherever he was and hurt him, and to come to Swalwell’s office and shoot him to death, according to prosecutors.
Hall was arrested and detained on the same day he made the threats, according to prosecutors.
At the time of his arrest, Hall was out of custody on pretrial release pending sentencing for a fraud scheme in which he had already pleaded guilty for posing as Trump family members, including the then-president’s teenage son Barron, among others. He duped hundreds of people via social media to provide thousands of dollars to a fictitious political organization to support Trump’s reelection bid, prosecutors said.
For the Swalwell case, Hall faces up to five years in federal prison for one count of making interstate communications with a threat to injure. For the fraud scheme case, Hall faces up to 20 years in prison for one count of wire fraud. He is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Gregory H. Woods on Dec. 8.
I wasn’t going to comment, but in hearing that Biden is making an unscheduled speech tonight that will most certainly divide this country further, and produce hard feelings, I find a compulsion to do so. Let me preface my remarks and state the obvious: no one, and in the theme of this article particularly Congress, should be threatened or harmed, to include their families. That should be common ground among us all. I don’t support Eric Swalwell, but I denounce these actions directed at him.
Unfortunately Eric Swalwell spewed lies about President Trump and the Russians for years, but once Trump was cleared we never heard an apology to him and his family. Eric has never denounced the 6 swatted occurrences against Marjorie Taylor Green- whoever is doing this is anticipating she will be shot by police in the early hours when these have occurred. I can go on down the line of incidents targeted at GOP members that he never said a word, but you get the point.
Politicians need to police their words and actions when speaking out about these incidents and ensure their comments call for solidarity among them all. Eric could show the way by not throwing stones.
I’m writing this after the president’s speech.
He made good points about the need to be more civil in our politics to save democracy.
Unfortunately he only points to the Republicans as the cause of the problem.
The only way our country is going to save our democracy is if both Republicans AND Democrats step back, take honest look at how their side is contributing to the sorry state our country and democracy are in, and take personal action to stop it.
Both political parties and their leaders – AND President Biden, are threatening our democracy.
The president pointed out that our democracy is of the people – if citizens think our democracy is being threatened then they need to look at the choices they are making and change.
Yes, demand more from your elected representatives – BOTH Republicans and Democrats.
Jake, you conveniently forget that Trump was a divider as well.
I have observed American politics for over 50 years. There have been political attacks starting with our country’s first election. However, starting with Newt in the mid-nineties, the current edition took on its heated divisiveness.
I’ve been involved in National Politics for 55 years beginning with my active/involved support of Eugene McCarthy for President. The great Dividers really started with Obama, then Hilary Clinton and Trump, and now Biden. I’m not counting Republicans vs Democrats….if you want to add other names from both parties I’m sure you can. They are ALL disgusting and ALL have harmed our Society. ALL of them should just fade away and let our society recover.
ALL our elected officials and ALL citizens should be free from threats and crime! How did we get here ? To solve a problem you must accurately identify the cause of the problem. Are elected officials like Swalwell helping or hurting to deal with these problems ? What is Swalwell’s legacy? The greatest Trump hater in Congress? (Probably tied with Schiff and Pelosi). Does his hatred benefit the residents of 15th District? Does he know where the homeless camps are in District 15? Does he give a damn? Do you know anything else about Swalwell? Well you probably know he cavorted with a Chinese spy, Fang Fang. Let’s put him on the House Intelligence Committee! And predictably Swalwell said Paul Pelosi’s attacker was inspired by MAGA fanatics…really?
Sadly Swalwell will easily be reelected…..The Republicans can’t even nominate a candidate to run against him that anyone can name! I guess we get what we deserve with our complacency and for most of us a pretty good life which we enjoy more than getting involved in politics. If we can’t come up with a strong candidate to run against Swalwell “we own it” !
But what about our children or grandchildren? Do they deserve the consequences of egotistic self-serving representatives like Swalwell? Who we vote for today does affect the future of our society. Consider who you nominate and vote for very carefully. And remember sometimes you may have to hold you nose…Vote issues not identity…vote for the good of the country not for the good of a political party!
The Republican party is “owned” by Donald Trump, a guy who is unfit to be making decisions that impact the US.
I thought it was a publicity stunt when he first ran for President. Unfortunately the narcissist won, was then defeated four years later, but refused to concede, making up lies about voter fraud. He left our greatest political office like a spoiled child, great example! Never met with Joe Biden in front of America, like all Presidents have done with their successor, including Obama greeting him when he was elected, even though Donald accused him publicly of not being born in the United States, another of his many lies. So if you want to go back to how our country recently became so divided, look no farther than when Donal started running for President. He use the divide and conquer strategy, and it worked for him.
We wake up to a new disaster every morning with this President, and you want to debate Trump’s legacy? Get some some perspective. There is an article as I write that reports a death of a toddler back in August due to a fentanyl overdose where this drug is pouring over the hole in the southern boarder. Many of you are living and breathing Trump when your attention should be focused on an Administration that has done nothing right. You can talk about violent speech by political parties, but you don’t have to look any further than the Democratic establishment. Sins on both sides-absolutely, but who is doing all the talking?
This has gone off topic and will be closed.