Federal police officers are investigating several threats against U.S. lawmakers before the former president’s impeachment trial in the Senate Donald Trump
More than two-thirds of Americans approve of the response to Biden’s coronavirus: Sarah Huckabee Sanders poll to run for president of Mexico presents positive tests for COVID-19 MORE.
A source told the Associated Press that the threats had been made in chat rooms and online forums in the past few days. The threats, which vary in credibility and specifics, include plans to harm members of Congress during trips to or on the US Capitol, the source said.
Trump was impeached by the House earlier this month after a deadly rebellion by his supporters on the United States Capitol, and a Senate review is scheduled to begin on February 8.
The siege led to the sending of tens of thousands of National Guard troops to Washington, DC, before President Biden took office, an event held virtually and without reports of violence.
Separately, local police in Washington, DC and federal Homeland Security officials said they were aware of the ongoing conversation between far-right groups to carry out future armed protests in or around the Capitol.
That conversation, along with threats against lawmakers, prompted the US Capitol Police to ask the National Guard to leave several thousand soldiers in DC in the coming weeks, the AP reported.
The news service estimated that almost 7,000 soldiers will leave the country’s capital with some Guard presence expected to remain in DC until mid-March.
Trump is the first president in history to face two charges of impeachment and is the first to face a Senate trial after leaving office.
Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell
Addison (Mitch) Mitchell McConnellBiden attends the first religious service as president in DC, stops at local bakery Harry Reid ‘not particularly optimistic’ Biden will push to remove the obstruction Senators argue over the validity of Trump’s impeachment trial MORE (R-Ky.) He promised that the Republicans will participate in an orderly and thorough trial after several of his colleagues in the House accused the Democrats of advancing an “instant” impeachment.
“Given the unprecedented speed of the House process, our proposed timeline for the early stages includes a modest and reasonable amount of additional time for both sides to assemble their arguments before the Senate begins to hear them,” said McConnell last week. .
Trump faces an “incitement to insurrection” article because of his comments to supporters before attacking the Capitol. He told them to “march” on the building and show “strength” as a joint session of Congress met in the countryside to certify Biden’s victory in the elections.
Trump refused to admit that he lost the presidential election, publicizing unproven allegations about electoral fraud and falsely claiming that the election was “stolen” from him and his supporters.