Rep. Jim Banks, R-Ind., is demanding answers about why the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Indiana declined to prosecute a man who was threatening him and his family, instead leaving the case up to a local district attorney.
Banks, in a letter written late last year to Attorney General Merrick Garland, asked why the federal attorney, who would normally prosecute threats to members of Congress, did not pursue the case, ABC News, which obtained a copy of the letter, reported Tuesday.
The man, Aaron Thompson of Fort Wayne, eventually was sentenced to two years of probation. Banks said that the FBI visited the suspect's house, where he "admitted he had threatened me and my family with violence because he disagreed with my political beliefs."
Banks wrote that in one of Thompson's voicemails, he said "Three daughters. Hey, hey, hey, three bullets hey, hey, hey one wife yay. Oh yeah, yeah, we'll give her two bullets."
But, Banks wrote, "When Capitol Police referred the criminal case against Aaron Thompson to the U.S. Attorney for Northern District of Indiana, they declined to prosecute despite clear evidence that Thompson violated federal law."
The congressman said that Garland has made prosecuting threats made to members of Congress, but noted that the DOJ didn't pursue charges in his situation, but similar threats made against Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., were prosecuted.
Further, U.S. District Judge R. Gary Klausner on Monday sentenced Brian Michael Gaherty, 61, of Houston to nearly three years in jail after his conviction for leaving racist and threatening voicemails for Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif.
The judge, also fining Gaherty $10,000, found that he targeted Waters because of her race, added a hate crime enhancement to his sentence, reports the Department of Justice.
Garland last week decried political violence, penning an opinion piece for The Washington Post stating that, while political disagreements are "good for our democracy," the use of "conspiracy theories, falsehoods, violence and threats of violence to affect political outcomes is not normal."
A Banks spokesman said that the DOJ has not responded to Banks' letter, and ABC News reported that no response has been made to its request for comment.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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