Pardoned Jan. 6 rioter charged with threatening to kill top Democrat

A man pardoned by President Donald Trump after he was convicted for his part in the Capitol insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021, has now been charged with threatening to kill one of Trump’s chief political rivals, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries.

Christopher Moynihan was arrested on Sunday and prosecutors allege that he sent text messages discussing his plan to eliminate Jeffries, one of the highest-ranking Democratic officials in the country, during a planned visit to New York City. Ahead of Jeffries’ speech to the Economic Club of New York on Monday, Moynihan allegedly wrote, “Hakeem Jeffries makes a speech in a few days in NYC I cannot allow this terrorist to live.”

Prosecutors claim Moynihan also wrote, “Even if I am hated, he must be eliminated, I will kill him for the future.” 

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Moynihan has been charged with making a terroristic threat.

In a statement released Tuesday, Jeffries responded to the arrest, thanking law enforcement and blasting Trump.

”The person arrested, along with thousands of violent felons who stormed the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6th attack, was pardoned by Donald Trump on the President’s very first day in office,” Jeffries said. “Since the blanket pardon that occurred earlier this year, many of the criminals released have committed additional crimes throughout the country. Unfortunately, our brave men and women in law enforcement are being forced to spend their time keeping our communities safe from these violent individuals who should never have been pardoned.”

The latest charges against Moynihan come just a few weeks after Trump targeted Jeffries with a racist, AI-manipulated video after he and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer met with Trump in the White House.

In 2023, Moynihan was sentenced to 21 months in prison after he breached the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and disrupted the certification of former President Joe Biden’s victory over Trump in the 2020 election. In a release at the time of his conviction, the FBI said, “While in the Senate Chamber, Moynihan paged through a notebook on top of a Senator’s desk, taking out papers, and taking pictures with his cellphone. While looking through the papers, he said, ‘There’s gotta be something in here we can f---- use against these ----bags.’”

On the day of the Capitol riot, Trump encouraged his supporters to go to the building to protest the election certification. Trump was later impeached for his attempt to overthrow the government.

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Earlier this year, on the first day of his second term, Trump pardoned over 1,500 Capitol rioters, rewarding people who violently attacked the U.S. government. Moynihan was one of those people. Trump claimed at the time that it was “a grave national injustice” that figures like Moynihan had been convicted of crimes.

Moynihan is just the latest Capitol rioter to run afoul of the law since Trump’s pardon. As of June, at least 10 other rioters had been charged or convicted with other crimes. Alleged offenses range from gun charges to soliciting a minor.

Trump has spent the majority of his second term demonstrating callous disregard for the law, ignoring court orders and basic rules and regulations that others—of both parties—have long abided by. And some of his staunchest supporters, ones who were willing to ransack Congress on his behalf, have shown they have a similar distaste for the law of the land.

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