Johnson Condemns Death Threats Against Jeffries

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., condemned an alleged death threat against House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., made by a man previously convicted for crimes tied to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.

"I don't know any of the details of this at all. I don't know who's been alleged to have been involved in this," Johnson told reporters Tuesday in the Capitol. "I will say that anybody — anybody — who threatens political violence against elected officials or anyone else should have the full weight and measure of the Department of Justice on their head."

"I trust that that will happen — I hope it will," he added. "We are intellectually consistent about that, obviously."

New York law enforcement arrested Christopher Moynihan, 34, of Clinton, N.Y., over the weekend, accusing him of sending text messages threatening to kill Jeffries ahead of an appearance in New York City.

According to court documents first reported by CBS News, Moynihan sent texts that read: "Hakeem Jeffries makes a speech in a few days in NYC I cannot allow this terrorist to live. Even if I am hated he must be eliminated. I will kill him for the future."

In August 2022, Moynihan was convicted of obstructing an official proceeding and pleaded guilty to five misdemeanor offenses. He received a 21-month prison sentence in February 2023.

President Donald Trump pardoned Moynihan, along with more than 1,500 other defendants from the Capitol protests, granting them clemency immediately upon his return to the White House in January.

Jeffries blasted the pardons by Trump in a statement saying the president should have kept the rioters in prison.

"Since the blanket pardon that occurred earlier this year, many of the criminals released have committed additional crimes throughout the country," Jeffries said.

"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 minority leader added.

Johnson and Jeffries have engaged in a verbal back and forth since the New York Democrat challenged the Speaker to a prime-time televised debate over the causes of the federal government shutdown.

"Given the urgency of the moment and the Republican refusal to negotiate a bipartisan agreement, a debate on the House Floor will provide the American people with the transparency they deserve," Jeffries challenged in an open letter to Johnson.

Johnson ultimately said he would debate Jeffries after the government reopened.