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Threats to Congress

TN Man Arrested For Threatening Cantor's Family

Ryan J. Reilly | November 3, 2011, 6:26PM

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA)

Glendon Swift, a 62-year-old Tennessee resident, was arrested by the FBI late yesterday for allegedly threatening Rep. Eric Cantor and his family.

The FBI says Swift left two "screaming, profanity-laden" voicemail messages with Cantor's Virginia office on Oct. 27 and threatened Cantor, his daughter and his wife.

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Topics: Congress, Eric Cantor, FBI, Threats, Threats to Congress

In Interview About Giffords, Ensign Recounts 1996 Shooting At Reid's Office

Rachel Slajda | January 15, 2011, 9:29AM

Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) and Sen. John Ensign (R-NV)

In a local TV interview that touched on the Tucson shootings, Sen. John Ensign (R-NV) recounted threats that have been made to his office -- specifically, one incident in which a man shot himself outside of Sen. Harry Reid's (D-NV) Las Vegas office in 1996.

"Sen. Reid and I actually had a stalker or whatever you want to call him," Ensign told Fox 5. "He left very blood-curdling -- almost threats -- on our phones. He ended up shooting himself in front of both of our offices."

Here's what happened, according to contemporary news reports: In 1995, when Ensign was a congressman, a man named Michael McCusker starting calling Ensign's office. He wanted help, he said, getting back $23,000 he lost in a Mexican land scam. When Ensign's staff found they couldn't help him, McCusker continued calling the office. He eventually came in and handed staffers a note that said "Justice or Death" and claimed he had a gun.

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Topics: Gabrielle Giffords, Harry Reid, John Ensign, Threats to Congress, Tucson Shootings, Washington, D.C.

Jim McDermott

Man Arrested For Making Death Threats Against Wash. Congressman

Rachel Slajda | January 12, 2011, 6:11PM

Rep. Jim McDermott (D-WA)

A 32-year-old man from Palm Springs, Calif., has been charged with making death threats against Rep. Jim McDermott (D-WA) over the tax cuts deal passed last month.

According to prosecutors, Charles Turner Habermann called McDermott's Seattle office at about midnight the morning of Dec. 10 and left two voicemails. In the expletive-laden messages, Habermann allegedly said he was going to kill McDermott as well as his family, his friends, and "everybody he fucking knows."

Habermann allegedly said he grew up in Chicago and could hire people to kill McDermott. The criminal complain notes that Habermann said he could afford it and has a $3,000,000 trust fund.

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Topics: Jim McDermott, Threats to Congress

Ginny Brown-Waite

Man Sentenced To Two Years For Threatening GOP Rep Over Health Care

Rachel Slajda | September 17, 2010, 8:00AM

Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite (R-FL)

A 66-year-old man who threatened Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite (R-FL) over the health care reform bill has been sentenced to 27 months in prison.

Erik Lawrence Pidrman admitted to calling Brown-Waite's office in the early morning on March 25 and leaving a message in which he said, "Just wanna let you know I have 27 people that are going to make sure that this b**** does not live to see her next term." But he says he was drinking heavily and blacked out, so he does not remember making the call.