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Congressman Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) on Tuesday shared profanity-laced threats and other profanity his office received during House special committee hearings on the deadly Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol by a mob Supporters of Donald Trump.
“Threats of political violence have increased significantly over the past few years,” Kinzinger tweeted. “But the darkness has reached new lows. My new interns made this compilation of recent calls they received while serving in my DC office.”
Kinzinger and Rep. Liz Cheney (Wyo.), the two Republicans on the bipartisan panel, have come under much fire from supporters of the former president for their focus on Trump’s blame for the riot and warnings that Trump is a threat to democracy. Taking advantage of Trump’s false claims of a rigged election, the mob tried and failed to stop the certification of Joe Biden’s presidential victory.
In February, the Republican National Committee reprimanded Kinzinger and Cheney for serving on the Jan. 6 panel, saying the panel was persecuting “ordinary citizens engaged in legitimate political discourse.”
Kinzinger tweeted some of the recordings collected by high school and college students interning for him this summer and invited readers to listen to the attacks. One caller said he hoped Kinzinger would die quickly, while another called him a lying backstab for his involvement on the committee. The callers left racist comments and disputed the facts of the investigation, while also wishing ill on the lawmaker’s family.
“I’m coming to protest outside your house this weekend,” one message said. “We know where your family is.”
“I will take your wife. I’ll take your kids,” the caller added.
Other angry voicemails threatened Kinzinger’s mother, while another was directed at Cheney. One woman wished Kinzinger to suffer.
Last month, Kinzinger tweeted a copy of a threatening letter his wife received that criticized the lawmaker.
“I’ve never seen or had anything like it. It was sent from the local area,” he said of the letter, which read in part, “this pimp you married has not only broken his oath but sold his soul.”
A GOP member of the Jan. 6 committee warned of more violence to come
The hearings included videos of rioters storming the Capitol while chanting violent threats aimed at Vice President Mike Pence and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). The committee warned that there could be more violence in the future from Trump supporters who did not accept the election results. And Kinzinger suggested the RNC was encouraging such threats.
“There’s violence in the future, I’ll tell you,” Kinzinger said in June on ABC’s “This Week.” “And until we get good at telling people the truth, we can’t expect anything else.”
As the only Republicans on the committee since Jan. 6, Kinzinger and Cheney have been accused of being traitors to their party. The former president’s supporters are increasingly showing little patience for Republicans, who appear to side with Democrats on any issue that could be seen as undermining the goals of the GOP, where Trump remains one of the most popular politicians.
GOP Rep. Fred Upton receives death threats after voting on bipartisan infrastructure deal
Congressman Fred Upton (R-Mich.) received numerous death threats in November after voting for President Biden’s $1.2 trillion infrastructure deal. The lawmaker said the calls came after a tweet by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Green (R-Ga.) published the phone numbers of 13 GOP lawmakers who voted for the legislation.
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