Man Pleads Guilty To Threatening To Kill Eric Swalwell Over The Phone

DUBLIN, CA — A Pennsylvania man pleaded guilty Friday to threatening to kill Tri-Valley congressman Eric Swalwell and two members of his staff during two different phone calls in August.

The Justice Department said Friday that Joshua Hall, 22, threatened to kill Swalwell and at least three of his staffers in August, and claimed to possess several AR-15s. On one telephone call, Hall said that he intended to come to the Swalwell’s office and kill him with firearms; in another call, he made similar threats and said he wanted to “beat the s–” out of the congressman.

Swalwell has been an especially vocal critic of Trump and the Republicans on his Twitter page.

Hall pleaded guilty to one count of making interstate communications with a threat to injure, which carries a maximum of five years in prison. He is scheduled to be sentenced Dec. 8.

Prosecutors said Hall has previously pleaded guilty to wire fraud for impersonating Trump’s family members to raise money for a fake political organization. That carries a maximum of 20 years in prison.

"Joshua Hall made terrifying threats to the staff of a United States Congressman whom he disliked rather than attempting to effect change through any of the freedoms of expression that all Americans enjoy," Damian Williams, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, said in a statement. "These threats of violence endanger our public officials and thwart common decency, which is why this Office will continue to prosecute crimes like those committed by Joshua Hall."

"Politics can be polarizing, but we must never normalize or tolerate death threats," Swalwell, a Dublin native who is running for re-election for California’s 15th District, said in a statement. "Today, MAGA political violence is at peak level in America and it's going to get someone killed. I urge GOP leaders to denounce the violence."

On Monday, the Justice Department charged Richmond man David Wayne DePape of attacking Nancy Pelosi’s husband Paul with a hammer in their San Francisco home. DePape, 42, has been charged with assault of an immediate family member of a United States official with the intent to retaliate against the official on account of the performance of official duties and attempted kidnapping of a United States official on account of the performance of official duties in connection with the break-in at the residence of Nancy and Paul Pelosi’s home Friday. That charge carries a maximum 30-year prison sentence, while the kidnapping charge carries an additional 20 years maximum.

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