WASHINGTON (Reuters)-US Marshals, the law enforcement agency in charge of protecting the judiciary in the United States, warned US federal judges on exceptionally high threat levels, as billionaire Elon Musk and other allies of US President Donald Trump increase efforts to discredit the White House measures to cut and to cut employments and Federal programs said judges with knowledge of the warnings.
In recent weeks, Musk, Congress Republicans, and other important allies of Trump have requested the impeachment of some federal judges or attacked their integrity in response to court decisions that delayed government measures to dismantle entire government agencies and dismiss tens of thousands of workers.
Musk, the richest person in the world, has criticized judges in more than 30 publications since late January on their social media site X, calling them “corrupt”, “radicals”, “evil” and ridicule the “tyranny of the judiciary” after the judges blocked parts of the federal drooping he led. Tesla’s executive also reposed almost two dozen publications from other people attacking judges.
Interviews by Reuters with 11 federal judges in various districts have revealed a growing alarm about their physical safety and, in some cases, an increase in violent threats in recent weeks. Most spoke on condition of anonymity and said they did not want to further ignite the situation or make comments that could be interpreted as conflicting with their impartial duties. Marshals Service refused to comment on security issues.
As Reuters reported in a series of reports last year, political pressure on federal judges and violent threats against them have increased since the 2020 presidential election, when federal courts dealt with a series of highly politicized cases, including failed lawsuits filed by Trump and their supporters who sought to cancel their defeat.
Recent rhetorical attacks on judges and increased threats endanger judicial independence that supports the democratic constitutional order of the United States, legal experts say.
Continues after advertising
John Roberts, president of the US Supreme Court, in his year -end report in December, warned of the growing number of threats to the judiciary’s independence, including requests for violence against judges and “dangerous” suggestions of elected authorities to disregard legal decisions of which they disagree.
In republican social media, musk and parliamentarians have described judges as threats to democracy, transforming the role of the federal judiciary – a branch of the government created to control the executive power and the power of Congress – into something negative.
“The only way to restore the government of the people in the United States is to dismiss the judges,” Musk wrote in a publication. “No one is above the law, including the judges.”
Continues after advertising
Musk did not respond to a request for commentary on his wave of criticism against the judiciary.
Several judges said the US Marshals Service, which provides security, informed them about a high threat environment in recent weeks, whether verbally or in writing. Marshals also discussed security measures, the judges said, including regular searches for threatening online posts.
Two federal judges in New York – US district judges Paul Engelmayer and Jeannette Vargas – are receiving extra security after their decisions have blocked access from the government efficiency department, directed by Musk, to confidential data from the Treasury Department, according to a person with knowledge of the subject. Engelmayer and Vargas did not respond to requests for comments.
Continues after advertising
Another person familiar with the judicial security environment said that several federal judges in the Washington DC area received anonymously sent pizzas to their homes, which is being interpreted by police authorities as a form of intimidation designed to convey that the address of a target is known.
“I’ve never seen judges as uncomfortable as now,” said John Jones 3rd, a former US district judge in Pennsylvania, appointed by former Republican President George W. Bush in 2002.
Jones, who also acted at the US Federal Judiciary’s Policies Formulation Holder Committee, said he talked to about a dozen current judges who expressed concern for their safety and their families.
“The consequences are quite clearly that a judge will be killed if we are not careful,” said Jones.
Continues after advertising
Federal Courts are judging more than 100 lawsuits that contest Trump government initiatives, many of them focused on the efforts conducted by Musk and his team in Doge to dismiss hundreds of thousands of federal officials and drastically reduce government aid and regulatory programs.
Trump and his White House press secretary also criticized judges that they describe as activists who issued decisions that delayed or blocked some of these efforts.
Asked about the comments of Musk, White House spokesman Harrison Fields said Musk was talking personally and that the White House did not take any position on whether the judges should suffer impeachment.
Continues after advertising
He said that “threats against judges are unacceptable, and the president condemns such actions”, and that the appropriate law agencies that have the task of watching such threats are doing so.
“The White House condemns any threat to any civil servant, although we think many of these people are leftist and crazy judges who are not following the constitution,” said Fields. “The fact that these people are left, crazy and unconstitutional does not mean that they deserve to be harmed. This is not how you get involved in disputes in this country. ”
