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The US Attorney’s office in Washington DC has launched an investigation into statements made by Sen. Chuck Schumer and Rep. Robert Garcia related to “threats” against Elon Musk and government officials.

Some shit you should know before you read: For context, the statements made by Sen. Chuck Schumer and Rep. Robert Garcia were the following. Schumer, in a 2020 speech about a Supreme Court abortion case, said, “I want to tell you [Neil] Gorsuch. I want to tell you [Brett] Kavanaugh. You have released the whirlwind and you will pay the price. You won’t know what hit you if you go forward with these awful decisions.” Schumer’s office later clarified his statements as referring to political consequences, not physical threats. Similarly, Garcia, during a recent CNN interview discussing Elon Musk’s actions at DOGE, said, “What the American public wants is for us to bring actual weapons to this bar fight. This is an actual fight for democracy.”

What’s going on now: In letters addressed to both Senator Schumer and Congressman Garcia, interim US Attorney Ed Martin accused them of making statements that could be interpreted as threats against Elon Musk and public officials. Martin claimed that Garcia’s comment on CNN about bringing “actual weapons to this bar fight“ sounded like a threat to Musk, who Garcia criticized during a House hearing. Regarding Schumer, Martin pointed to his 2020 remarks about Supreme Court Justices Gorsuch and Kavanaugh, arguing that his warning they would “pay the price“ could be perceived as inciting violence. Martin’s letters noted that free speech has limits, especially when it comes to threatening government workers. Martin specifically requested both lawmakers to clarify what their intentions were. 

In response, Garcia denounced the accusations as an attempt to silence him, insisting his remarks were metaphorical and aimed at political opposition, not Musk personally. He argued that criticizing Musk should not trigger government scrutiny and vowed not to be intimidated.

Schumer’s office reiterated that his 2020 comments were about political consequences, not physical threats, and criticized Martin’s interpretation as a distortion of his intent.

This all comes as some have accused Martin of having close ties to Elon Musk, raising questions about his impartiality. Amid an uptick in death threats to employees of DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency), Martin has publicly came out vowing to protect DOGE staff, warning that any threats, confrontations, or actions impacting their work could violate multiple laws. He also assured Musk that his office would pursue “any and all legal action” against those who threaten DOGE employees and even pledged to investigate individuals who “acted simply unethically.”