Democratic senators are increasingly worried about President Donald Trump’s threats to imprison his political opponents.
Lawmakers are quietly discussing options to protect themselves if the president’s campaign of legal retribution ramps up further, they told NOTUS on Wednesday, but senators said their options are more limited without support from Republicans.
“The Republicans have the majority,” Sen. Peter Welch said. “They’re fearful of Trump, so they don’t speak out even when he says things that are so outrageous like we should arrest the governor of Illinois.”
Over in the House, members have increasingly taken out liability insurance, something a senator told NOTUS in June was not even a conversation in the upper chamber at the time.
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But circumstances have changed: California Sen. Adam Schiff, whom Trump has repeatedly said should be prosecuted, formed a legal defense fund in August — even though he already has a preemptive pardon from former President Joe Biden. His colleagues are now considering following suit.
“There’s lots of people asking questions about litigation insurance,” Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon told NOTUS. “Watching what’s being done to Sen. Schiff has generated a lot of concern.”
This comes nearly three weeks after the Senate Rules Committee quietly adopted regulations to allow senators to get partially reimbursed for liability insurance they acquire that covers “the cost of legal representation” and “legal liability damages.”
“When he calls on the two leading political leaders in Illinois to be jailed, you have to take him more seriously,” Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois said of Trump. “It wasn’t that long enough that he asked that Comey be indicted, and they had to find a cooperative prosecutor to get the job done, but he did it.”
In the past 24 hours, Trump has called for an investigation into Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal, said that Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker both “should be in jail” and warned they should “be very careful” — comments that Democrats are taking seriously, even as some Republicans dismiss it as mere rhetoric.
It’s “just Trump being Trump,” Sen. Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican, told NOTUS on Wednesday of Trump’s Truth Social post about jailing Illinois officials.
“It’s ‘just Trump being Trump?’” scoffed Sen. Chris Coons, a Delaware Democrat, when told about Graham’s view. “Trump literally, on Truth Social, demanded that Pam Bondi, attorney general of the United States, move ahead with indicting and prosecuting James Comey, Letitia James and Adam Schiff. It was just days later that the Department of Justice indicted James Comey.”
“When Trump threatens to jail his political opponents, I take him very seriously,” Coons told NOTUS.
Others declined to share how they were personally thinking through Trump’s threats. But Sen. Brian Schatz of Hawaii expressed frustration with Republicans for mostly ignoring Trump’s repeated calls to jail his perceived enemies and Democratic officials.
“I’m so embarrassed on behalf of my Republican colleagues for not even being willing to say that you shouldn’t jail your political opponents,” Schatz told NOTUS.
“There apparently is absolutely no red line,” he added. “Jailing your political opponents should be something that 100 out of 100 of us say is wrong under all circumstances. But you can’t get hardly any of them to say a single word.”
Last month, Blumenthal and Rep. Dan Goldman announced that they would introduce legislation to enact guardrails to prevent Trump — and future presidents — from using the Justice Department from going after political enemies.
“Some of these reforms are sweeping, because the threat we face is unprecedented. There must be accountability for federal officials who use the vast power of prosecution for personal or political ends,” Blumenthal said in a statement at the time. “Today it’s Comey. Tomorrow it could be you.”
After Trump explicitly said “justice should be sought” against Blumenthal and that he “should be allowed to speak no longer,” the senator said that the president’s use of the Justice Department “is a perversion and corruption of our justice system.”
“I certainly refuse to be silenced or intimidated by his bullying,” Blumenthal told reporters Wednesday. “This unhinged rant is not new. I’ve seen it repeatedly before. It seems to be something periodic that Donald Trump does.”
But some senators are thinking about how this rhetoric could fuel threats of violence against them, particularly amid a rise in political violence against officials from both parties. One Senate Democrat, who spoke anonymously to address private discussions, told NOTUS that more members were investing in increased security for their homes.
“It’s not only a question of, like, needing to get lawyers and defend yourself, but it’s also a question of personal security,” the senator said.
“I know there are extra funds available for people to provide extra security around their houses that some of my colleagues are certainly, you know, making use of,” the lawmaker, who declined to name specific senators, continued. “Honestly, in a lot of ways, it’s not so much your own personal security as it is thinking about your family.”
Former FBI Director James Comey pleaded not guilty Wednesday to charges of making false statements and obstructing federal proceedings. Democrats have been following the action closely.
“It’s so shameful,” Schiff told NOTUS. “Every day, the president adds to his enemies list, adds to the number of people he wants to see prosecuted or jailed.”
“This is how democracy has come to an end,” Schiff continued. “When a president thinks that he can demand prosecution of his enemies and, in the case of James Comey, succeed.”
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