DC US attorney investigates Democrats Schumer and Garcia over alleged ‘threats against public officials’ — including Elon Musk

The Washington, DC, US attorney’s office has launched an investigation into alleged “threats against public officials” made by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.) against Supreme Court justices and Elon Musk.

Garcia, who has served in the House of Representatives since 2023, was accused by interim DC US Attorney Ed Martin of threatening DOGE chief Musk during a CNN interview earlier this month. 

“[W]hen asked how Democrats can stop Elon Musk, you spoke clearly,” Martin wrote in a Monday letter to Garcia, which the congressman posted on X. 

“What the American public wants is for us to bring actual weapons to this bar fight. This is an actual fight for democracy,” Garcia told CNN host Brianna Keilar on Feb. 12, after a heated House hearing on DOGE.

Martin said the remark “sounds to some like a threat to Mr. Musk — an appointed representative of President Donald Trump who you call a ‘d–k’ — and government staff who work for him.”

“Their concerns have led to this inquiry,” the interim DC US attorney explained. 

Martin asked Garcia to “clarify” his comments from the CNN interview by Feb. 24.  

“We take threats against public officials very seriously,” he added. 

Schumer received a similar letter from Martin last month, related to language he directed at Supreme Court Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh on March 4, 2020, according to the Washington Post. 

“I want to tell you, Gorsuch. I want to tell you, 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,” the New York Democrat said during an abortion rights rally outside the Supreme Court. 

Martin argued that Schumer’s remark was made “in a way that many found threatening.” 

The interim US attorney also asked Schumer to “clarify” his comments. 

A Schumer aide responded to Martin on Feb. 6 and said the senator’s comments “were not a threat to physically harm any person.”

The aide also referred the prosecutor to Schumer’s comments from the Senate floor the day after the rally. 

“Now, I should not have used the words I used yesterday,” Schumer said on March 5, 2020. “ They didn’t come out the way I intended to.”

“My point was that there would be political consequences – political consequences – for President Trump and Senate Republicans if the Supreme Court, with the newly confirmed Justices, stripped away a woman’s right to choose,” he added at the time.

Representatives for Schumer, Garcia and the DC US attorney’s office did not immediately respond to The Post’s requests for comment. 

In an X post, Garcia indicated that he will “not be silenced” despite the letter. 

“So if you criticize Elon Musk, Trump’s DOJ will send you this letter,” Garcia wrote. “Members of Congress must have the right to forcefully oppose the Trump Administration.”

“I will not be silenced.”