{"id":2206628,"date":"2024-03-26T14:39:02","date_gmt":"2024-03-26T18:39:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/doj-steps-up-prosecutions-on-threats-to-election-officials-ahead-of-november-contests\/"},"modified":"2024-03-26T14:41:20","modified_gmt":"2024-03-26T18:41:20","slug":"doj-steps-up-prosecutions-on-threats-to-election-officials-ahead-of-november-contests","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/doj-steps-up-prosecutions-on-threats-to-election-officials-ahead-of-november-contests\/","title":{"rendered":"DOJ increases prosecutions of threats to election officials before November elections"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fdoj-steps-up-prosecutions-on-threats-to-election-officials-ahead-of-november-contests%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2206628&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The Justice \u2063Department has pursued 20 prosecutions in recent years related to threats against election officials. A \u2064man was\u2063 sentenced for threatening Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs. The DOJ highlighted various prosecutions against threats to officials in Arizona. Examples include voicemails accusing Hobbs\u200d of being a traitor and making death \u2064threats. In recent\u200c years, the Justice Department has initiated 20 prosecutions concerning threats against election officials. One case involved a\u200d man who received\u2064 a sentence for threatening Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs. The DOJ showcased multiple prosecutions targeting threats to officials in Arizona, which included voicemails containing accusations and\u200b death threats against Hobbs.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/justice-department\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"Justice Department\">Justice Department<\/a> has secured 20 prosecutions in relation to threats on election officials in recent years, and the November election is expected to be fiercely contested in several races and states.<\/p>\n<p>The DOJ touted its efforts on Monday, announcing a prison sentence for a man who had threatened then-Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, pointing out various prosecutions it has pursued against threats to officials in the Grand Canyon State. Here are three recent <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/law\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>prosecutions<\/a> the DOJ has pursued regarding threats made to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/Arizona\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"Arizona\">Arizona<\/a> election officials.<\/p>\n<h2>Ohio man\u2019s threats toward Hobbs<\/h2>\n<p>The DOJ announced on Monday that Joshua Russell, 46, had been sentenced to 2 1\/2 years in prison for making a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/biden-doj-refuses-to-prosecute-man-who-repeatedly-threatened-to-kill-fox-news-hosts\/\" title=\"Biden DOJ Refuses to Prosecute Man Who Repeatedly Threatened to Kill Fox News Hosts\">threatening interstate communication<\/a>. He pleaded guilty to the one count in August 2023.<\/p>\n<p>Russell allegedly left voicemails with Hobbs\u2019s office on Aug. 2, 2022, and Nov. 15, 2022, in which he accused her of being \u201cthe enemy of the United States\u201d and a \u201ctraitor\u201d to the country and warned that her days are \u201cextremely numbered.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Another voicemail he allegedly left after the election warned Hobbs that \u201cyou just signed your own death warrant\u201d and to \u201cget your affairs in order, \u2019cause your days are very short.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The DOJ called the threats \u201can attack on the democratic process itself.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe defendant made multiple death threats against an Arizona election official during the state\u2019s elections. This conduct is an attack on the democratic process itself, and today\u2019s sentence shows that perpetrators of such egregious, unlawful conduct will be held to account,\u201d Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole Argentieri said in a statement on Monday.<\/p>\n<h2>Massachusetts man\u2019s bomb threat to Arizona secretary of state\u2019s office<\/h2>\n<p>Earlier this month, the DOJ announced that James Clark, 40, had been sentenced to three years and six months of prison for sending a bomb threat to the Arizona secretary of state\u2019s office months after the 2020 election.<\/p>\n<p>Clark allegedly sent a message to the office\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/office-of-republican-tennessee-governor-bill-lee-refuses-to-condemn-fbi-raid-prosecution-of-11-peaceful-pro-lifers\/\" title=\"Office Of Republican Tennessee Governor Bill Lee Refuses To Condemn FBI Raid, Prosecution of 11 Peaceful Pro-Lifers\">online contact form<\/a> saying to \u201cresign by Tuesday February 16th by 9 am or the explosive device impacted in her personal space will be detonated.\u201d The DOJ also alleged that he <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/carlee-russells-bf-urges-public-to-stop-bullying-amid-suspicious-claims-think-about-her-mental-health\/\" title=\"Carlee Russell\u2019s BF Urges Public To Stop \u2018Bullying\u2019 Amid Suspicious Claims: \u2018Think About Her Mental Health\u2019\">conducted online searches<\/a> for \u201chow to kill\u201d and related to the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing.<\/p>\n<p>He pleaded guilty to one count of making a threatening interstate communication in August 2023.<\/p>\n<h2>Alabama man\u2019s alleged threats toward Maricopa County election officials<\/h2>\n<p>Late last month, the DOJ announced it had indicted an Alabama man on five counts of communicating an interstate threat. Brian Jerry Ogstad, 59, was arrested and made his <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/missouri-man-charged-with-threatening-to-murder-2-us-congressmen\/\" title=\"Missouri Man Charged With Threatening to Murder 2 US Congressmen\">initial court appearance<\/a> in February on charges brought by the DOJ on threats he allegedly made toward Maricopa County, Arizona, officials.<\/p>\n<p>The charging document from the DOJ alleges that Ogstad sent several direct messages to Maricopa County Election social media accounts with threatening messages.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou did it! Now you are f***ed. Dead. You will all be executed for your crimes,\u201d Ogstad allegedly said in one message.<\/p>\n<p>The messages were sent at about the time of the 2022 primary elections in Arizona.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement on Monday that the DOJ will \u201ccontinue to aggressively investigate and prosecute\u201d threats against election officials as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/endorsement-watch-a-look-at-who-gop-governors-are-endorsing-ahead-of-2024\/\" title=\"GOP governors' endorsements for 2024 under scrutiny\">primary season kicks<\/a> into high gear.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf you threaten violence against the public servants who administer our elections, there will be consequences,\u201d Garland said in a statement. \u201cThe right to vote, which is the cornerstone of our democracy, relies on the ability of election workers and election officials to perform their duties without fearing for their lives.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In recent years, the Justice Department has secured 20 prosecutions related to threats against election officials. With a closely contested November election ahead, the DOJ highlighted its commitment by announcing a prison sentence for an individual who threatened former Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2638,"featured_media":2206629,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/wex-s3.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/AP22343114024067-1-1024x591.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[538],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2206628","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-washington-examiner"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/wex-s3.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/AP22343114024067-1-1024x591.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2206628","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2638"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2206628"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2206628\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2206629"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2206628"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2206628"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2206628"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}