Christopher Moynihan, a 34-year-old resident of Clinton, New York, who was previously convicted for his participation in the January 6, 2021, assault on the U.S. Capitol and later pardoned by former President Donald Trump, has been arrested once more—this time for allegedly threatening to assassinate House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries. The arrest has reignited a fierce debate in Washington over the consequences of Trump’s mass pardons and the ongoing threat of political violence in America.
According to New York State Police, Moynihan was taken into custody on Sunday, October 19, 2025, after he sent a series of chilling text messages on October 17, explicitly threatening to kill Jeffries ahead of a scheduled speech at the Economic Club of New York. As reported by ABC News and CBS News, Moynihan wrote, “Hakeem Jeffries makes a speech in a few days in NYC — I cannot allow this terrorist to live. Even if I am hated, he must be eliminated. I will kill him for the future.”
The criminal complaint states that these messages placed the recipient in “reasonable fear of the imminent murder and assassination” of Jeffries. Moynihan was charged with making a terroristic threat, a felony offense, and remanded to the Dutchess County Justice and Transition Center on $10,000 bail. He is scheduled to appear in Dutchess County State Supreme Court later this week. Authorities have not yet confirmed whether Moynihan has retained legal counsel.
This episode marks the first known instance of a Trump-pardoned Capitol rioter being charged with a new act of politically motivated violence, according to the New York State Police. The FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force and the U.S. Capitol Police assisted in the investigation, underscoring the seriousness with which law enforcement approached the threat.
Rep. Hakeem Jeffries addressed the public on Tuesday, October 21, expressing gratitude to law enforcement for their swift response. “I am grateful to state and federal law enforcement for their swift and decisive action to apprehend a dangerous individual who made a credible death threat against me with every intention to carry it out,” Jeffries said, as quoted by ABC News. Standing alongside Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), Jeffries did not mince words about the broader implications: “We’re living in a moment of extreme political violence. When it comes to these extremists out there, you better watch how you talk when you talk about me.”
In a pointed critique, Jeffries also noted that not a single Republican leader from Congress or the White House had reached out to him after the threat. “Not a single Republican has reached out either from the House, the Senate, or the White House, in connection with the death threat and the arrest,” he told reporters on Capitol Hill, according to HuffPost. “But that does not surprise me in terms of the environment that we’re in.”
Jeffries went further, condemning Trump’s decision to pardon more than 1,500 individuals tied to the January 6 riot. “[Republicans] can’t justify the fact that Donald Trump pardoned hundreds of violent felons on his first day in office. People who brutally beat police officers, including seriously injuring, on these Capitol steps,” Jeffries said. “He pardons these violent felons and then unleashes them on American communities all across the country, and many of them have reoffended.”
Moynihan’s name first entered the public record after the Capitol riot, where he was convicted in 2022 of obstructing an official proceeding and sentenced to nearly two years in federal prison. Federal prosecutors documented that Moynihan breached police lines, entered the Senate Gallery, and was caught paging through a senator’s notebook, even taking cellphone photos inside the chamber. In court filings, he was quoted as saying, “There’s got to be something in here we can f—ing use against these —-bags.” Yet, in the waning hours of Trump’s presidency in January 2025, Moynihan was among those who received a blanket pardon, erasing his federal charges.
Rep. Jamie Raskin, who served on the House Select Committee investigating the January 6 attack, lambasted the Trump administration’s decision to grant mass pardons. “I said on the very day Donald Trump pardoned 1,600 people en masse without obviously studying the details of each case, that Trump and his administration would be responsible for whatever happens with these people,” Raskin stated. “They’ve got a responsibility to rein them in.” Raskin called on the Department of Justice to take more aggressive action to address the ongoing threat of politically motivated violence.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) told reporters he was unaware of the case when first asked about it, but condemned threats against political officials: “Anybody who threatens to kill any political official, we denounce it absolutely, they ought to have justice fall upon their head.” When pressed on Trump’s pardons, Johnson pivoted, arguing, “Violence on the left is far more prevalent than the violence on the right. Don’t make me go through the list. This is the left in almost every case that is advancing this, and not the right. So let’s not make it a partisan issue.”
The White House did not respond to requests for comment, according to HuffPost. The U.S. Capitol Police also declined to comment on the ongoing investigation.
Since the blanket pardon earlier this year, at least 10 other January 6 pardon recipients have been arrested, charged, or sentenced for various other crimes, as reported by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. Some of these cases have involved non-violent offenses, but others have resulted in serious confrontations with law enforcement, including one fatal shooting during a traffic stop.
The Moynihan case has reignited national concern about the legacy of January 6 and the potential risks posed by the mass release of individuals previously convicted of politically motivated violence. According to ABC News, federal agencies have repeatedly warned that political violence remains one of the greatest domestic security threats in the United States, citing incidents ranging from the attack on Nancy Pelosi’s husband to armed extremists gathered outside election offices.
As the 2026 election cycle approaches and Trump continues to campaign—often invoking themes of grievance and retribution—many worry that the country’s political temperature may only rise further. Jeffries’ recent experience, and the ongoing fallout from the January 6 pardons, serve as a stark reminder that the wounds of the Capitol attack are far from healed. The debate over accountability, justice, and the safety of public officials is once again front and center, with no easy answers in sight.
For now, the Moynihan case stands as a cautionary tale: the consequences of political decisions can echo far beyond the moment, shaping the safety and security of the nation’s leaders—and, by extension, the health of American democracy itself.
