Professional liability insurance policies. “Jokes” about acquiring passports from different countries in front of foreign officials. Even insurrectionist disguises stashed in congressional offices.
Democratic lawmakers are preparing for another Donald Trump win — or another Trump loss — in all sorts of ways.
One Democratic member told NOTUS that he and about a half dozen other lawmakers had taken out legal insurance to pay for lawyers in case Trump tried to sue or arrest them. This member also said he had heard Democrats make jokes about getting another passport in front of foreign officials, in only a sort of joking kind of way.
Some members are also discussing hiring private security out of concern that their opposition to Trump could make them a target.
“The safety of my family and my staff is my top priority,” Rep. Eric Swalwell, one of Trump’s impeachment managers, told NOTUS. “And I know that’s the same for my colleagues. I know many who are preparing, just in case, for how they’ll protect themselves, their families and their staff in a Trump presidency.”
Another star of Trump’s first impeachment trial, then-staffer and now-congressman Dan Goldman, told NOTUS his wife has received “horrible threats,” adding that he knew of many members and their families who had “been subject to threats of violence that is incited by Donald Trump’s violent rhetoric.”
The concern that Trump may actually go after his enemies, as he’s suggested repeatedly, is a real one for Democrats. Trump has explicitly name-dropped Reps. Nancy Pelosi and Adam Schiff when discussing “the enemy from within” — and just last week, Trump suggested former Rep. Liz Cheney should face a firing line — but Democratic lawmakers across Congress have been discussing the trouble that Trump or his allies could bring to all of their doorsteps.
The anxiety is not unfounded. Paul Pelosi’s attacker — who beat him unconscious with a hammer and did permanent damage to his head and hand — was sentenced to life in prison last week. There’s also the little matter of Jan. 6, when thousands of Trump supporters overran police at the Capitol and violently tried to overturn the 2020 election results.
One lawmaker told NOTUS they had been part of group-text chains where certain Democrats brought up the possibility of “military tribunals.” And other Democrats suggested that possibility wasn’t as far-fetched as it sounds.
“Members who frequently get violent threats because Trump singles them out are genuinely worried about dystopian retribution scandals,” Rep. Jared Huffman told NOTUS. “I’ve heard them comparing notes about everything from personal and family security, which is a problem now, to the scenario of being targeted by a politically weaponized DOJ or even the military.”
“No one thinks these are idle threats,” he added.
But one of the most remarkable anecdotes about how Democrats were preparing themselves for the election was the member who told NOTUS they had put together an “insurrectionist getaway costume,” complete with tactical pants, tactical boots and one key part of the disguise that the lawmaker asked NOTUS not to disclose.
“I’ve really been trying to impress upon my staff that I’m not joking,” this lawmaker said. “This is very serious.”
Democratic staffers told NOTUS they are, in fact, taking the possibility of another attack on the Capitol seriously. One senior Democratic staffer said they are planning to stay home on Jan. 6, which is coincidentally the date that Congress is set to certify the election again.
“Insurrect me once, shame on you. Twice? No thanks,” this staffer told NOTUS. “I’ve had to deal with insane MAGA folks before, you will not catch me in this building on Jan. 6th.”
Another senior aide said staffers in their office are expressing anxiety about “what could happen to them personally” during a second Trump administration. “I know of a few who’ve had conversations with their families,” this person added.
Of course, no one knows if Trump will win or lose at this point. While Democrats who spoke to NOTUS emphasized that either scenario would present certain challenges, Democrats are obviously more concerned about Trump taking back the White House and having actual power.
One of the previously mentioned lawmakers noted that Trump already has a self-proclaimed “Secretary of Retribution,” Ivan Raiklin, a former Green Beret who has reportedly compiled a list of over 300 enemies to Trump. And this lawmaker said Raiklin has been known to show up to congressional hearings and menacingly sit in the crowd and stare at Democrats. (Raiklin is a “close associate” of retired Gen. Michael Flynn, who has also vowed retribution once Trump is back in power.)
Whether the election goes Trump’s way or not, Jan. 6 has become a flashpoint. The Department of Homeland Security has already designated the date as a “national special security event,” meaning the U.S. Secret Service can call on all branches of the government and military to help them secure the Capitol, and there are already plans in place to prevent another takeover of Congress.
A source familiar with security planning for Jan. 6 told NOTUS there would be National Guard troops stationed inside the Capitol. Democrats are just hoping they’re not needed.
—
Riley Rogerson is a reporter at NOTUS. Matt Fuller is Capitol Hill bureau chief at NOTUS.