WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A man from Illinois has been charged with making violent threats against a federal judge in the Florida district that has handled Donald Trump’s classified documents case, according to an indictment made public on Thursday.
Eric James Rennert, 65, is facing five federal charges in the indictment which accuses him of communicating interstate threats and threatening to assault, kidnap and murder a federal judge.
The communications also included threats to injure or kidnap members of the judge’s family, prosecutors allege.
Court documents do not name the judge who received the threats but indicate they occurred in St. Lucie County, Florida.
U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, who presided over the criminal case accusing Trump of illegally retaining classified documents, is based in that county along with another federal magistrate judge.
Representatives for the U.S. attorney’s office in Miami, which brought the indictment, and the federal court in the Southern District of Florida did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The threats, which were made on three occasions in May and July, were intended to retaliate against the judge “on account of the performance of official duties,” according to the indictment.
Rennert has been arrested and will be transported to Florida for his next court appearance, according to court records. He has not yet entered a plea.
Cannon was appointed to the bench by Trump during his 2017-2021 White House term, and her approach to the classified documents case drew intense scrutiny. She dismissed all charges in July based on a finding that lead prosecutor Special Counsel Jack Smith was unlawfully appointed to the role.
Prosecutors are appealing Cannon’s ruling with the hopes of reviving the case. If they were to succeed, any trial would not take place until well after the Nov. 5 presidential election, in which the Republican Trump faces Democrat Kamala Harris.
Cannon was also recently assigned to preside over the case of a man accused of attempting to assassinate Trump last month at his Florida golf course.
A woman in Texas was sentenced to more than three years in prison in February after admitting to threatening Cannon, court records show.
Federal judges have faced a rise in threats as part of an overall surge in violent rhetoric directed toward public officials in the United States.
(Reporting by Andrew Goudsward in Washington; Editing by Andy Sullivan and Matthew Lewis)
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