Man Accused of Threatening to Kill Biden, Bennie Thompson: Prosecutors

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(The Hill) – Prosecutors said Wednesday that a federal grand jury has indicted a Pennsylvania man for threatening to kill House Committee on Jan. 6 Chairman Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) in a letter sent to his office last week.

Maverick Vargo, 25, threatened President Biden, Thompson, Thompson’s family and U.S. District Court Judge Robert Mariani in a letter, also sent what appeared to be a white powder and alluding to anthrax, prosecutors said.

Vargo, who is from Berwick, Pa., was charged with threatening the president, sending threatening interstate communications and influencing a federal official by threat, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania.

Prosecutors argued that Vargo sent the letter from the Luzerne County Correctional Facility in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., and could now face up to 25 years in prison on the new charge.

The letter arrived in Thompson’s office in the Rayburn House office building days before he and his fellow panelists held what could be their final hearing in a months-long series of committee hearings on Jan. 6 to convince the public of former President Trump’s responsibility for the attack to the Capitol.

Prosecutors said Vargas wrote to Thompson: “I’m going to kill you! I will make you feel the rest of our pain and suffering. There is no one or anywhere that can save you from me. I will kill you and those you love. I promise you that I will keep my promise until the day I die.”

The letter also allegedly stated, “you and Joe Biden will soon face death for the wrongs you have done to the United States.”

U.S. Capitol Police said last week that a congressional staffer reported a suspicious letter to police, and the agency cleared an area near Thompson’s office while they examined it.

The agency said at the time that no powder was found, despite federal prosecutors now saying the Capitol Police’s hazardous materials response team found a white powder in the letter.

Hill reached out to Capitol Police for clarification.