Politico reports:

A group of federal judges decried a series of politically charged attacks from the White House Thursday, saying the broadsides are emboldening bad actors and leading to death threats and political intimidation.

“Now, it’s at a level that I have to honestly say is different. We’re seeing things coming out from the top down, from White House spokespeople, calling us crazy, leftist, unconstitutional judges,” Esther Salas, a U.S. District Court judge in New Jersey, said at a judicial forum hosted by the group Speak Up for Justice.

While judges have faced vitriol from both ends of the political spectrum, Salas — an Obama appointee — at the forum urged the White House in particular to tone down its rhetoric. Her 20-year-old son, Daniel, was killed while celebrating his birthday in a July 2020 shooting by a gunman who posed as a delivery driver. The attack was aimed at his mother from a disgruntled attorney.

Since returning to the Oval Office in January, President Donald Trump has trained his ire on judges seen as stymieing his political agenda. He and allies lashed out against the likes of U.S. District Judge James Boasberg, who had blocked the administration’s efforts to swiftly deport Venezuelan nationals to El Salvador.

Threats against federal judges skyrocketed in the weeks after Trump reentered office. [Continue reading…]