Gabbard said, stressing the need for government-level threat assessment frameworks and legal accountability in politically charged threats.
Gabbard pointed out that Comey himself later acknowledged the political nature of his message, tying it to recent activist slogans.
“Comey himself admitted in his follow-on message that he knew that this was a political statement. Well, the only reason he knew that, Jesse, was because little over a month ago, a bunch of anti-Trump.
Anti-Elon Musk protesters were proliferating the use of this 8647 slogan, which was a veiled call to action to murder the sitting President of the United States,” she said.
Noting the need for federal investigative resources, and possibly the expansion of threat response insurance coverage for public officials.
Gabbard warned of the potential influence figures like Comey wield when making such statements, especially given his public stature, media presence, and potential implications for civil unrest and government liability exposure.
“This is the guy who is issuing a hit on President Trump, the President that the American people voted for,” she said.
