Convicted felon Donald Trump has been clear on his plans to get revenge on his political foes. Now he has a self-appointed “Secretary of Retribution” named Ivan Raiklin to make good on those threats.[1]
Trump is attempting to avenge his 2020 loss with threats of prosecution and violence against his political foes. He has threatened to weaponize the DOJ against Joe Biden and his family, members of the January 6th Committee, federal and state judges, the media, and members of the House and Senate.
Trump laid the foundation for a retribution presidency when he said, “I am your warrior … I am your retribution.”[2]
And Ivan Raiklin answered the call, referring to himself Trump’s “Secretary of Retribution.”
Raiklin has compiled a list of 350 “deep state individuals” who he intends to try to assassinate through fake swatting raids, saying “[e]xpect to see live-streamed swatting raids of every single individual on that Deep State target list, because the precedence has already been set.”[3]
Raiklin’s list includes former Vice President Mike Pence, Governor Gretchen Witmer, witnesses from Trump’s impeachment hearings, Capital police officers, and more.[4]
At the Republican National Convention, Raiklin sat in the press room and warned that “Constitutional sheriffs” were going to round up all the people on his “Deep State target list.”[5] His reference to “Constitutional sheriffs” is a racist and antisemitic movement that arose in the 1970s claiming that county sheriff is the highest “legitimate” authority in the country.[6]
Representative Jamie Raskin asked Speaker Johnson to denounce this dangerous plot. No Republican official has condemned Raiklin’s plan.
The Trump campaign did not respond to a question about whether Raiklin was speaking for the former president when he portrays himself as the future “secretary of retribution.”
But calls for violence by Raiklin are nothing new in MAGA world. Trump’s violent rhetoric often encourages of fantasizes violence against his political foes.
When Trump falsely claimed that Judge Juan Merchan was “highly conflicted” overseer of a “kangaroo court,” social media erupted with death threats by MAGA loyalists.[7] Death threats against “deranged” Jack Smith, “lazy” Alan Bragg, and “sick” Fani Willis followed his meandering rants on Truth Social.[8]
The right-wing American Accountability Foundation, backed with a $100,000 grant from the Heritage Foundation, has prepared a “blacklist” of government employees which it plans to post on the internet.[9] The inevitable death threats against everyday government employees will inevitably follow.
Your choice this November is clear. A country of “freedom, compassions and the rule of law” or “chaos, fear and hate.” [10]
[2] https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/mar/05/i-am-your-retribution-trump-rules-supreme-at-cpac-as-he-relaunches-bid-for-white-house
[5] https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2024/07/i-found-ivan-raiklin-the-secretary-of-retribution-at-the-republican-convention/
[6] https://www.americanoversight.org/investigation/the-constitutional-sheriffs-movement-and-its-threat-to-democracy
[9] https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/jun/30/trump-loyalists-deep-state-blacklist-american-accountability-foundation
[10] https://www.reuters.com/world/us/elections/kamala-harris-live-what-happens-next-us-presidential-race-2024-07-22/
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