Local law enforcement pressing feds for more briefings on domestic extremist threats: report

Following the hammer attack on Paul Pelosi allegedly committed by a conspiracy theorist, local law enforcement officials are seeking further help from the federal government to help them deal with threats to public officials.

"Law enforcement officials across the country are scrambling to assess the threats of physical attacks on politicians or election officials in the coming days," Politico reported, citing "two local officials and two other people familiar with the matter."

The San Francisco Police Department arrested David Depape for the attack.

"Now, law enforcement officials are left trying to grasp whether there could be other threats to high-profile people involved in politics — and the scale of those threats — especially in the lead up to the elections on Nov. 8," Politico reported. "One person with direct knowledge of the law enforcement conversations said that groups and organizations, including local law enforcement that specialize in domestic threats, have been pressing the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI for more briefings to discuss the current climate, which they say is unparalleled in the danger posed to lawmakers. Their concerns have only grown as the midterms have neared. But there have only been a handful of briefings in recent weeks — many of which focused primarily on cyber threats related to the midterm elections."

DHS and FBI spokespeople told Politico they "regularly" share intelligence.

"On Capitol Hill, Democrats had long warned that Pelosi, as the subject of unrelenting Republican attack ads and internet conspiracy theorists, was in particular danger. But there was also a larger concern that the modern political and media climates had created a situation in which lawmakers writ large were being increasingly targeted," Politico reported. "According to the Associated Press, the U.S. Capitol Police investigated almost 10,000 threats to members last year, which was more than twice the number in 2018, the last midterm cycle."

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On Saturday, Paul Pelosi remained hospitalized at San Francisco General Hospital.

Read the full report.