‘Somebody’s going to get hurt,' lawyer warns as Trump ‘secretary of retribution’ runs amok

In a video posted to his X account in late December, Ivan Raiklin is seen walking behind a senior federal prosecutor outside the federal courthouse in Washington, D.C. Peppering her with questions, the former Army Green Beret turned lawyer and self-styled Trump “secretary of retribution” accuses the official of “covering up for the fed-surrection.”

Since Donald Trump’s defeat in 2020, Raiklin has become known for extreme rhetoric in support of Trump’s lie that the election was stolen, including promoting a “Deep State Target List” and calling for “live-streamed swatting raids” against Trump’s enemies.

Raiklin’s social media posts and podcasts typically carry an undercurrent of menace and often indirectly call for violence by accusing opponents of treason, implying they deserve death.

Followers often call for individuals to be punished by hanging, firing squad, or, in one case, “lynch mobs.”

Raiklin’s December target was Jocelyn Ballantine, deputy chief of the Department of Justice’s National Security Section, a target of right-wing conspiracy theorists due to her prosecutions of Proud Boys leaders for attacking the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and Michael Flynn, Trump’s former national security advisor.

Now, Ballantine’s role as a lead prosecutor in the case of accused Jan. 6 pipe-bomber Brian Cole Jr. puts her in Raiklin’s sights.

Cole reportedly told the FBI he believes Trump’s lies about the 2020 election. Many Trump supporters therefore consider Cole a “patsy” and the prosecution part of a conspiracy to discredit Trump and his supporters.

On Jan. 9, Raiklin posted another video, of a second man stalking Ballantine as she left Cole’s arraignment.

“My recommendation is to not work for the Deep State, okay?” the man says. “You failed to take down Flynn, [Proud Boys leader] Enrique Tarrio and others. Just resign now. Quit. God’s watching us all. We’re gonna reap what we sow, Joceylyn. We can’t get away with anything. We’re answering to Jesus soon, Jocelyn.”

As with the incident on Dec. 30, no security detail is visible.

Accusing Raiklin of “stalking an assistant U.S. attorney who he disagrees with,” Kevin Carroll, a D.C. national security lawyer representing another Raiklin target, told Raw Story: “The guy’s dangerous. He’s clearly mentally deranged.

“It’s a circumstance in which at any time before Jan. 20, 2025 [Trump’s second inauguration day] the Marshals Service would do something about it.

“It’s shocking. Here, they’re allowing this guy, Raiklin, a member of the bar, to threaten a female AUSA [assistant US attorney]. I have no doubt what would happen in other circumstances. If I as a lawyer or a client of mine as a party was following an AUSA down the street, there’d have been a hearing before the judge, and there would be bar discipline for me as a lawyer.”

"We take threats against our prosecutors extremely seriously and have robust threat assessment and security protocol," a Department of Justice spokesperson told Raw Story. "For the safety of any protected parties, we do not discuss specifics concerning any protective details."

Brady McCarron, the spokesperson for the U.S. Marshals Service told Raw Story that "for the safety and security of all, we do not discuss any security measures on court personnel.

"We do take all threats seriously and investigate them properly," he said.

‘Far out of the bounds’

Carroll represents Dr. Terry Adirim, a physician formerly involved in the Biden Department of Defense’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate for service members, in a lawsuit against the CIA and Raiklin, across the Potomac River in the Eastern District of Virginia.

Adirim was fired as director of the CIA’s Center for Global Health Services last April, roughly four months after Raiklin tagged CIA Director John Ratcliffe in an X post asking if Adirim was “burrowing in at the CIA.”

Adirim’s lawsuit accuses the CIA of breach of contract and of violating due process and privacy rights, while accusing Raiklin of defamation and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

The lawsuit points to Raiklin’s inclusion of Adirim on his “Deep State Target List” of people “he considers guilty of treason,” and a statement on the actor Roseanne Barr’s podcast in October 2024 that Adirim should be convicted of “genocide and mass mutilitation.”

In a filing seeking dismissal, Raiklin’s lawyer argued the “statements are not actionable in defamation because they are expressions of opinion” and “fail to demonstrate actual malice.”

In a proposed amended complaint filed in October, Carroll says Raiklin has “called for” Adirim “to be forcibly vaccinated, thrown out of a window and hanged as a matter of retribution.”

The filing also says “Raiklin has implied that Dr. Adirim should be shot.”

The filing cites a May 11, 2025 X post, accompanied by a video showing a man firing rounds at a gun range, captioned, “This video … represents the sentiment of the 8,600 thrown out [of the military], 80 thousand that left early [and] 3.5 million that were duped by the @TerryAdirimMD unlawful DOD jab mandate implementation memo.”

Another post reads, “Mass defenestration of those involved in the unlawful jab mandate is the only path forward.”

A Raiklin follower replied with a GIF showing a man thrown out of a window.

Raiklin also shared video of Alex Jones, the right-wing provocateur found liable for claiming the Sandy Hook elementary school massacre was a hoax, saying, “We know the penalty for this is open and shut. And they need to get fair trials. And then they need to be hung in public.”

Raiklin responded: “Legally, Morally, Ethically! To the Max!”

Adirim has made the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia and the Marshals Service aware of the threats but no action has been taken, according to the filing.

The DOJ did not respond to a request for comment.

Neither Raiklin nor John David McGavin, his lawyer, could be reached for comment.

“Raiklin continues to threaten my client with death,” Caroll told Raw Story. “The DOJ and the Marshals Service does nothing about it. It’s far out of the bounds of acceptable conduct.”

In his 24 years practicing law, Carroll said, he has never seen a similar situation.

“The only explanation I can think of is the Department of Justice perceives they receive some litigation advantage by their codefendant threatening to kill my client. It’s reprehensible for the Department of Justice and the Marshals Service to be acting this way.

“Somebody’s going to get hurt.”

This story was updated on Jan. 14, 2026 at 9:27 a.m. ET to include a statement from the U.S. Marshals Service, and updated on Jan. 15, 2026 at 8:44 a.m. to include a statement from the Department of Justice.