'Hell and chaos': Lawmaker says Trump has unleashed a mob 'terrorizing' law enforcement

Former President Donald Trump has created a climate in which both lawmakers and law enforcement officials are being constantly harassed, threatened, and put in fear for their own safety, Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) said on MSNBC Thursday.

Swalwell, who has been subject to numerous death threats on himself and his family for his work investigating Trump, reacted in particular to reporting from NBC News that Trump has ramped up his rhetoric calling violent January 6 rioters "hostages," discussing "setting these guys free when he gets in" with his allies.

"Are any of your colleagues concerned that members of Congress would be targeted if these people were put back on the street?" asked anchor Joy Reid.

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"They were already being targeted," Swalwell replied simply.

"When the threats come in to me and my colleagues, what we're told by the Department of Justice, [which] is doing a very good job to try to track these, is that hey, we're being targeted too," Swalwell continued. "You're seeing that Donald Trump has unleashed and created this environment where the investigators are also being terrorized. So FBI agents and DOJ prosecutors, they're receiving as many death threats as me and my colleagues."

"That's just the hell and the chaos that he has brought to our country," he added. "And it's really easy to do that when you don't have the firewall within your own party to stop you. So that's why this is all so important. And just functionally, because we're not helpless here, I have also been working with DOJ to write legislation that would create a harassment crime so that it's not just a high threshold of threats, but that we can protect people as much as possible."

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