'Rhetoric inspires attacks': Cop injured at Jan. 6 riot calls Trump out for causing harm
Washington Metropolitan Police Department Officer Michael Fanone testifies during the House select committee hearing on the Jan. 6 attack on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, July 27, 2021. - Andrew Harnik/Pool/TNS

Donald Trump's rhetoric, the same kind Jack Smith recently flagged in the criminal case in which the former president was charged for his attempts to overturn the 2020 election, has already caused attacks, CNN contributor and former D.C. Metropolitan Police Officer Michael Fanone said Saturday.

Fanone appeared on CNN Newsroom with Jim Acosta on Saturday, and was asked about the recent threats Trump has posted on social media. Those same threats were flagged by Special Counsel Jack Smith, who cited them in his request for a protective order in the case.

Fanone said it's "deeply personal" for him.

"As someone who's been outspoken against the former president, someone who advocated relentlessly for an indictment, you know, a lot of that rhetoric inspires attacks against myself and members of my family," he said. "Whether it's in the form of threats or individuals actually coming to our residence and harassing us, and it's been a pretty steady pace ever since, you know, the first time I gave a news interview."

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Fanone added that it's "a bizarre time in which you see a former president and so many members of his political apparatus attacking law enforcement and our, you know, career public servants in the department of justice."

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