In April 2023, Rep. Jim Banks (R-IN) received voicemails threatening him, his wife and daughters. The Capitol Police investigated and rightly forwarded the charges to the U.S. Attorney in the Northern District of Indiana and the Allen County, Indiana district attorneys to pursue prosecution.
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While Allen County brought charges, the U.S. Attorney declined to do so, and Banks is wondering what makes him… not-so-special.
Rep. Jim Banks, R-Ind., is questioning why a federal prosecutor declined to bring charges against a man who threatened his family while the Justice Department has prosecuted similar threats against Democrats – but the DOJ is denying a double standard.
Aaron Thompson, 33, of Fort Wayne, pleaded guilty in October to felony and misdemeanor charges after he left menacing voicemails with Banks’ office. Allen County prosecutors pursued the case and Thompson was sentenced to two years probation, but a letter Banks sent to Attorney General Merrick Garland demanded to know why the U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Indiana did not file federal charges.
“I’m thankful for Allen County Prosecutor Mike McAlexander and Deputy Prosecutor Adam Mildred for taking these threats seriously and for enforcing the law impartially,” Banks told Fox News Digital. “I want an answer from AG Garland explaining why he ignored threats against my family but prosecuted similar threats against Democrats. It appears to be just another example of the Biden administration’s political weaponization of our justice system.”
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Banks sent the letter in December 2023, but only now has made it public. This is after Attorney General Merrick Garland’s contempt of court conviction for the DOJ’s refusal to release the actual Hur tapes as well as the department’s refusal to prosecute him for it.
Just last week, Garland wrote an op-ed in the Washington Post blasting Congress for its baseless attacks on federal law enforcement and their “conspiracy theories” of a weaponized DOJ. Garland wrote:
[t]he Justice Department “makes decisions about criminal investigations based only on the facts and the law” and does not investigate people “because of their last name, their political affiliation, the size of their bank account, where they come from or what they look like.”
“We investigate and prosecute violations of federal law — nothing more, nothing less,” Garland wrote.
A DOJ spokesperson also rattled off the investigations into death threats against Republican Congress members like Matt Gaetz (R-FL) and Marjorie Taylor-Greene (R-GA) as proof that they do not selectively prosecute according to party affiliation. But if this is the case, then why not prosecute those serious charges against Banks and his family? Similar forms of threats were made against Eric Swalwell and Maxine Waters, both Democrat Reps. from California, and federal charges were brought.
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In the case of Waters, a Texas man was convicted for the racist and threatening voicemails he left, and sentenced to nearly three years in jail. But it seems the federal crimes committed against Banks and his family are not something with which the DOJ wishes to take the time. They must be terribly occupied prosecuting elderly pro-lifers who pray in front of abortion clinics.