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These judges ruled against Trump. Then their families came under attack.

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After U.S. judges ruled against the Trump administration, some of their family members faced threats and harassment. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri

As federal judges rule against the Trump administration in dozens of politically charged cases, the families of at least 11 of the jurists have been targeted with threats and harassment. The intimidation campaign has strained judges and their relatives – and legal scholars fear it could have a chilling effect on the judiciary.

By Ned Parker, Mike Spector, Peter Eisler, Linda So and Nate Raymond

May 2, 20258:00 PM GMT+10Updated 4 hours ago

Note: This story contains offensive language.

When U.S. District Judge James Boasberg ruled in April that Trump administration officials could face criminal contempt charges for deporting migrants in defiance of a court order, the blowback was immediate.

USA-TRUMP/JUDGES-THREATS Boasberg tweet
When Elon Musk shared an online post that mischaracterized the work of Judge Boasberg’s
daughter, some of his followers responded on X with calls “to lock her up."

The president’s supporters unleashed a wave of threats and menacing posts. And they didn’t just target the judge. Some attacked Boasberg’s brother. Others blasted his daughter. Some demanded the family’s arrest – or execution.

U.S. District Judge John McConnell’s family endured similar threats after he ruled that President Donald Trump overstepped his authority in freezing grants for education and other services. Far-right provocateur Laura Loomer tweeted a photo of the judge’s daughter, who had worked at the U.S. Education Department as a policy advisor, and accused McConnell of protecting her paycheck. Billionaire Elon Musk amplified the post to his 219 million X followers. Neither mentioned the daughter had left her job before Trump’s inauguration.
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Loomer continued her attacks with nine more posts in the ensuing days – and more than 600 calls and emails flooded McConnell’s Rhode Island courthouse, including death threats and menacing messages taunting his family, according to a court clerk and another person familiar with the communications.

Loomer continued her attacks with nine more posts in the ensuing days – and more than 600 calls and emails flooded McConnell’s Rhode Island courthouse, including death threats and menacing messages taunting his family, according to a court clerk and another person familiar with the communications.

Boasberg and McConnell are among at least 11 federal judges whose families have faced threats of violence or harassment after they ruled against the new Trump administration, a Reuters investigation found.

The broadsides are part of an intimidation campaign directed at federal judges who have stood in the way of Trump’s moves to dramatically expand presidential authority and slash the federal bureaucracy. As Trump and his allies call for judges to be impeached or attack them as “radical left” political foes, the families of judges are being singled out for harassment.

Since Trump returned to power in January, at least 60 judges or appeals courts have slowed or blocked some of his administration’s initiatives. Reuters spoke with a dozen federal judges who raised concerns about the security of their own families or of the relatives of colleagues handling Trump-related cases. They included jurists appointed by both Republican and Democratic presidents. Most requested anonymity, citing the potential for further inflaming security fears or raising questions about their impartiality. Additional information was gleaned from legal records and interviews with half a dozen officials involved in court security.

Threats against judges and their families “are ultimately threats to constitutional government. It’s as simple as that,” U.S. Circuit Judge Richard Sullivan, who chairs a security committee for the federal judiciary’s policymaking arm, said in an interview.

[...]

In March, Trump called for a judge to be impeached .. https://www.reuters.com/legal/us-chief-justice-roberts-calls-judges-impeachment-are-inappropriate-after-trump-2025-03-18/ , drawing a rebuke from Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts. Judges and legal experts say such attacks jeopardize the judicial independence that underpins America’s democratic constitutional order and could inspire violence.

[...]

The Judicial Conference of the United States, the policymaking arm of the federal courts, requested an increase in funding for security in an April 10 letter to U.S. lawmakers, citing “escalating” threats against judges and concern over “the impact of hiring freezes and staffing losses” in the Marshals Service.

At a U.S. Senate confirmation hearing on Wednesday, Trump’s nominee to lead the Marshals, Gadyaces Serralta, was asked what would happen if Trump ordered the Marshals to halt security for a judge. Serralta said he didn’t believe that would happen and vowed to “continue to keep all our judges safe” if he was confirmed.

Current and former jurists said the maelstrom engulfing judges’ family members is particularly alarming, pointing to colleagues on the bench who have lost loved ones to violence. A disgruntled litigant killed the mother and husband of U.S. District Judge Joan Lefkow in her Chicago home two decades ago. U.S. District Judge Esther Salas’ son was killed when a would-be assassin showed up at her New Jersey home in 2020.

“To be concerned about family members, it’s not theoretical. It’s happened,” David Levi, a former federal judge in Sacramento appointed by former Republican President George H.W. Bush, said in an interview. “I don’t think that most judges thought they were taking on risk to their families when they accepted the job. Not in the way we are experiencing right now.”

The attacks on judges’ relatives are part of a pattern of harassment and intimidation that Trump and his allies have used to cement their political power, silence critics and pressure the judiciary. In a remarkable admission, longtime Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska said last month the threat of political retaliation by Trump has made lawmakers “afraid” to criticize the administration’s policies.

https://www.reuters.com/investigations/these-judges-ruled-against-trump-then-their-families-came-under-attack-2025-05-02/