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A New York resident has admitted to a misdemeanor harassment charge linked to a death threat targeting U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries.
CLINTON, N.Y. (AP) — Christopher P. Moynihan, who was previously pardoned by former President Donald Trump for his involvement in the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot, has pleaded guilty to threatening House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries. The plea came on Thursday, about a year after the pardon.
The 35-year-old Moynihan has consented to a three-year probation term. During a session at the town court in Clinton, New York, he admitted to the misdemeanor harassment charge. His sentencing is scheduled for April 2.
Attempts to reach Moynihan’s public defender for comments on Thursday evening were unsuccessful. Similarly, an email sent to an address listed in public records for Moynihan went unanswered, and a phone number associated with him was found to be disconnected.
Moynihan, who resides in Pleasant Valley, New York, faced accusations of sending a threatening text message concerning Jeffries’ appearance in New York City in October.
“I cannot allow this terrorist to live,” Moynihan wrote, according to a report by a state police investigator. Moynihan also wrote that Jeffries “must be eliminated” and texted, “I will kill him for the future,” the police report says.
Moynihan was originally charged with a felony, making a terrorist threat, but pleaded to a lesser crime.
“Threats against elected officials are not political speech, they are criminal acts that strike at the heart of public safety and our democratic system,” Dutchess County District Attorney Anthony Parisi said in a statement.
Moynihan was sentenced to nearly 2 years in prison for joining a mob’s Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. In January 2025, he was among hundreds of convicted Capitol rioters who were pardoned on the Republican president’s first day back in the White House.
A spokesperson for Jeffries, a New York Democrat, did not immediately return an email message Thursday night.
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