Name: This federal judge ruled against Trump. Then the death threats rolled in | 60 Minutes
Uploaded: 2026-03-02T21:36:46.000Z
Duration: 13 min 16 s
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When the Supreme Court recently struck down President Trump's tariffs, he lashed out at two justices he had nominated, calling them fools and lap dogs.

The President has frequently railed against judges when they rule against him.

What often happens next is a barrage of violent threats from his followers against those judges.

We spoke with 26 federal judges, nine Democratic appointees, 17 Republican, both sitting and retired.

The sitting judges told us they feel under siege.

Most would not appear on camera, fearful for their safety.

Judge John Kunauer, appointed by Ronald Reagan, is one of the few who would.

He blocked President Trump's bid to end birthright citizenship.

He wasn't prepared for what happened next.

My wife and I are at home and the doorbell rings and I go to the door and there's, I think, five sheriff's deputies there with long rifles, and

And they said to me, sir, could we see your wife?

And they said, well, sir, we've had a report that you've murdered your wife.

For John Kunauer, a federal district court judge in Washington State, it didn't end there.

There was a congressman that had a wanted poster.

It said wanted in big letters at the top, and then a picture of several of us.

His trouble started when President Trump signed an executive order to end the 14th Amendment's guarantee of citizenship for infants born on U.S.

Judge Kuhnauer ruled it blatantly unconstitutional.

Some of it was very, very ugly and very threatening.

Judge Kunauer told us threats come with the turf.

He has sentenced an Al Qaeda bomber and Montana militia members and needed round the clock protection.

But he said he'd never had as many death threats as with the birthright citizenship case.

I have never encountered the hostility toward the judiciary that has existed in this country in the last year.

And I don't think it's because we're making bad decisions.

I think it's because there are people who think that they can make a lot of political hay out of criticizing the federal judiciary.

And also, we cannot allow a handful of communist radical left judges to obstruct the enforcement of our laws and assume the duties that belong solely to the President of the United States.

When President Trump lost a battle in court to deport migrants, he called the judge a lunatic.

When Immigration crackdowns were ruled illegal.

It's incendiary comments like that that have provoked a torrent of death threats.

Our reporting found hundreds of threats were left on judges voicemails.

This one after a judge ruled the president had violated the First Amendment.

I hope your whole family and everybody you love is raped in front of you and has their heads cut off.

And this one after a judge ruled the president couldn't cut certain government benefits.

And I wish somebody would assassinate your ass.

I double dare you to try to put charges on Donald J. Trump, you son of a bitch.

It falls to the U.S. marshals to pinpoint the verbal threats that might lead to physical violence.

Last year, 400 federal judges were targets of serious threats.

In very plain English, if we're not careful, we're going to get a judge killed.

Judge John Jones is a retired federal judge from Pennsylvania, a George W. Bush appointee.

He and 55 other retired judges were so concerned, they formed a bipartisan group to lobby the White House to stop demonizing judges.

This is such a toxic environment where people are taking arms and can identify where a judge lives, can strike out against that judge or the judge's family members.

So when President Trump attacks judges as rogue, deranged, corrupt, what do you think he's doing and why?

I think that he's attempting to delegitimize the federal courts.

And you have a very dormant, I think, United States Congress and a president who means to really say what the law is.

Well, you know, civics taught me that Congress makes the law and the president faithfully executes the laws of the country.

Judge Jones told us this White House is testing the bounds of presidential power.

Today, the Trump administration is facing 600 lawsuits contesting its agenda.

Judges are caught squarely in the crossfire.

As a judge who has taken an oath to uphold the Constitution and defend the rule of law, I have a duty to call this out.

Judge Esther Salas is a federal district court judge in New Jersey, a Barack Obama appointee.

She has become a leading voice against the personal attacks on judges, which has made her the target of death threats.

In 2020, a failed litigant came to her front door, shot her son Daniel dead, and

It was not driven by politics, but she fears today's inflammatory rhetoric makes such horrors more likely.

I'm more concerned right now than I was after my only child was murdered.

Because I think that the attacks against the judiciary are only getting worse.

What I'm seeing now is far different than what I've seen in the past.

This is coming from our national leader on down.

Judge Salas told us vilifying judges is eroding trust in the courts.

If you disagree with a ruling that we make, appeal us.

If you disagree with a sentence we render, appeal us.

And that has been, I think, the active agenda as of late.

I feel like sometimes our political leaders are playing Russian roulette with our lives.

Do you think the rhetoric emboldens people?

In a statement, the White House said, as a survivor of two assassination attempts, no one understands the dangers of political violence more than President Trump.

It went on to accuse the judiciary of brazen defiance with its unlawful rulings.