Death Threats Come With the Job of a Public Figure

In this first two weeks of the Trump new tenure, there’s just been a flurry of news and disinformation. We’ve heard about all of these pardons, all of these yanking of security clearances, and now most recently, the end of security details for former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, former National Security Advisor John Bolton, and former Director of the [National] Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Anthony Fauci.

And let’s cut through all of the hysteria and look at a few constant themes in all of these cases. Donald Trump said, when he was pressed about this, aren’t you worried that you may be culpable if any of them are harmed, since, supposedly, right-wingers don’t like Fauci and the Iranians are mad at Bolton and Pompeo?

And he said, “Do we give security details forever?”

And then he pointed out in the case of John Bolton and Anthony Fauci that they’re quite wealthy people and they made a lot of wealth while they were in office. Anthony Fauci and his wife were probably the highest-paid couple in the federal workforce, perhaps nearing a million dollars in annual compensation.

John Bolton had his own political action committee that traditionally raised $7 million a year. And his blockbuster bestseller, a tell-all book, damning the person who hired him, made him a lot of money. It’s not true of Mike Pompeo. He did not cash in. There’s another thing to remember. Donald Trump will do more to keep Pompeo and Bolton safe by confronting Iran.

And he already has told Iran that they are going to be held responsible, not just for threatening Bolton’s life or Pompeo’s, but his life. And remember, the recent interview with the president of Iran, what did he say? He said, “I have no intention of starting a war. I have no intention of attacking Israel. I have no intention of assassinating a U.S. official.”

Why that change in attitude? It’s because Donald Trump has given them an ultimatum and that will ensure the safety of, not only, Bolton and Pompeo, but Trump himself. And then there’s the other question; Donald Trump was almost shot twice with, supposedly, the most impressive security detail in the world.

So, nobody can be completely protected. And so, let me get back to another point—in the case of Anthony Fauci, he has his own resources, as I said, to protect himself. His detail was scheduled to run out anyway at the end of his tenure. It was inaugurated by Joe Biden and paid for within the budget of Health and Human Services and the NIH.

So, it wasn’t Donald Trump that came in and said to Anthony Fauci, “I’m going to expose you to danger.” All of us in this public sphere, every pundit, every op-ed writer, college prep—all of us have received threats, existential threats. And I can attest that I have. And so, it’s part of the game when you get into the political arena.

There’s one other factor: Mike Pompeo, I think, is in a different category of John Bolton and Anthony Fauci. He had a longer tenure as a political appointee than Bolton did. He was very loyal to the president. But more importantly, he doesn’t have the individual means—the profit-making, during or after his tenure, that puts him in a financially secure position, as Fauci and Bolton.

Second, because his tenure was much longer and because he was much more high profile in opposing the Iran deal and being vocal about [Qasem] Soleimani, he is in some jeopardy, I think, to a greater degree than either Fauci or Bolton. And so, that’s something that we might want to re-examine, depending on the attitude of the Iranians.

But again, the best way to protect Bolton and Pompeo is to preemptively tell Iran that if anybody—Donald Trump, those two—anybody is in danger of an Iranian attack, the consequences will be existential for Iran. This all takes place in sort of a hysteria that Donald Trump is calling people to account in the Biden administration.

And it’s part and parcel of yanking the security clearances of 51 “intelligence authorities,” the pardons of the Biden family. My only advice to all of us is just take a deep breath. And when you hear these hysterical news accounts, understand that they have a political motivation behind them.