An Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, man running as a Democrat for the U.S. Senate faces accusations of making threats to kill President Donald Trump and a member of Congress. An FBI spokesperson confirmed that Raymond Chandler was arrested Friday morning by Federal Bureau of Investigation agents in Pittsburgh, along with the United States Secret Service, WPXI reported.

Court documents filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania, obtained by local media, outline the alleged threatening statements authorities say Chandler made.

According to the affidavit, Chandler reportedly left an unidentified member of Congress a voicemail on April 18, during which he said he asked the person to think about how 1,000 people would “pull you out of your house and they slit your throat and they slit your daughter’s throat and they slit everyone’s throat.”

The affidavit also said he followed that up by stating this must happen because “wealth concentration has gotten so bad in this country.”

The filing also notes that on April 29, Chandler left another voicemail to an unidentified member of Congress, saying, “I want you to put that firearm to the President’s head, and I want you to pull the trigger and I want you to kill him.” He then said that President Trump is “a liar among all liars. He’s a great deceiver. He’s the antichrist.”

The congressmember’s representatives eventually reached out to authorities after Chandler’s voicemails became increasingly violent rhetoric aimed at Trump, members of Congress, and ICE.

Just hours before his arrest, Chandler posted a YouTube video as part of his campaign for the U.S. Senate seat in Pennsylvania. In the video, titled “It’s Time to Tax the Billionaires,” he announced his intention to challenge Senator John Fetterman in the 2028 election.

His campaign website outlines a range of progressive priorities, including taxing billionaires, expanding social programs, regulating Big Tech, and abolishing ICE—positions that are widely accepted within the Democrat Party.

A week ago, the suspect charged in the White House Correspondents’ Dinner shooting made his initial appearance in federal court, where he was formally advised of the charges filed by prosecutors.

Cole Allen, 31, of Torrance, California, is accused of entering the Washington Hilton while armed with multiple weapons and attempting to reach the ballroom where President Trump was attending the dinner alongside Cabinet officials and journalists Saturday night.

According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Allen appeared in court wearing a blue jail uniform and faces charges including attempted assassination of the President of the United States, discharge of a firearm during a crime of violence, and transporting a firearm across state lines, Fox News reported.

Allen spoke softly during his court appearance. As he was led into the courtroom by marshals, he scanned the public gallery, which included over 40 members of the press and general public. He nodded as Magistrate Judge Matthew Sharbaugh explained various aspects of the proceedings.

“He attempted to assassinate the president of the United States, Donald J. Trump,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Jocelyn Ballantine told the court. “We are asking the court to preventatively detain Mr. Allen.”

“Cole Allen’s journey of accountability in the criminal justice system starts today,” U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro said in a press conference Monday afternoon, adding, “There will be additional charges as this investigation continues to unfold.”

“But make no mistake, this was an attempted assassination of the President of the United States, with the defendant making clear what his intent was,” Pirro continued. “And that intent was to bring down as many of the high ranking Cabinet officials as he could. This is the kind of situation that we cannot tolerate.”

Acting AG Blanche Fires Back at Obama’s DOJ Criticism

Posted July 21, 2026

Former President Barack Obama sharply criticized the Trump administration this week over what he described as growing political influence inside the United States Department of Justice, prompting an aggressive response from Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche defending both the administration’s prosecutions and President Donald Trump’s authority over the executive branch.

The escalating public dispute comes as the Justice Department faces mounting scrutiny over a series of criminal investigations and indictments involving several longtime Trump critics and political adversaries, including former FBI Director James Comey.

Obama raised the issue during an interview with Stephen Colbert on CBS’ The Late Show with Stephen Colbert that aired Monday night.

“The White House shouldn’t be able to direct the attorney general to go around prosecuting whoever,” Obama said during the interview. “The idea is that the attorney general is the people’s lawyer. It’s not the president’s consigliere.”

Obama suggested the principle of DOJ independence may ultimately need to be codified into law by Congress, arguing that the justice system risks becoming politicized if presidents are perceived as directly targeting political opponents through federal prosecutions.

The comments immediately triggered pushback from the Trump administration.

White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson accused Obama of hypocrisy, arguing that his administration played a central role in the origins of the Trump-Russia investigation.

“Barack Hussein Obama is the king of weaponization,” Jackson said in a statement, referencing declassified documents related to the FBI’s Russia probe.

But the administration’s most extensive response came Wednesday from Blanche during an interview with CBS News in Phoenix.

Blanche forcefully rejected accusations that the DOJ is engaged in political retaliation and defended the president’s constitutional authority over the executive branch.

“Article Two says, ‘the executive power shall be vested in the President of the United States of America,’” Blanche said while holding a pocket copy of the Constitution during the interview. “It does not say that the Attorney General stands off to the side.”

Blanche emphasized that the attorney general serves within the executive branch and argued that presidents are fully entitled to direct priorities involving law enforcement, immigration, drugs, and national security.

“To the extent that President Trump calls me and says that he thinks we have a problem in this country, whether it’s the scourge of drugs, illegal immigration, every American wants him to do that,” Blanche said. “And he should.”

The acting attorney general also dismissed accusations that the DOJ is pursuing politically motivated cases against Trump critics.

“We are absolutely doing nothing but what we should be doing at the Department of Justice,” Blanche said. “I wake up with a very clean conscience every morning.”

The public clash comes amid multiple high-profile investigations involving Trump adversaries.

Most notably, Comey was recently indicted after prosecutors alleged a 2025 Instagram post featuring seashells arranged to form the numbers “86 47” constituted a threat against Trump, the 47th president. Prosecutors argue “86” is commonly understood slang meaning “to eliminate” or “get rid of.”

Blanche defended the case, arguing threats against the president must be treated seriously given recent assassination attempts and escalating political extremism.

Last year, Trump publicly urged then-Attorney General Pam Bondi to pursue prosecutions against Comey, James, and Sen. Adam Schiff, writing on social media that “JUSTICE MUST BE SERVED.”

Blanche declined to discuss private conversations with Trump when asked whether the president personally directed prosecutions.

“But rest assured,” Blanche said, “he has much better, bigger and important things to do than to worry about me doing my job.”

Blanche also turned Democrats’ criticism back against them by pointing to the multiple criminal prosecutions Trump himself faced before returning to office, including cases brought by state prosecutors in New York and Georgia as well as federal investigations overseen by Special Counsel Jack Smith.

“So I welcome criticism. Let’s go,” Blanche said. “But if you’re sitting in a glass house, you ought not throw stones.”