A Billings, Montana, man was found guilty Wednesday of making threats against former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy amid outrage over a Chinese balloon that passed through U.S. airspace last year.
Richard Rodgers, 45, made more than 100 phone calls to Mr McCarthy's office in a 75-minute period on February 3, 2023, including messages threatening to assault the chairman, prosecutors said. authorities insisted.
The 12-person jury found Rogers guilty of threatening to harm a deputy, punishable by up to six years in prison and $250,000, and two counts of harassment, which sentenced him to up to two years in prison and $250,000. was fined.
Mr. Rogers' chilling call to Mr. McCarthy's office comes as the Harris-Biden Pentagon has announced that what some say is a high-altitude spy device flying over sensitive military installations. It was the day after I confirmed that I was tracking it as it was floating. The Pentagon acknowledged the balloon after a civilian discovered it.
In addition to the calls to McCarthy's office that were filled with lewd comments, Rogers made about 150 calls to the FBI's tip line between 2021 and 2022, prosecutors said.
The two harassment charges also involve reporting to the FBI.
Rogers' trial lasted three days, and he defended the complaint by characterizing it as “civil disobedience.”
In part of the call to the former House speaker's office, Rogers requested an investigation into his allegations of collusion between President Biden and the FBI, according to court documents.
Prosecutors played portions of the phone calls for jurors to hear, including one in which Rodgers became extremely hot-tempered and furious, hurling vulgarities over the phone.
“You can't talk to people that way. That's common sense,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas Godfrey argued.
“He's not calling out of political protest, he's calling because he's having fun.”
Ironically, Mr. Rogers previously worked as a customer service representative. Mr. Rogers claimed to have been in Washington, D.C., during the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot.
In court he claimed he had stopped him over the phone.
“They were disrespectful to me, so I was disrespectful to them,” Rogers claimed.
The verdict is scheduled to be handed down on January 31st.
Mr. McCarthy was ousted from the speakership on October 3, 2023, amid an insurrection led by Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) after California Republicans averted a government shutdown.
On February 4, 2023, a US fighter jet shot down a balloon off the coast of the Carolinas. China denied it was a reconnaissance balloon and said it simply went off course.
Defense Department officials said the balloons It had the ability to gather information. However, it was later concluded that there were “no collections” over U.S. airspace.
