A Connecticut man has been charged with threatening to kill Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., the powerful chairman of the House Intelligence Committee who played a key role in the impeachment proceedings against President Donald Trump and has been a frequent target of Trump’s criticism, authorities announced Monday.

Robert Phelps, 62, sent a message in November through Schiff’s online meeting scheduler saying, “I want to come and see you so I can spit in your face and I want to kill you with my bare hands and smash your sick little round fat lying face in,” an FBI agent alleged in an affidavit. He then signed the message in his own name and added, “Republican,” according to the affidavit.


The FBI traced Phelps to an address in Torrington, Connecticut, by issuing a subpoena to the email service provider attached to the message, and showed up to interview him in December. Phelps, according to the affidavit, told investigators he had a “right to contact members of Congress and defend ‘his president,’ ” and asked if they were in his home because of Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn.

Phelps also said the Democrats who were involved in the then-ongoing impeachment proceedings against Trump should be arrested, according to the affidavit. The FBI agent stated that there was probable cause to believe that Phelps’ threats were meant to interfere with Schiff’s official duties, “including his responsibilities regarding the previous impeachment proceedings.”

The Democratic-controlled House ultimately impeached Trump for abusing his power and obstructing justice in connection with pressure he put on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden. He was acquitted in the Republican-controlled Senate earlier this year.

Phelps was arrested Friday and released on a $25,000 bond. The charges were announced Monday by U.S. Attorney John Durham, who Attorney General William Barr has tapped for an assignment of keen interest to Trump: examining the origins of the FBI’s 2016 probe into whether his campaign coordinated with Russia.


Trump has frequently attacked Schiff for his committee’s own investigation of whether the Trump campaign coordinated with Russia to influence the 2016 election.

A spokesman for Schiff declined to comment, and a lawyer for Phelps did not immediately return a message seeking comment.