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California Man Charged With Threatening to Kill Sen. Dianne Feinstein

Emailed death threat arrived on Sept. 30 amid pitched partisan battle over Kavanaugh nomination

Senate Judiciary Committee ranking member Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., was the target of a death threat on Sept. 30. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call file photo)
Senate Judiciary Committee ranking member Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., was the target of a death threat on Sept. 30. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call file photo)

A California man has been charged with threatening to kill Sen. Dianne Feinstein amid the pitched partisan battle over the confirmation process of new associate Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.

The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office charged Craig Steven Shaver, 47, of Lancaster, California, with a felony count of attempted criminal threats and possession of a firearm by a felon.

He was arraigned Thursday. His bail was $50,000.

Shaver allegedly emailed Feinstein’s office on Sept. 30 threatening to kill her. The charging authorities declined to offer more information on the contents or circumstances of the threat.

Feinstein, 85, the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee that was tasked with scrutinizing Kavanaugh through his confirmation process, is one of the most senior members of the chamber, first elected in 1992.

If convicted, Shaver faces up to three years in state prison.

In 1991, Shaver was convicted of grand theft, which by California state law permanently barred him from owning a firearm. It’s unclear when investigators discovered the revolver he had in his possession that was part of his charge Thursday.

Kavanaugh was confirmed after a week-long delay on his final confirmation vote on the Senate floor after a small cadre of GOP senators led by Jeff Flake of Arizona reached a compromise with Democrats to allow for the FBI to slap together a “supplemental” background investigation into allegations he sexually assaulted multiple women when he was in high school and college.

The Democrats’ insistence that Kavanaugh’s alleged actions face a bureau probe could have negative ramifications for many of their candidates this fall, Republican leaders and operatives have predicted.

Republicans, including President Donald Trump, have depicted the hordes of protesters that descended upon the Capitol and organized in senators’ home states to protest Kavanaugh’s confirmation as an “angry [Democratic] mob,” hoping to whip up support from the party’s conservative base before Election Day on Nov. 6.

Watch: Democrats on FBI Kavanaugh Report: ‘Why Shouldn’t All of America See the Facts?’

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