FBI, DHS investigate "resign within three days" ultimatum sent to 30 governors
The FBI and DHS are investigating letters sent to 30 governors demanding their resignation within 30 days; “While there does not appear to be credible or immediate threats of violence attached to the letters, we are working with state and local authorities and continue to assess the matter,” the FBI and DHS said in a joint statement
The FBI and DHS launched an investigation into letters an anti-government group sent to over thirty governors demanding they resign within three days. The letters sent by Guardians of the Free Republics do not threaten violence but warned recipients they would be removed from office if they did not resign by the deadline, law enforcement and state officials said.
Virginia’s Republican Governor Robert McDonnell and Arkansas’s Democratic Governor Mike Beebe were among those who received the letters.
The letters came on the heels of vandalism and harassment — including death threats — against lawmakers.
AFP reports that investigators worried the letters could unleash more violent behavior.
DHS and the FBI said they were aware of the letters. “While there does not appear to be credible or immediate threats of violence attached to the letters, we are working with state and local authorities and continue to assess the matter,” they said in a joint statement.
Guardians of the Free Republics claims on its Web site that it seeks to restore U.S. institutions by peacefully dismantling and rebuilding parts of government. “The Restore America Plan is a bold achievable strategy for behind-the-scenes peaceful reconstruction of the de jure institutions of government without controversy, violence or civil war,” the Web site says.
Beebe’s spokesman Matt DeCample said the federal probe was likely launched because the group stipulated a timeline for governors to vacate their office. “The general idea called on the governor to resign from his office and then this group wanted to put into place its own articles of law and if the governor would agree to that they would then reappoint him as governor,” DeCample told AFP.
According to the Washington Post, the FBI expects all fifty governors eventually to receive the letters.
Other recipients so far cited by U.S. media include Iowa’s Democratic governor Chet Culver, Michigan’s democratic Governor Jennifer Granholm, Oklahoma’s Democratic governor Brad Henry, Louisiana’s Republican governor Bobby Jindal, Minnesota’s Republican governor Tim Pawlenty, and South Dakota’s Republican governor Mike Rounds.
