By Jeffrey Rodack | NEWSMAX
Outgoing Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, revealed he is a regular target of death threats.
“I’ve had dozens of those, unfortunately,” he told Fox News’ “Fox & Friends” program on Thursday.
“We had another person who put one out saying he was going to come slit my throat but the U.S. attorney said we’re not going to prosecute that. Unfortunately, it happens…it happens regularly. But the U.S. attorneys don’t prosecute anything.”
One man left a voicemail message at his office threatening to “wrap a rope around your neck and hang you from a lamppost.”
Chaffetz said authorities became involved after the man left two messages for him. He was eventually arrested.
“I’ve got stacks and mounds of written threats that people put their names to,” he said. “But, again, they don’t get prosecuted. There’s got to be a way to better protect members of Congress.”
Word of the death threats come just over a week after House Majority Whip Steve Scalise was wounded by a gunman, while Republican lawmakers practiced for a charity baseball game, Mediaite noted.
And Chaffetz said the suspected shooter had repeatedly called another congressman who reported the calls to Capitol Hill police.
“My concern is as good and effective as the Capitol Hill police were in taking down the shooter, what happened on the preventative side when they did pass that to the Capitol Hill police? I don’t think they did nearly enough to assess that situation.”
Chaffetz is stepping down from his House seat, at the end of the month, according to The Hill.
He was asked if the threats contributed to his decision to leave.
“Well, there are a lot of reasons but nobody should have to put up with that,” he said. “You can’t just threaten members of Congress like this. And I can tell you, we could go for another hour or two showing examples from just my office.”