Deputy AG says GOP attacks on Justice Department have contributed to an ‘unprecedented rise’ in threats

Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco decried Republican claims that the Justice Department has been politicized against former President Donald Trump, saying those accusations have contributed to an “unprecedented rise” in threats against law enforcement and other officials.

In an interview with ABC News that aired Sunday, Monaco, who oversees all Jan. 6-related cases, said that those accusations “bear no resemblance to the Justice Department that I know. The Justice Department that I know is filled with dedicated men and women, investigators, lawyers, prosecutors, analysts, professional staff,” she said, adding that employees “get up every day without regard to who’s in the White House or who’s in Congress.”

“It really bothers me when I hear those claims because it does a disservice to the men and women of the Justice Department. It contributes to the toxicity that you’re speaking about,” she added.

Monaco added there has been an “unprecedented rise in threats to public officials across the board,” including law enforcement agents, prosecutors, judges and election officials, and that the agency is responding to it.

Monaco noted that she receives “urgent reports” from U.S. attorneys nationwide nearly every week about “threats to public officials,” including DOJ employees.

Monaco is among a group of federal prosecutors who have faced attacks from Trump and his allies in recent months as the former president faces four criminal prosecutions heading into the 2024 presidential election season. Trump has repeatedly issued disparaging comments targeting Monaco, special counsel Jack Smith and other DOJ prosecutors and federal judges involved in the various legal cases against him.

Trump in November warned that Smith and other DOJ officials will end up in a mental institution if he is re-elected as president next year. In a post to his Truth Social platform. Trump called Smith, former Justice Department official Andrew Weissmann and Monaco a “team of losers and misfits” from CREW, an ethics watchdog group. He also attacked “all the rest of the Radical Left Zealots and Thugs who have been working illegally for years to ‘take me down.’”

They will end up, Trump said, “suffering from a horrible disease, TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME (TDS!), in a Mental Institution by the time my next term as President is successfully completed. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com