Calif. man who threatened Rep. McDermott jailed
A California man who has admitted to threatening Congressman Jim McDermott was jailed Thursday following allegations that he violated conditions of his release.
Charles Turner Habermann, 32, previously admitted to making threatening phone calls to the Seattle Democrat's office late last year.
Habermann is scheduled to appear in court on June 14 to address allegations that he violated conditions of his release. The alleged violations were not specified in court records available Friday.
Habermann, a trust fund-supported Palm Springs, Calif., resident, had been free pending sentencing in the case. But he was jailed Thursday after prosecutors claimed he violated conditions of his release.
Charged in January with threatening a public official, Habermann is alleged to have made two threatening, expletive-laden phone calls to McDermott's office on Dec. 9 in an effort to influence McDermott's vote on tax policy.
Habermann said he made the calls because he thought his taxes would be increased, adding that he would have not attacked McDermott because it would threaten his $3 million trust fund. He pleaded guilty to related charges on May 11.
According to charging documents, Habermann threatened to kill McDermott's friends and family, then, in the second call, threatened to put McDermott "in the trash." Habermann was subsequently indicted by a federal grand jury in Seattle on a single count of threatening a federal official.
Contacted by the investigators the day after the messages were left, Habermann is alleged to have admitted threatening McDermott and a congresswoman not identified in court documents.
"He said he was trying to scare them before they spent money that didn't belong to them," FBI Special Agent Dean Giboney told the court.
"Habermann stated that he never had any intention of hurting anyone," the agent continued, "and that he had too much to lose - referring to his $3 million trust fund - to ever do anything which could get him sent to prison."
The threats preceded by several weeks the deadly Arizona shooting that saw six killed and U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords severely wounded.
Habermann is alleged to have threatened to kill McDermott in an effort to interfere with his vote on the tax cut proposal in December 2010. A McDermott staffer contacted the FBI on Dec. 10, reporting that the congressman's Seattle office had received the offending phone calls.
In one, the speaker was heard calling McDermott "a piece of human filth," "a communist," and a "piece of (expletive) garbage."
"Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, or George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, if any of them had ever met uh, uh Jim McDermott, they would all blow his brains out," Habermann said in the first rambling message, according to charging documents. "They'd shoot him, in the head. They'd kill him, because he's a piece of, of, of disgusting garbage.
"Any you let that (expletive) scum bag know, that if he ever (expletive) with my money, ever the (expletive) again, I'll (expletive) kill him, okay," Habermann continued, according to charges. "I'll round them up, I'll kill them, I'll kill his friends, I'll kill his family, I will kill everybody he (expletive) knows."
The second message continued in the same vein, Giboney told the court, noting that Habermann identified himself by name in both calls.
Writing the court, Giboney said Habermann admitted to making the calls during an interview with investigators on Dec. 10. According to the FBI agent, Habermann also admitted to threatening a second U.S. representative, identified in court documents as "Congresswoman C.P."
Habermann said he'd been drinking the night he made the calls but was "functioning," the FBI agent told the court. Asked about his motivation for the threats, Giboney continued, Habermann said he "was calling politicians to let them know that what they were doing and saying regarding spending taxpayer's money was wrong."
He is scheduled to be sentenced by on Aug. 8 by U.S. District Court Judge James Robart.
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Charles Turner Habermann, 32, previously admitted to making threatening phone calls to the Seattle Democrat's office late last year.
Habermann is scheduled to appear in court on June 14 to address allegations that he violated conditions of his release. The alleged violations were not specified in court records available Friday.
Habermann, a trust fund-supported Palm Springs, Calif., resident, had been free pending sentencing in the case. But he was jailed Thursday after prosecutors claimed he violated conditions of his release.
Charged in January with threatening a public official, Habermann is alleged to have made two threatening, expletive-laden phone calls to McDermott's office on Dec. 9 in an effort to influence McDermott's vote on tax policy.
Habermann said he made the calls because he thought his taxes would be increased, adding that he would have not attacked McDermott because it would threaten his $3 million trust fund. He pleaded guilty to related charges on May 11.
According to charging documents, Habermann threatened to kill McDermott's friends and family, then, in the second call, threatened to put McDermott "in the trash." Habermann was subsequently indicted by a federal grand jury in Seattle on a single count of threatening a federal official.
Contacted by the investigators the day after the messages were left, Habermann is alleged to have admitted threatening McDermott and a congresswoman not identified in court documents.
"He said he was trying to scare them before they spent money that didn't belong to them," FBI Special Agent Dean Giboney told the court.
"Habermann stated that he never had any intention of hurting anyone," the agent continued, "and that he had too much to lose - referring to his $3 million trust fund - to ever do anything which could get him sent to prison."
The threats preceded by several weeks the deadly Arizona shooting that saw six killed and U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords severely wounded.
Habermann is alleged to have threatened to kill McDermott in an effort to interfere with his vote on the tax cut proposal in December 2010. A McDermott staffer contacted the FBI on Dec. 10, reporting that the congressman's Seattle office had received the offending phone calls.
In one, the speaker was heard calling McDermott "a piece of human filth," "a communist," and a "piece of (expletive) garbage."
"Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, or George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, if any of them had ever met uh, uh Jim McDermott, they would all blow his brains out," Habermann said in the first rambling message, according to charging documents. "They'd shoot him, in the head. They'd kill him, because he's a piece of, of, of disgusting garbage.
"Any you let that (expletive) scum bag know, that if he ever (expletive) with my money, ever the (expletive) again, I'll (expletive) kill him, okay," Habermann continued, according to charges. "I'll round them up, I'll kill them, I'll kill his friends, I'll kill his family, I will kill everybody he (expletive) knows."
The second message continued in the same vein, Giboney told the court, noting that Habermann identified himself by name in both calls.
Writing the court, Giboney said Habermann admitted to making the calls during an interview with investigators on Dec. 10. According to the FBI agent, Habermann also admitted to threatening a second U.S. representative, identified in court documents as "Congresswoman C.P."
Habermann said he'd been drinking the night he made the calls but was "functioning," the FBI agent told the court. Asked about his motivation for the threats, Giboney continued, Habermann said he "was calling politicians to let them know that what they were doing and saying regarding spending taxpayer's money was wrong."
He is scheduled to be sentenced by on Aug. 8 by U.S. District Court Judge James Robart.
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SEATTLEPI.COM is a media partner of KOMO News. Read the complete SEATTLEPI.COM story with comments.
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