Flake opens up about threats against him and his family

Former Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) said there are “several” threats made against him and his family from President Trump’s supporters being investigated because of his criticisms of the president. 

An unidentified man carrying a rifle scope had gone to three different Arizona locations associated with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in an attempt to find him, Flake told The Guardian in an interview released Wednesday.

{mosads}“It was a man living out of his car. He told someone he had just attended a Trump rally,” Flake, a devout Mormon, told the outlet. He noted that the man arrived at another event two weeks ago.

The Mesa Police Department confirmed to the outlet that they were assisting Flake with an investigation.

The Hill has reached out to U.S. Capitol Police for comment.

The former senator also acknowledged that he was the previously unidentified senator who was sent a threatening voicemail following the contentious hearings for Trump’s Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh following sexual assault allegations in 2018. 

James Dean Blevins Jr. from Chicago pleaded guilty last month to a federal retaliation charge over the voicemail, which Flake said came after he called for a delayed vote for the FBI to investigate the claims.

“I am tired of him interrupting our president, and I am coming down there to take him and his family out,” the voicemail reportedly said.

Flake told the outlet that there are “several threats” against him, including ones that listed his children, the family’s address and included “links to beheading videos.”

The Arizona Republican announced in 2017 that he would not run for another term in office.

Flake told The Guardian that he would have liked to have stayed in the Senate for one more term.

 “But it’s been at a heavy cost to my family. The sacrifices they’ve been [made to make], what they had to endure,” Flake said.