Jim Jordan demands info from U.S. Marshals on threats to SCOTUS justices

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan on Wednesday wrote to U.S. Marshals Service Director Ronald Davis demanding that he provide Congress with information related to the the agency's training materials that addressed protests outside the homes of Supreme Court justices.

In a press release, Jordan referenced training slides "that discouraged Marshals from arresting leftwing protesters illegally harassing Supreme Court justices outside their homes."

"Although federal law prohibits picketing near the residence of a federal judge with the intent to influence the judge’s official duties, recent evidence indicates that the U.S. Marshals protecting the justices were directed to 'not' conduct arrests 'unless it was absolutely necessary,'" Jordan wrote in the letter.

Numerous demonstrations materialized outside the Virginia and Maryland homes of some justices following the leak of a draft court ruling in May of 2022 that suggested the court was likely to overturn the constitutional right to an abortion. Jordan recounted the efforts of some pro-abortion groups to obtain and distribute the location of the justices' residences.

He further pointed to a June incident in which one individually alleged attempted to assassinate Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh.

Jordan then addressed the training slides, the contents of which he suggested undermined claims from Attorney General Merrick Garland that the Marshals were fully empowered to address the protests.

"Among other things, the training slides instructed Marshals 'to avoid, unless absolutely necessary, any criminal enforcement,' stated that 'making arrests and initiating prosecutions is not the goal,' that arrests of protestors should be a 'last resort' and would be 'counter-productive,'" he wrote. "These directives appear to contradict Attorney General Garland’s previous statements to Congress that Marshals had 'full authority' to make arrest decisions."

"The training materials provided to the U.S. Marshals strongly suggest that the Biden Administration is continuing to weaponize federal law enforcement agencies for partisan purposes," he insisted.

The Ohio Republican set a deadline of May 17 for Davis to provide him with the information.

Ben Whedon is an editor and reporter for Just the News. Follow him on Twitter.