As Donald Trump and his allies pick high-profile legal fights with prominent Democrats, lawmakers are increasingly taking out liability insurance to protect themselves.
“That’s just, unfortunately, the nature of the job right now and it’s terrible,” one House Democrat told NOTUS. “It’s a terrible way to have to do this work.”
Seeking insurance for legal help isn’t a new concept for Democratic lawmakers; NOTUS reported that at least half a dozen had taken out such insurance before the 2024 election, fearing prosecution from a vengeful Donald Trump as he entered his second term.
Rep. Eric Swalwell, an impeachment manager during Trump’s second trial in 2020, told NOTUS he took out liability insurance two years ago.
“Donald Trump is prosecuting his political enemies, and it’s better to be prepared,” he said.
Still, multiple lawmakers told NOTUS they have a renewed sense of urgency this year in response to recent high-profile targeting of Trump’s political opponents. Democrats pointed to Rep. LaMonica McIver’s federal indictment, the arrest of Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s detention of a staffer for Rep. Jerry Nadler, the Justice Department’s investigation into Rep. Robert Garcia for saying Democrats should bring “actual weapons to this bar fight” and Trump’s recent threats to arrest California Gov. Gavin Newsom.
Rep. Jared Moskowitz told NOTUS he recently took out liability insurance, figuring “it’s $500, and it just seems like a smart decision.”
“There’s no threats against me or anything bad. It’s just, you know, hedging our bets,” he added.
Moskowitz said members have been sharing information about the insurance “among themselves” and that the organic conversations “picked up” after the charges against McIver.
“I think most of us now have liability insurance,” a second House Democrat told NOTUS.
A third House Democrat said that advice on getting insurance is not coming directly from House Democratic leadership, but the members who are recommending it are “sharing it clearly with the support of or encouragement from leadership.”
“So even if it’s not coming from them, it’s sort of done in a way that sometimes seems like this is the best practice that … many members of the caucus are engaging in,” they added.
But that lawmaker added that leadership has been involved in strategizing how to best message when a Democratic member is targeted by the administration.
In a Wednesday Democratic whip meeting, “leadership spoke about how it’s important for us to mirror [McIver’s] statements” following the recent federal grand jury indictment against her, they added.
One senior Democratic aide said that “[m]aintaining a professional liability insurance policy is a routine practice for senior government officials and employees, mostly to help pay for legal representation.”
“Given this administration’s outrageous pattern of politically motivated arrests and prosecutions of Democratic members and leaders, it isn’t difficult to see why officials and employees would want to protect themselves,” the staffer added.
Not every Democrat has sought to legally protect themselves with insurance. Across the Capitol, several senators told NOTUS they weren’t aware of any caucus-wide conversations underway. Yet, they said they understood why their colleagues moved to take out insurance policies.
“It is just sad that some even need to consider that,” Sen. Andy Kim — who has firmly backed fellow New Jerseyan McIver — told NOTUS. “We’re just trying to do our jobs.”
Going after elected officials and political opponents in general, Sen. Cory Booker said, is “deeply violative of our democratic principles in this country, and it is indicative of authoritarian states.”
“Whether it’s law firms or businesses or universities or elected leaders, this is antidemocratic and it has to be stopped,” Booker continued.
Despite Democrats taking note of the escalating legal actions from the Trump administration, one Senate Democrat explained that members — and the party itself — are boxed in as they try to message around what they see as threats from Trump.
On the one hand, they want to sound the alarm on what they see as a weaponized Justice Department. On the other hand, they fear amplifying what this senator called “a form of trolling” by Trump and his allies hands the administration the pearl-clutching reaction it’s hoping to provoke.
The White House says it is just bringing “accountability” to the government.
“Anyone crying foul over the Trump administration’s so-called weaponization while ignoring blatant allegations of malfeasance is irresponsible and undermines the legitimate need for accountability,” Harrison Fields, the White House’s principal deputy press secretary, told NOTUS in a statement. “President Trump was elected to end the weaponization of the federal government, and that’s precisely what his Department of Justice is doing.”
And yet, it’s clear that behind closed doors, Democrats are taking precautions. That senator told NOTUS they have observed “heightened security awareness” among colleagues once Trump took office. And a fourth House Democrat, who said they just got liability insurance, added that Trump’s rhetoric against Democrats has also inspired some members to get “enhanced security.”
“If I have an event that’s over 100 people now, we get security, check everyone that comes in and stuff because my death threats are insane — and they are for a lot of people,” that lawmaker said.
House Democratic Whip Katherine Clark told NOTUS she’s also worried about potential security breaches in House offices.
“We have a lot of confidential information in our offices,” she said. “And, you know, people cannot just come in. We have people’s Social Security numbers. We have medical history, and so they can be as confident as they can if people are coming in under a false pretense into our offices.”
The day after Nadler’s staffer was detained by ICE, Rep. Joe Morelle, the ranking member of the House Administration Committee, sent a letter to Democratic members and their staffers to remind them to check for warrants if law enforcement officials attempt to enter their offices and to even consider adding “door buzzers or buttons” to “maintain control of entry.”
“As the Trump Administration continues to engage in efforts to intimidate Members of Congress into silence and capitulation, it is important that you and your staff are aware of their rights when interacting with law enforcement, particularly in district offices,” Morelle wrote in the letter, obtained by NOTUS.
“The vast majority of law enforcement officers are honorable professionals; however, the Trump Administration has weaponized agencies to obstruct us from carrying out our constitutional duties,” the letter continued.
A few Democratic lawmakers have some peace of mind thanks to the preemptive pardons that President Joe Biden issued during the final days of his administration. Trump centered much of his 2024 campaign around seeking retribution against his political enemies, particularly lawmakers who sat on the Jan. 6 select committee.
Fearing they would be subject to attacks, Biden pardoned the nine members of the panel, saying they “do not deserve to be the targets of unjustified or politically motivated prosecutions.”
“I got a pardon because I know what Donald Trump is capable of doing,” one recipient, Rep. Bennie Thompson, who served as chair of the panel, told NOTUS.
“I supported the [preemptive pardon] back when it happened,” he said. “I didn’t have a problem with it because I know the person who is president, and he loves to punish people he sees as his enemies, and he saw the members of the Jan. 6 committee and the staff as people who, for whatever reason, didn’t like him. So we were his enemies.”
Trump has claimed he can undo Biden’s pardons, declaring them “VOID” on Truth Social and alleging that the former president used an “autopen” to sign them.
“This Justice Department, populated at the top by Trump’s criminal defense lawyers, are willing to go after any of the president’s enemies,” another pardon recipient, Sen. Adam Schiff, told NOTUS. “So that puts all members of Congress at risk.”
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Oriana González and Riley Rogerson are reporters at NOTUS.