Man charged with allegedly threatening Kennedy Center president

By Kaanita Iyer, CNN

(CNN) — The Justice Department charged a Virginia man on Tuesday for allegedly sending a threatening text message to presidential envoy and Kennedy Center President Richard Grenell.

Scott Bolger has been accused of “transmitting threats in interstate commerce and making false statements,” according to a Justice Department press release.

While the press release and court documents do not include Grenell’s name — instead referring to him as a federal employee — Grenell confirmed on X that he was the victim of the threat.

“I am grateful to (Attorney General) Pam Bondi, (FBI Director) Kash Patel and Lindsey Halligan for finding this deranged individual and locking him up,” Grenell said in a post. Halligan, who served as the interim US attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, was recently stripped of her title.

The Justice Department also shared with CNN Grenell’s victim statement that was read aloud in court, in which he said, “In my current role as a Presidential Envoy, I have been attacked and harassed by people who don’t know me and who simply want to leave nasty, rude and angry messages because I don’t share their political viewpoint. But I strongly believe it is their right to be bitter and angry. I understand the passion. And I think the freedom to be rude and angry is a cherished right.”

“But today is much different,” Grenell continued in the statement. “Today we are dealing with someone who went far beyond sharing his angry opinion. Today we see a man who wants to kill someone because of their political differences.”

“People need to understand the difference between calls for better policy and calls for violence,” he added.

Bolger’s lawyer declined to comment when reached by CNN.

In a summary of facts submitted to court by a federal officer, Bolger allegedly used a different phone number through Google Voice to send a threatening text message to Grenell on December 23.

Bolger’s phone number was listed as a recovery number for the Google Voice account, which allowed the FBI to identify Bolger, according to the court filing.

A day later, law enforcement officers attempted to interview Bolger at his apartment but he “denied that anyone named Scott Bolger lived” there, the federal officer said in the filing. Bolger identified himself as “Brian Black.”

The officers then confirmed with an apartment building employee that Bolger lived in the apartment, the court filing said. Bolger eventually admitted his identity and to searching for Grenell’s phone number online, calling him to confirm the number and then sending the threatening text through Google Voice, according to the filing.

Bolger now faces up to five years in prison if convicted, according to the Justice Department. He remains in custody while awaiting trial.

The alleged threat to Grenell comes as Trump and his allies, including Grenell, have overhauled the Kennedy Center, a performing arts institution in Washington, DC. CNN has reached out to the Kennedy Center for comment.

During Trump’s first term, Grenell was the US ambassador to Germany and served as the acting director of national intelligence.

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CNN’s Hannah Rabinowitz contributed to this report.