Left: House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., speaks to reporters on day 17 of the government shutdown, at the Capitol in Washington, Friday, Oct. 17, 2025 (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite). Right: Christopher Moynihan during the Jan. 6 riot (FBI court filings).
A New York man, previously pardoned by former President Donald Trump for his involvement in the notorious January 6 riot, has once again found himself embroiled in legal troubles. Christopher Moynihan, aged 35, has admitted to making threats against House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, leading to a new conviction on his record.
Moynihan pleaded guilty to second-degree aggravated harassment, a misdemeanor charge, as confirmed by the Dutchess County District Attorney in a recent press release. In light of this plea agreement, a more severe charge of making a terrorist threat, which was initially levied against him, has been dropped by prosecutors.
District Attorney Anthony Parisi emphasized the importance of this legal outcome, noting that it serves both accountability and public safety. “Threats against elected officials transcend political discourse and are considered criminal acts that threaten the very fabric of our democracy and public safety,” Parisi stated. “Our office handles these matters with the gravity they deserve, as threats can manifest into tangible consequences.”
Previously reported by Law&Crime, Moynihan was found to have sent text messages expressing intentions to “eliminate” Jeffries. According to a criminal complaint obtained by CBS News, Moynihan wrote, “Hakeem Jeffries makes a speech in a few days in NYC I cannot allow this terrorist to live.” Such communications clearly underscore the serious nature of the threats made.
As Law&Crime previously reported, Moynihan said in text messages that he planned to “eliminate” Jeffries.
“Hakeem Jeffries makes a speech in a few days in NYC I cannot allow this terrorist to live,” Moynihan wrote, according to a criminal complaint obtained by CBS News.
He continued: “Even if I am hated, he must be eliminated, I will kill him for the future,” the complaint reportedly stated.
Moynihan was referencing Jeffries” speech at the Economic Club of New York.
In a statement, Jeffries deemed the threat “credible” and said the suspect had “every intention to carry it out.”
“The person arrested, along with thousands of violent felons who stormed the US Capitol during the January 6th attack, was pardoned by Donald Trump on the President’s very first day in office,” the Democratic Congressman from New York said. “Since the blanket pardon that occurred earlier this year, many of the criminals released have committed additional crimes throughout the country. Unfortunately, our brave men and women in law enforcement are being forced to spend their time keeping our communities safe from these violent individuals who should never have been pardoned.”
Cops arrested Moynihan on Sunday and took him to the Dutchess County Justice Center on a $10,000 cash bail, a $30,000 bond, or an $80,000 partially secured bond. He is slated to appear in court on Thursday.
As Law&Crime previously reported, Moynihan was memorably seen rifling through papers in the Senate chamber on Jan. 6 — insisting that there must be evidence in the papers that Donald Trump supporters could “use against” lawmakers voting to certify Joe Biden’s electoral win.
He was sentenced in February 2023 to 21 months in prison, the Justice Department announced in a press release. He was convicted in August 2022 of obstructing an official proceeding of Congress, which carried a potential 20-year prison sentence, as well as five misdemeanors of trespass and disorderly conduct that had a combined maximum of 3 1/2 years behind bars.
U.S. District Judge Christopher R. Cooper, a Barack Obama appointee, convicted Moynihan after a stipulated trial, in which the defendant and prosecutors agreed to a specific set of facts that formed the basis of the conviction.
Christopher Patrick Moynihan (via FBI court filings).
According to that agreed-upon set of facts, Moynihan was among a group of rioters who broke through a security perimeter on the east side of the Capitol building. He entered the building at around 2:40 p.m., almost 30 minutes after the initial breach by riotous Trump supporters angry over Biden winning the 2020 presidential election. The crowd had descended on the Capitol building as Congress had begun to certify Biden’s victory, forcing lawmakers and staffers to either flee or shelter in place for hours.
By 2:45 p.m., Moynihan was inside the Senate Gallery, which had been evacuated just moments earlier. He is seen approaching a senator’s desk and quickly rifling through a notebook. He removes papers and takes pictures with his cellphone.
“There’s gotta be something in here we can f—ing use against these scumbags,” Moynihan said as he pawed through the papers.
Jacob Chansley, the so-called “QAnon shaman” who pleaded guilty to the same obstruction charge and was sentenced to more than three years in prison, is also in the video, chanting and screaming while brandishing an American flag.
Moynihan was also spotted standing near Paul Hodgkins, the first Jan. 6 defendant to plead guilty to the obstruction of an official proceeding of Congress charge — a charge the Supreme Court later said was wrongly applied to the accused rioters.
Prosecutors had asked Cooper to sentence Moynihan to more than three years in prison.
“Moynihan watched as rioters attacked police trying to defend the [Rotunda] door, and continued pushing his way forward,” the government’s sentencing memo said. “Moynihan also occupied the dais of the Senate, joining other rioters in shouts and chanting. Moynihan did not leave the Senate Chamber until he was forced out by police.”
Lawyers for Moynihan argued that he should be sentenced to one year plus one day in prison.
“He entered the Capitol with a large crowd of people, walked through the halls chanting along with others in the crowd, and walked into the Senate chamber,” defense attorney A.J. Kramer wrote in Moynihan’s brief. “There, he looked through papers on a Senator’s desk, taking video with his phone.”
Kramer added that Moynihan’s “scumbags” line was something his client “said to himself[.]”
In addition to the prison time, Cooper also imposed three years of supervised release and $2,000 in restitution toward the estimated $2.8 million dollars in damage to the Capitol and costs to Capitol police.
Moynihan, along with other rioters, was pardoned by Trump on Jan. 20, 2025.
