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Washington Post hired security consultant for reporter after death threat

by Elliot Smilowitz - 12/30/16 9:00 AM ET

A Washington Post reporter met with the FBI and an outside security consultant after receiving a death threat in October.

David Fahrenthold broke the story of President-elect Donald Trump’s “Access Hollywood” tape, in which he brags about sexually assaulting women.

{mosads}Shortly after the story was published, he writes in the Washington Post Magazine this week, another Post reporter got a death threat for Fahrenthold, prompting the newspaper to hire a former counterterrorism official to consult with him on security.

Fahrenthold also met with the FBI and Washington, D.C., police.

“When she arrived at our house she terrified us far more than the actual death threat had,” Fahrenthold recounts.

“‘Your cars are parked too far away for a car bomb,’ she said, looking out the front windows at the street. ‘They’ll probably cut your brake lines.’ She recommended having a car patrol the neighborhood. She recommended a safe room.”

Politico reporters have also said they’ve received death threats for reporting on Trump. And the Arizona Republic said it got death threats for endorsing Hillary Clinton over Trump.

Fahrenthold admits in the piece that he never thought Trump would win, calling the prospect “fantastical and pointless, like designing a Super Bowl ring for the Cleveland Browns.”

Despite the threat, the reporter said he will cover the Trump presidency “with the same vigor as I scrutinized Trump the candidate.”

Tags Donald Trump Hillary Clinton