Man charged with sending Feinstein email threatening her life

A 47-year-old California man was formally charged Thursday with sending a death threat to Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) by email.

The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office told a local CBS News affiliate that Craig Steven Shaver emailed Feinstein, whose email address is public, on Sept. 30 in a message that reportedly contained a threat against the senator’s life. The specific content of the message was not released by police.

{mosads}His bail was set at $50,000, and if convicted Shaver could face more than three years in state prison. Shaver was also accused of illegally owning a firearm despite a 1991 conviction on grand theft.

The senator has been at the center of headlines for weeks over her work on the Senate Judiciary Committee during the confirmation of President Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh.

Feinstein was criticized heavily by Republicans during the confirmation battle for her decision to sit on a letter from a woman accusing Kavanaugh of sexual assault for weeks until Ford came forward after the confirmation hearings ended.

At a campaign rally in Iowa on Tuesday night, President Trump’s supporters took aim at the senior California Democrat with chants of “lock her up,” previously used by the president and his supporters against his 2016 opponent, Hillary Clinton.

“I think they’re talking about Feinstein,” Trump said. “Can you believe it?”

Feinstein’s office did not immediately respond for a request for comment Thursday night from The Hill on the charges.