New York man pleads guilty to threatening congressional staffer

A New York man on Thursday pleaded guilty to threatening to kill a congressional staff member and making more than 12,000 harassing calls to more than 50 members of Congress.

Ade Salim Lilly, 35, pleaded guilty to threatening to kidnap or injure someone on interstate commerce and repeated harassing telephone calls, according to court documents.

Prosecutors said Lilly made more than 12,000 telephone calls to about 54 members of Congress across the country, both to their state and D.C. offices, from February 2022 to November 2023. Of those calls, 6,526 were made to offices within D.C., prosecutors noted.

While on the calls with staff members, Lilly “would become angry and use vulgar and harassing language” toward them, per court filings. He was repeatedly asked by staff to refrain from calling, and U.S. Capitol Police also informed him that his phone calls were unwanted and prohibited by law due to their harassing nature.

The Hill reached out to Capitol Police for comment.

Lilly also used “*67” to conceal his phone number, and in one call in October 2022 to a Maryland congressional office, he allegedly told a staffer, “I will kill you, I am going to run you over, I will kill you with a bomb or grenade.”

Lilly’s sentencing is scheduled for Aug. 28.