A Hauppauge, New York man is facing federal charges after allegedly posting videos threatening to travel to Washington, D.C. and put a bullet in the head of U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro. Daniel Kretsinger posted the threats to X in late June, and federal investigators say he had previously traveled to Washington, D.C., Florida and Long Island in what they describe as efforts to find Pirro in person.
According to the New York Post, Kretsinger posted two threatening videos to X on June 30, including one in which he said he was specifically targeting Pirro and would put a bullet between her eyes, and a second video minutes later reiterating the threat to kill her. In those posts, Kretsinger also suggested he might attempt to assassinate President Trump, the outlet reports. Federal agents located and interviewed Kretsinger on July 9, and he acknowledged that the X account containing the videos belonged to him.
An arrest warrant for Kretsinger was issued by August 7, following a criminal complaint filed with the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York earlier this month. He is facing a federal charge of transmitting a threat to injure a person across state lines, a charge that carries a maximum five-year prison sentence. The case is being handled by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York, while Pirro's office in Washington commended the U.S. Marshals Service for its swift action in the matter.
A Long Fixation Before the Threats
Public social media profile records reviewed by TwStalker show an account under the handle @kretsinger21858 posted statements in May 2026 claiming to have advised Pirro on her D.C. judgeship and asserting personal connections to public figures, illustrating what appears to be a prolonged fixation on Pirro before the June threats and his subsequent arrest.
A spokesperson for Pirro's office said no one should be threatened or targeted for violence. Pirro herself has served as the top federal prosecutor in Washington since the Senate confirmed her as U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia in a 50-45 vote in August 2025, according to the Associated Press, after President Trump nominated her to replace interim predecessor Ed Martin Jr. Before that appointment, Pirro spent 12 years as Westchester County District Attorney and was elected in 1990 as the first female judge on the Westchester County Court.
Pirro's High-Profile Year in Washington
The arrest lands during an unusually turbulent stretch for Pirro's office. She has spent 2026 pursuing an aggressive prosecutorial agenda, including indictments against 14 people in a D.C. drug ring announced in June and public demands for a lower age of juvenile accountability in the district. Earlier this month, she faced national political scrutiny after dropping federal charges in the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool damage case, citing evidence that contractor installation errors, not vandalism, caused the damage, according to PBS NewsHour, a decision President Trump publicly disagreed with.
Part of a Broader Surge in Threats
The case against Kretsinger fits a nationwide pattern of rising threats against federal officials. U.S. Marshals Service data updated this month shows federal authorities opened investigations into 564 threats targeting federal judges in fiscal year 2025, up from 509 the year before, and logged 582 protective investigations involving 415 distinct threats against federal judges in fiscal year 2026. A separate review of federal court records found that prosecutors filed criminal charges in 126 cases during 2025 stemming from threats against public officials.
Under 18 U.S.C. § 875(c), the statute Kretsinger is charged under, transmitting a threatening communication in interstate commerce carries a maximum penalty of five years in federal prison and a fine of up to $250,000, though a 10-year review of federal threat prosecutions found that cases brought under the statute resulted in a median sentence of 24 months. Other recent cases charged under the same law include a Winthrop Harbor man sentenced to 38 months for Instagram death threats against Trump and a Chicago man accused of vowing to hunt a Secret Service agent and shoot up an office.
