A Virginia man has been sentenced to more than a year in federal prison after pleading guilty to threatening Richard Grenell, President Donald Trump’s envoy for special missions and a longtime Trump ally.
Scott Allen Bolger, 33, of McLean, Virginia, was sentenced Wednesday to 15 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release after pleading guilty in February to transmitting threats in interstate commerce.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia, Bolger used Google Voice on Dec. 23, 2025, to send a threatening text message to Grenell after first researching and obtaining his personal phone number. Prosecutors said the message threatened to put “a bullet” in the official’s head.
Court records show Bolger sent Grenell a text that read: “Step on U Street and get a bullet put between your eyes, loyalist pig skin p—-.” The message was sent after Bolger allegedly called Grenell and referred to him as a “coward.”
Grenell, who reported the threat to the FBI, told the court during sentencing that the text message “was not a one-time thing.” According to CBS News, Grenell said he received as many as 30 calls from an anonymous number that night, though prosecutors said investigators could not definitively link those calls to Bolger. Newsmax first reported details of Grenell’s victim impact statement.
In court, Grenell said he has grown accustomed to political criticism as a gay conservative but described Bolger as “unhinged” and said the conduct crossed the line from political disagreement into criminal behavior.
“I don’t want there to be a victim like my friend, Charlie Kirk,” Grenell told the court, according to CBS News. He added that while he forgives Bolger, he remains “fearful of the day he gets out.”
After the hearing, Grenell told CBS News he was unsettled by being only a few feet away from the man who threatened him.
“I was surprised that you walk over, and you’re steps away from the guy who wants to kill you,” Grenell said. He added that he believed the 15-month sentence was adequate.
Federal prosecutors said Bolger attempted to conceal his identity by registering the Google Voice account with a fake email address. When investigators later arrived at his residence, Bolger falsely identified himself as “Brian Black” and initially denied knowing anyone named Scott Bolger, according to the Justice Department.
Court filings also revealed that Bolger admitted to sending threatening and harassing communications to a second victim over several years. Prosecutors said he created fictitious social media and email accounts to harass the victim and, at times, publicly distributed private images.
The case drew additional attention because of Grenell’s prominent role in the Trump administration and at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. According to court filings cited by CBS News, Bolger’s attorney said his client became “extremely upset” over decisions involving the Kennedy Center, including a controversial effort to rename the institution.
Following the sentencing, Grenell warned that increasingly heated political rhetoric can have real-world consequences.
“I don’t want to silence debate, but we do need to recognize that mentally unstable people are hearing what we’re saying and taking action that you may not authorize, but they are taking that action,” Grenell told CBS News.
Bolger apologized in court, telling Grenell and his family that his actions were inexcusable “no matter how much politics and the Kennedy Center means to me,” according to CBS News.
The threat against Grenell comes amid heightened concerns about political violence directed at President Donald Trump and senior administration officials.
More recently, federal prosecutors charged a California man with attempting to assassinate Trump and other administration officials during the 2026 White House Correspondents’ Dinner in Washington. According to court filings, the suspect allegedly traveled across the country armed with weapons before being stopped by law enforcement.
Security officials have warned that threats against public officials continue to rise. Researchers at Princeton University’s Bridging Divides Initiative reported that threats and harassment directed at elected officials increased significantly in 2025, while the U.S. Capitol Police recorded a third consecutive annual increase in threat assessment cases involving members of Congress.
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