A heated online exchange erupted Monday between Rep. Dan Goldman, Democrat of New York, and White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, after Goldman reportedly accused President Donald Trump and his allies of fostering an atmosphere that led to a possible arson attack on the South Carolina home of Circuit Court Judge Diane Goodstein.
Authorities are still investigating the cause of the blaze, which seriously injured the judge’s husband and son, but have not determined whether it was an intentional act. Despite that, Goldman directly linked the incident to what he described as a campaign of intimidation by Trump supporters.
“Trump, @StephenM and MAGA-world have been doxxing and threatening judges who rule against Trump, including Judge Goodstein,” Goldman wrote on X. “Today, someone committed arson on the Judge’s home, severely injuring her husband and son. Will Trump speak out against the extreme right that did this??”
Miller responded sharply, calling Goldman’s remarks “vile” and “deeply warped.” He said the accusation was an outright falsehood and noted that it was the Trump administration that first made a coordinated effort to combat doxxing and political threats.
“You are vile. Deeply warped and vile,” Miller wrote. “While the Trump Administration has launched the first-ever government-wide effort to combat and prosecute illegal doxing, sinister threats and political violence you continue to push despicable lies, demented smears, malicious defamation and foment unrest.”
“Despicable,” he added in a separate post.
Miller went on to contrast Goldman’s comments with what he described as the real examples of political extremism being tolerated under Democratic leadership. “Meanwhile,” Miller wrote, “the Democrat AG nominee in Virginia is fantasizing about murdering his opponents and a Biden federal judge is showing radical leniency to a monster who tried to assassinate a Supreme Court Justice.”
“While you post your libelous madness, we will keep focused on delivering public safety and fighting domestic terror,” Miller concluded.
Goldman, who has emerged as one of Trump’s fiercest critics in Congress, shot back that Miller had still not answered his question. “Now try answering my question,” he wrote. “If you are trying to combat political violence, why don’t you condemn the political violence against a judge who ruled against you and your admin? It’s pretty simple: do you condemn all political violence or only that against your supporters?”
Judge Goodstein, a respected jurist on South Carolina’s First Circuit Court, has faced threats before. She drew national attention after ruling to block the state’s election commission from releasing voter files to the U.S. Department of Justice. The move angered civil rights officials in Washington, including Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon, who denounced the decision as a blow to election integrity.
“I will not stand for a state court judge’s hasty nullification of our federal voting laws,” Dhillon said at the time. “I will allow nothing to stand in the way of our mandate to maintain clean voter rolls. One Citizen, One Vote!”
For now, law enforcement officials have not confirmed Goldman’s claim that the fire was politically motivated, leaving his accusation — and Miller’s rebuke — as the latest skirmish in the bitter partisan fight over the boundaries of political speech and accountability.
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