The Secret Service on Wednesday said it’s investigating New Hampshire Rep. Al Baldasaro, a Donald Trump adviser, for advocating that Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton should be executed for treason.
Mr. Baldasaro, a delegate for the GOP nominee, first came under fire for remarks he made during a radio interview Tuesday while discussing Mrs. Clinton.
“Hillary Clinton should be put in the firing line and shot for treason,” Mr. Baldasaro said during Tuesday’s appearance on the Jeff Kuhner Show.
Secret Service spokeswoman Nicole Mainor said in a statement that the agency “is aware of this matter and will conduct the appropriate investigation.”
Mr. Baldasaro, a retired Marine and Desert Storm veteran, double downed when reached by the Daily Beast following Tuesday’s radio interview.
“Anyone that commits treason should be shot. I believe Hillary Clinton committed treason. She put people in danger. When people take confidential material off a server, you’re sharing information with the enemy. That’s treason,” he said.
Mr. Baldasaro defended his remarks further in a separate interview Wednesday on WMUR, notwithstanding the firestorm he spurred a day earlier.
“I’m a military man first, and anyone who takes information about our CIA or Secret Service and people at our embassy and puts it out on a server where anyone can grab it, putting Americans in danger to be killed, should be held accountable,” he explained.
“As far as I’m concerned, it is treason and the penalty for treason is the firing squad — or maybe it’s the electric chair now.”
In a tweet Thursday, Mr. Baldasaro responded to critics who have condemned him for advocating for Mrs. Clinton’s killing.
“All the Liberals who are attacking me, have no clue on what was actually said. You just believe the Liberal Media. Trust but Verify,” he wrote on Twitter.
When asked about the adviser’s comments, Trump spokeswoman Hope Hicks told NBC News that “of course Mr. Trump does not feel this way.”
Mr. Baldasasro did not return requests for comments from news media. He has been at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland this week.
• Andrew Blake can be reached at ablake@washingtontimes.com.
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