The Secret Service said Thursday that it is investigating Donald Trump’s former butler for making Facebook posts that call for President Obama to be killed, including saying he “needs to be hung for treason!”
“The U.S. Secret Service is aware of this matter and will conduct the appropriate investigation,” said Robert Hoback, a spokesman for the agency.
The crime of threatening the president is a felony that carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison.
The Facebook rants by Anthony Senecal, who worked for 17 years as the butler for Mr. Trump, who is now the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, were first reported by Mother Jones.
“To all my friends on FB, just a short note to you on our pus headed “president” !!!! This character who I refer to as zero (0) should have been taken out by our military and shot as an enemy agent in his first term !!!!!” Mr. Senecal, who is 84, posted Wednesday on his Facebook page.
In a Facebook post in April, he said: “Looks like that sleezey bastard zero (O) is trying to out maneuver Congress again, if the truth be known this prick needs to be hung for treason!!!”
The Trump campaign disavowed the comments.
Mr. Seneca told Mother Jones that he has been employed at the Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, since about 1959. Mr. Trump acquired the property in 1985, and Mr. Senecal remained on staff and later became the billionaire businessman’s butler.
Mr. Seneca currently works as the in-house historian at Mar-a-Lago, which he described as a unpaid position, leading tours of the estate.
• S.A. Miller can be reached at smiller@washingtontimes.com.
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