Met the ‘Minister of Punishment’ at the Republican National Convention

I found “Minister of Revenge” sitting on the sofa in Media Row on Tuesday It was during the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee. While a colleague filmed him with a cellphone camera, Ivan Reichlin was denouncing former President Donald Trump’s enemies. The self-proclaimed retaliatory minister had an ominous message: He warned that “constitutional sheriffs” would round up anyone on Reichlin’s “deep state target list” in a live-streamed “swatting raid” and punish them for treason.

Those who want to avoid that fate, he said, should “come forward as whistleblowers” ​​by September 3. Contact Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) or Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.) and ask them to help investigate the government’s “weaponization.” Then, he said, “We’ll let you live. Everyone else will be treated as complicit.”

It’s the kind of lunacy the Trump campaign has been trying to suppress at a gathering of Republican faithful this week. Many of the most controversial stars of the MAGA world, including conspiracy theorists Alex Jones and Roger Stone, were prominent at the 2016 GOP convention but were largely sidelined. This year’s speakers focused on unity, friendship and victory in November, following the assassination attempt on Trump. But Reichlin didn’t seem to get the memo.

Reichlin, a former Beret, military intelligence officer, lawyer and a failed Virginia state Senate candidate, calls himself a “deep state marauder.” He is an associate of former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn and traveled the country with Flynn this year as part of his ReAwaken American tour. He also helped promote Flynn’s new film, in which he has a cameo. At a screening of the film in Charleston, West Virginia, Reichlin played the heavy-handed man and shooed away all the media before joining Flynn on stage.

Reichlin was involved in Flynn’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election results. He is the author of the “Operation Pence Card” memo suggesting that Vice President Mike Pence could block the certification of the election results on January 6. Reichlin’s name was mentioned repeatedly in the House committee investigation on January 6, but he was never subpoenaed.

Over the past six months, Reichlin has circulated a list of about 350 enemies he believes should be charged with treason. The list, which has unnerved many pro-democracy advocates, includes former Vice President Mike Pence, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, journalists, Trump impeachment trial witnesses, and Capitol Police officers.

Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) said: raw storyRecently released a lengthy investigation into Reichlin’s list: “This is a devastatingly serious report. A retired U.S. military officer has compiled a ‘deep state target list’ of government officials, our families, and employees whom he deems traitors. His hit list is a vigilante death warrant for hundreds of Americans and a clear and present danger to the survival of American democracy and freedom.”

The Trump campaign did not respond to questions about whether Reichlin was speaking for the former president when he described himself as a future “retaliatory secretary.”

I wasn’t at all surprised to see Reichlin at the Republican National Convention, not least because Trump himself has frequently threatened that his second term will be centered on retaliation against his enemies. Reichlin has become a fixture on the right-wing media circuit. He tends to show up randomly at congressional hearings or court proceedings for defendants on January 6, including the first Oath Keepers trial and much of the Proud Boys trial.

My colleague Dan Friedman approached Reichlin in the cafeteria of the D.C. federal courthouse last year and asked why he had been so involved in the January 6 case and whether he was concerned about criminal charges related to January 6. “Most of the conversation was informal,” Friedman says. “But he wouldn’t really answer my questions about the criminal charges. And he threatened to retaliate if I wrote something he thought was unfair. I don’t know exactly what he said, but it may have been the most direct threat I’ve ever received in 20 years as a reporter.”

Later, Reichlin showed up in the media room at the federal courthouse and harassed some of the regular reporters from the January 6 press conference, one of whom told Friedman that Reichlin “does that all the time.”

Before getting involved in a media spat at the Republican National Convention on Tuesday, Raiklin Infowars I spoke with Alex Jones about the insider nature of the Trump shooting (Jones was broadcasting from Racine, about 30 minutes away from the actual convention). When I found Reichlin on a couch at the Panther Center, he was being filmed by a man who would only say he was from Minnesota. After they left, I tried to ask Reichlin about the claim that he was promoting political violence with a target list.

It didn’t go well.

“If you can show me that you have written accurate articles, I will consider interacting with you as a human being in your personal capacity.” He began a long and difficult interrogation of my journalism. Here is a sample:

“I feel 100% disrespected by your news organization. 100%. If you could get it down to 99.9% or less, I would consider engaging with you. Is that fair? … If you can show that level of contrition to make things right, then I will know that you are making a good faith effort to report accurately and truthfully. So you would do well to go back to your employer and let them know that you need to be an accurate content provider. Until then, well, you can talk to other people because I’m not going to budge.”

I pressed him on political violence, and he lectured me on the political violence of the left, which he opposed. “How about the kidnapping of Steve Bannon? He’s still being held captive,” he said. “How about the kidnapping of Peter Navarro? He’s being held captive until tomorrow.” (Bannon, a Trump adviser, was sentenced to four months in federal prison for ignoring a congressional subpoena; Navarro, who worked in the Trump White House, finished his four-month sentence for the same crime on Wednesday.) Reichlin cryptically told me about the deep state list: “Talk to Elon Musk.”

A few months ago, while appearing InfowarsReichlin suggested that if Trump were assassinated, it could have some beneficial effects on the campaign to root out the deep state, because it would initiate “the greatest and fastest purge I’ve ever seen in my life.”

Given his penchant for that kind of risque rhetoric, I wondered how Reichlin had managed to get into the highly secure convention. I asked him what kind of identification he had. Was he a journalist or a delegate? That requires a Secret Service check. He turned to me and said, “I’m done.” (The convention press officer did not respond to questions about Reichlin’s identification.) When I asked his “videographer” where I could watch the interview he was conducting when I arrived, Reichlin stood in front of me and said, “Are you deaf and dumb? You just answered three times. Can you listen attentively? I already answered.”

Raiklin was so hostile that a convention staff member approached me and asked if I was okay. He asked Raiklin what he was doing in Media Row. He countered, “I’m a guest,” and claimed he had been interviewed six times by media outlets such as “FrankSpeech” TV, a media outlet run by Mike Lindell of MyPillow. Raiklin told the convention staff member to kick me out. The staff member said, “I’m not going to do that.” He later said Raiklin had caused some problems and shouldn’t be setting up shop there with a guest pass.

Eventually, Reichlin left, and shortly thereafter he posted a video on his X account of a “massive attack on a journalist.” But he had warned me (he removed the warning from the video). He said, threateningly, “The way you interact with me is going to be really fun in 2024.” “Expect to be really fun in 2024. Personally, mark my words.” When I asked if that was a threat, he said, “It’s going to be a good time.”