Rep. Wilson's Office Says She's Getting Threats Over Blasting Trump's Call To Widow
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WASHINGTON (CBSMiami) – Rep. Frederica Wilson's office claims multiple threatening phone calls directed at congresswoman came into her D.C. office on Wednesday.
Her staff told CBS4's Carey Codd the calls were directly related to the phone call from the president to the wife of Army Sgt. La David Johnson.
The congresswoman's staff said they alerted the Capitol Police, Miami Garden Police and the threat division of the U.S. House of Representatives.
Codd was told she is safe and that she is being protected at this point.
All this comes as President Donald Trump refutes Wilson's claim that he made an insensitive comment to the widow of a Miami Gardens soldier killed in action.
Myeshia Johnson was on her way to the airport to greet the remains of her husband, Sgt. La David Johnson, when she received the call from the commander-in-chief.
"He said to the wife, 'Well, I guess he knew what he was getting into,'" recalled Rep. Frederica Wilson, who was in the car with Myeshia. "How insensitive can you be?"
Wednesday morning, Mr. Trump took to Twitter to defend himself.
Democrat Congresswoman totally fabricated what I said to the wife of a soldier who died in action (and I have proof). Sad!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 18, 2017
During an interview Wednesday morning on CNN, Rep. Wilson said she stood by her story and several other people in the car, including the driver, a master sergeant and Myeshia Johnson's aunt and uncle hear the conversation.
"I have proof too. This man is a sick man. He is cold-hearted and he feels no pity or sympathy for anyone," said Wilson. "And when she actually hung up the phone, she looked at me and said, 'he didn't even know his name.'"
Trump was already under fire for not reaching out more quickly to the families of the fallen soldiers, who were killed in an attack in Niger on October 4th.
According to the military, Johnson's Special Forces unit was assisting and advising Nigerians on dealing with terror groups. The U.S. and Niger forces in a joint patrol were leaving a meeting with tribal leaders when they were ambushed by 40-50 militants believed to be linked to the Islamic State group.
Sgt. Johnson and three other soldiers were killed. Four Nigerien soldiers also died in the attack and two other U.S. troops were wounded.
Nearly two weeks after the attack, Trump finally called the loved ones of all four Green Berets killed.
The 5,000 Role Models of Excellence program has established Role Model Army Sgt. La David Johnson Scholarship to ensure Johnson's three children will have money for college.
The Pentagon has launched a preliminary investigation into the firefight, the details of which are still not clear two weeks later.
Intelligence said Johnson's 12 man team was "unlikely" to run into opposition which turned out to be an obvious failure.
Also in question: How did Sgt. Johnson get left behind? His body wasn't recovered until 48 hours after the ambush.
And did he survive or was he killed instantly?
Initial reports said Sgt. Johnson may have been alive for some time after the attack.
You can help support the Johnson family by donating at their GoFundMe page.
