Conservatives in the General Assembly on Monday denounced vandalism directed at Teslas as acts of political intimidation but defended calls by President Donald J. Trump and Elon Musk for the impeachment of judges who rule against the administration. Rep. Craig Fishbein, R-Wallingford, the chair of the 10-member Conservative Caucus and the ranking House Republican on the Judiciary Committee, called the vandalism of vehicles manufactured by Musk’s Tesla company acts of political terrorism. “These attacks are undeniable, hate-filled political statements from people trying to intimidate and silence the president and his advisors,” he said. “Vandalism like smashed or shot-out windows, spray-painted and scratched panels and arson are not victimless crimes. Leaving unwanted notes is harassment. People changing their habits based upon fear is not freedom. Rather, it is more indicative of foreign lands.” Fishbein was the only lawmaker to speak at a 12-minute press conference. Seven other House Republicans also attended. Last week, Fishbein wrote a letter to Attorney General William Tong highlighting what he called “acts of domestic terrorism” that “are being carried out as a form of political retaliation against President Trump and entrepreneur Elon Musk.” “As Attorney General, I urge you to prioritize investigations into these matters,” he wrote. There are no investigations to prioritize, as criminal matters are not the responsibility of the attorney general. Tong’s office had no comment Monday, other than to restate its authority: “As the Caucus is no doubt aware, the Office of the Attorney General does not have criminal jurisdiction and does not have authority to conduct investigations into alleged vandalism or domestic terrorism. The Caucus may wish to address their letter to the Chief State’s Attorney, or local police in the relevant towns.” Fishbein said he was aware of a Tesla owned by a lawmaker being vandalized. “I can tell you there’s an elected official in this building who had their Tesla damaged,” Fishbein said. “There’s a lobbyist in this building who recently — his wife received a note on her vehicle. It says, ‘You and your Tesla suck! Elon supporter.’” He declined to identify either person.  A Democratic lawmaker with legislative plates had their car keyed last summer, prior to Trump’s election. Fishbein could not be reached later to say if that was the incident he referenced. While decrying Tesla vandalism as intimidation and a threat to the rule of law, Fishbein said he had no similar concerns about whether Musk, who owns the social media platform X, and his 218 million followers were trying to intimidate judges whose decisions displease them with threats of impeachment, rather than pursuing appeals in a court of law. In late February, Musk wrote on X: “The only way to restore rule of the people in America is to impeach judges.” They were calling “for a process,” not intimidating anyone, Fishbein said. “One can call for any activity, but Elon Musk doesn’t have the ability to impeach anyone. The president doesn’t have the ability to impeach anyone. It would be Congress,” Fishbein said. “So certainly calling for process is calling for process.” In response to Musk’s post, Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., said, “It may seem absurd and hypothetical to us here, but to judges, it is extremely threatening. It is plainly a device to bully and intimidate judges to think twice about issuing orders,” according to The New York Times. U.S. Chief Justice John G. Roberts rebuked Trump two weeks ago after the president called on social media for the impeachment of U.S. District Judge James Boasberg, who ordered a pause in the deportation of 238 Venezuelan immigrants from the U.S. to El Salvador. “This judge, like many of the Crooked Judges’ I am forced to appear before, should be IMPEACHED!!!” Trump posted on Truth Social. The statements provoked a rare response from the chief justice of the United States. “For more than two centuries, it has been established that impeachment is not an appropriate response to disagreement concerning a judicial decision,” Roberts wrote. “The normal appellate review process exists for that purpose.” Even earlier, the American Bar Association found the increasing attacks on the judiciary and legal profession to be alarming. “Attempts to intimidate judges for their rulings in cases are inappropriate and should be vigorously opposed,” the ABA said. “We may disagree with interpretation of case law, but it is unacceptable to personally target judges just because we disagree with their ruling. We cannot have a judicial system where the government seeks to remove judges simply because they do not rule as the government desires. Considering the increasing physical threats to judges, these are clearly efforts to intimidate judges and our courts.” The statement was issued after Musk said judges who impede his efforts to overhaul federal government should be impeached and the Trump administration had taken retaliatory actions against law firms deemed hostile to the president and his interests. Fishbein said impeachment threats against judges do not trouble him. “I don’t have a problem with somebody calling for process,” he said. ...read more read less