Federal contractor charged with threatening to kill Trump after searching assassination attempts on government computer
A 35-year-old Federal Aviation Administration contractor in New Hampshire faces federal charges after prosecutors say he used a government-issued computer to research previous assassination attempts on President Trump, searched for ways to smuggle a gun into a federal building, and later emailed the White House vowing to “neutralize/kill” the president.
Dean DelleChiaie was arrested Monday and appeared before a federal judge Tuesday, the Justice Department said. He is charged with one count of interstate communication of a threat, a crime carrying up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
The case adds to a disturbing pattern of threats and actual violence directed at the president and senior administration officials in recent months. It also raises pointed questions about how a government contractor with access to federal systems was able to conduct alarming searches for weeks before anyone acted, and why, even after the Secret Service paid him a visit, he allegedly escalated to a direct threat.
What the criminal complaint describes
The charging documents lay out a timeline that began in late January. DelleChiaie, who worked in mechanical engineering as an FAA contractor, allegedly used his government computer to run multiple searches. The topics included getting a gun into a federal facility, previous attempts on Trump’s life, and, remarkably, what percentage of the population wants the president dead.
He also searched for the home locations of the vice president and the Defense secretary, along with the names and ages of their children.
After running those searches, DelleChiaie walked his FAA work computer to the agency’s Information Technology department and asked staff to wipe his search history. The criminal complaint states plainly:
“At some point after running those searches, DELLECHIAIE took his FAA work computer to the FAA’s Information Technology (IT) department and requested to delete his search history off the device.”
That request backfired. The IT department flagged the searches internally, describing them as “concerning.” The FAA then elevated the matter to the U.S. Secret Service.
Secret Service visit, and what came after
In early February, Secret Service agents went to DelleChiaie’s apartment in Nashua, N.H. During that meeting, he reportedly admitted to the searches and expressed remorse. He told agents he had no interest in assassinations, but offered a vague and unsettling explanation.
The complaint quotes him directly:
“DELLECHIAIE stated he had no interest in assassinations but he did conduct a search about assassinations because it was part of the cycle that was going on in his mind.”
When pressed for a more specific reason, he came up empty. The complaint notes that he “could not provide a reason other than that as to why he searched about assassinations or attempted assassinations.”
Special Agent Nathaniel Gamble wrote in the complaint that DelleChiaie told authorities he was upset with the Trump administration over the election, presidential pardons, and the Jeffrey Epstein files. He also said he was depressed and undergoing Ketamine therapy.
DelleChiaie reportedly admitted to owning three firearms. The FAA placed him on suspension.
That should have been the end of it. It wasn’t. Months after the Secret Service visit, prosecutors say DelleChiaie sent an email directly to the White House. In it, he identified himself by name and stated he was going to “neutralize/kill” Trump. That email triggered the federal charge.
A growing threat environment
The arrest landed just over a week after a gunman opened fire at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner, an attack federal authorities said targeted senior Trump administration officials. That gunman, Cole Allen, rushed security and was charged with attempting to assassinate the president.
The two incidents are legally unrelated. But taken together, they illustrate a threat environment around this president that has grown more volatile, not less, since two assassination attempts during the 2024 campaign.
The correspondents’ dinner attack prompted a sharp political debate over rhetoric and responsibility. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries refused to back down from “maximum warfare” language he had used, dismissing critics who linked heated political rhetoric to rising threats against the president and those around him.
Meanwhile, the White House itself has dealt with security incidents on multiple fronts. A separate officer-involved shooting near the White House grounds occurred while Trump was hosting a business event inside, underscoring how frequently the Secret Service now confronts potential dangers in and around the complex.
The questions this case leaves open
The criminal complaint, as described in public reporting, raises several unresolved questions. The exact date of the threatening email to the White House has not been disclosed. The full text of that email, beyond the phrase “neutralize/kill”, remains unclear. And the specific federal court handling the case has not been identified in available reporting.
Perhaps the most troubling gap involves the timeline itself. DelleChiaie conducted alarming searches on a government computer in late January. The FAA’s IT team flagged them. The Secret Service visited him in early February. He admitted to the searches, admitted to owning firearms, and offered an explanation that amounted to “it was part of the cycle going on in his mind.”
And then, months later, he allegedly emailed the White House with a direct threat against the president’s life.
What happened in the intervening months? Was DelleChiaie monitored after the Secret Service visit? Were his firearms seized or flagged? Was his suspension from the FAA the only consequence before the email? The complaint, at least as publicly described, does not answer these questions.
The White House has been operating under heightened security posture since the correspondents’ dinner shooting, but the DelleChiaie case predates that incident by months in its origins.
