Tukwila man pleads guilty to making death threats against WA Rep. Dan Newhouse
Nov 10, 2025, 9:09 AM
A photo of Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-WA) while asking for an investigation into the EPA Region 10 office in Seattle for coordinating with "extreme environmental activists." (Photo: Sarah Silbiger, Getty Images)
(Photo: Sarah Silbiger, Getty Images)
A man from Tukwila pleaded guilty to a charge related to making “violent threats” against Washington Representative Dan Newhouse.
The suspect, Bradley Whaley, was initially arrested in downtown Seattle in March after he called Newhouse’s office in Washington D.C., threatening to “slit” his throat and harm his staff. According to court documents obtained by KIRO 7, the person who took the phone call immediately recognized the caller’s voice and knew the caller to be Whaley.
“During this call, Whaley asked Congressional Staff Person 1 if he could speak to U.S. Representative 1. Congressional Staff Person 1 informed Whaley that U.S. Representative 1 was not in the office,” the court documents read. “Whaley then stated something to the effect of, ‘[he/she] is in [U.S. Representative 1’s Congressional District Office location in the state of Washington]?’ Congressional Staff Person 1 replied that [he/she] did not know where U.S. Representative 1 was, but that [he/she] was not in the District of Columbia.
“Whaley then stated, ‘Oh well, if [he/she] is in [U.S. Representative 1’s Congressional District Office location in the state of Washington] I am going to go there and slit [his/her] throat and slit [his/her] staff’s throat,'” the court documents continued. “Whaley then paused for a few seconds and stated, ‘Yeah, it’s 2 p.m., I still have plenty of time to do that.’ Congressional Staff Person 1 asked Whaley for his name. At first, he stated, ‘No, I don’t have to f****** give that to you,’ but then he stated his name was ‘Brad Whaley.'”
In total, the call lasted for less than a minute. Knowing the suspect’s name and the last four digits of the phone number used to make the disturbing call, authorities were able to quickly locate and arrest the suspect. He was arrested one day after making the threats.
Newhouse was advised to limit his public appearances after receiving these verbal assassination threats. A report from the U.S. Capitol Police included that threats against Congress members, their families, and staff have risen to nearly 9,500 cases in 2024, a number that has more than doubled since 2017, when there were 4,000 recorded threats.
Court documents also revealed that Whaley’s threat on March 20 was not the first time he had contacted Newhouse’s office. A week earlier, on March 13, “Whaley stated, ‘I am going to drive to D.C., kick down your door, and f*** [U.S. Representative 1] and everyone in [his/her] office up and I’ll do the same to [another U.S. Representative] and [his/her] people,'” court documents read. “Congressional Staff Person 1 immediately documented these statements on a report.”
He also left voicemails on March 15 and March 18. In a voicemail on March 15, Whaley allegedly claimed that the Second Amendment in the Constitution gave him the “right to form a militia and take out” Newhouse, and then confirmed that he was making a threat toward Newhouse.
On Oct. 31, Whaley pleaded guilty to one count of transmitting an interstate threat. Sentencing will be set by the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington.
Contributing: Jason Sutich, MyNorthwest; KIRO 7
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