Threats and assassination attempts are part of the presidency

By GARY FIELDS

WASHINGTON (AP) — Former President Donald Trump claimed Sunday, after an alleged assassination attempt on him, that Democrats' exaggerated rhetoric was to blame for the threat against him.

Records show that threats are associated with the office he once held and now seeks to regain, and they are far more common than is generally known.

A study by Syracuse University's Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC) shows that the federal government has prosecuted 1,444 cases of threats against presidents or others in their line of succession since 1986, when Ronald Reagan was in the White House.

The highest number of prosecutions in a single year was in 1987 during the Reagan years, when there were 73. TRAC data shows that 72 cases were initiated in 2002 during the George W. Bush administration. The Bush administration also had the highest number of cases in its eight-year term with 383, a time of heightened tensions during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Prosecutors initiated 343 cases when Bill Clinton was president and 213 during former President Barack Obama's two terms. There were 68 cases in Trump's first term. Reagan had 200 cases in the last three years of his presidency, and 213 cases were initiated during George HW Bush's one term.

The number of convictions was highest during the administrations of George W. Bush and Clinton.