White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller is being accused of incendiary and violent rhetoric against judges who oppose President Donald Trump’s agenda in the wake of a fiery blaze that burned down a South Carolina judge’s home.
Police are now investigating an explosive fire on Edisto Beach that burned down the home of Circuit Court Judge Diane Goodstein, who temporarily blocked South Carolina from releasing the voter registration data of millions of voters to the Trump administration last month.
Her ruling was criticized by the DOJ Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights, Harmeet Dhillon, and ultimately reversed by the state Supreme Court.
The 69-year-old judge wasn’t home at the time of the blaze, but at least three members of her family, including her 81-year-old husband, Arnold Goodstein, and their son, have been hospitalized with serious injuries.
“Judge Goodstein was walking on the beach when the fire started,” South Carolina Chief Justice John Kittredge told FITSNews. “Her husband, Arnie, was in the house with children and perhaps grandchildren. The family had to escape by jumping from a window or balcony. I’m told there were injuries from the fall, such as broken legs.”
Kittredge added that the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) is leading the investigation and, so far, officials have found no immediate evidence of arson.
Authorities said the cause of the fire remains under investigation, but the judge had reportedly received multiple death threats in the weeks leading up to the blaze, raising concerns among judicial officials about escalating hostility toward the courts.
The fire triggered swift backlash and accusations against Trump officials who have used inflammatory rhetoric to denounce judges who make rulings against the administration.
Rep. Daniel Goldman of New York took to social media to accuse Trump and Stephen Miller of “doxxing and threatening judges who rule against Trump, including Judge Goodstein.”
Miller fired back at Goldman, calling his allegations “libelous madness.”
“You are vile. Deeply warped and vile. While the Trump Administration has launched the first-ever government-wide effort to combat and prosecute illegal doxing, sinister threats and political violence you continue to push despicable lies, demented smears, malicious defamation and foment unrest. Despicable,” Miller declared.
Shortly before the fire at Goodstein’s home, Stephen Miller also went after Trump-appointed U.S. District Judge Karin Immergut for granting a restraining order that blocks the president’s deployment of the Oregon National Guard in Portland.
In an X post, Miller said her decision amounted to “legal insurrection” and an “organized terrorist attack.”
In another series of tweets, Miller accused Democrats of filling the “legal and judicial system with radicals who protect leftwing terrorists,” and suggested using “legitimate state power to dismantle terrorism and terror networks.”
Elon Musk has also amplified similar sentiments about impeaching “corrupt judges.”
Opponents to Miller’s rhetoric criticize it as “deranged” and “incredibly dangerous.”
The tone of Miller’s recent remarks, amplified by Elon Musk and right-wing influencers, has prompted concern from legal scholars and even some Supreme Court justices, who warned this week about a growing climate of threats and intimidation targeting the judiciary.
