Complaint dropped in Stupak threat case

Federal prosecutors dropped a criminal complaint against a man accused of assisting his father in threatening Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.) over the controversial healthcare law.

The Associated Press reported that an assistant U.S. attorney requested more time to investigate the case in a court filing Thursday.

In June, federal charges were brought against Russell Hesch, 73, and his son David Hesch, 50. The complaint was dropped against David Hesch.

The threat against Stupak, who led a coalition of anti-abortion-rights Democrats during the healthcare debate, was one of a spate of incidents involving lawmakers in both political parties and members of the public.

According to the complaint filed by federal officials, Russell Hesch sent a letter to his son David in Denver, which the son subsequently mailed to Stupak's district office last month. The letter threatened to injure the congressman and his family for voting in favor of the legislation in March. According to the complaint, Russell Hesch instructed his son to send the letter from Denver so that it could not be traced back to either of them.

The letter to the "Stupak family" stated, "I will paint the Mackinaw Bridge with the blood of you and your family members." Before the arrests, Stupak advised the FBI that Russell Hesch was "one of his historically most vocal and critical constituents," according to the complaint.

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