AMNA NAWAZ: President Trump's frustration with the judicial branch has only grown since he reentered the White House, and many of his policy priorities have been slowed down or blocked in courts.

Mr. Trump and members of his administration have been openly critical of some judges, calling them radical, lunatics or lawless, and suggesting some should be impeached.

A recent report from the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism found -- quote -- "Violent threats and calls for impeachment against judges have risen by an alarming 327 percent between May of 2024 and March of 2025."

Yesterday, leadership from the Judicial Conference - - that's the policymaking group of federal judges - - testified on Capitol Hill, seeking a nearly 20 percent budget increase for security measures.

One federal judge knows how real the threat of violence can be.

Nearly five years ago, Judge Esther Salas' husband was shot and her son, Daniel, was killed by a disgruntled lawyer posing as a delivery driver at her home, according to police.

Judge Salas from the U.S. District Court of New Jersey joins me now.

Judge, welcome to the "News Hour," and thank you so much for making the time to join us.

JUDGE ESTHER SALAS, U.S. District Court of New Jersey: Thank you for having me, Amna.

AMNA NAWAZ: So, since these incidents began, we should note that you have been meeting with the U.S.

Marshals Service.

You just met with them today, in fact.

What can you tell us about that meeting and whether you think they're doing enough to keep you and other judges safe.

JUDGE ESTHER SALAS: Well, I want to start with the last question, and that's yes.

I think they are doing all that they can do to keep up with the onslaught of attacks against the judiciary.

I did meet with representatives today.

The meeting went well.

And I can tell you that they have confirmed for me what I have known for some time, which is that there are over 100 pizzas that have been delivered to judges, judges' children.

And now, recently, they're sending pizzas to judges, their children, and utilizing my murdered son's name.

They're weaponizing my child's name to really impact fear on judges all throughout this country.

AMNA NAWAZ: You're, of course, referencing the spate of recent anonymous pizza deliveries to judges that we have seen, as you mentioned, many of them using your late son's name.

And we should tell folks Congress passed a law in your late son's name that was supposed to help judges remove personal information from online like home addresses and phone numbers and such.

The fact that these deliveries are happening in this way, does that say to you the law is not working?

JUDGE ESTHER SALAS: No, what it says to me is that the law is working, but we have to remember what the Anderl Act does.

The Anderl Act protects judges, federal judges, and shields their personally identifiable information on federal Web sites.

The problem we have right now is, many states have not enacted state laws that would serve as belt and suspenders to the federal law.

So a lot of this information is accessible on state Web sites.

So what we need to do is have state -- the states and the federal government coordinate, so that we can shield the very information that is now used -- that the bad actors are utilizing to inflict psychological warfare on judges.

AMNA NAWAZ: You know, there are some who will look at this and say, how threatening is it to have a pizza show up at your door?

Why is that considered a threat and not a prank?

What would you say to that?

JUDGE ESTHER SALAS: I would say to those people that this is not a prank.

This is certain bad actors that you send a pizza to a judge, it says, we know where you live.

You send a pizza to a judge's child, you're saying to that judge, we know where your child lives.

You send a pizza to a judge or that judge's child in my murdered son's name, and it says, do you want to end up like Daniel Anderl?

Do you want to end up like Judge Salas?

Those are acts of intimidation.

This is a concerted effort by a few bad actors to attempt to intimidate the judges.

This is serious.

This needs to be taken very seriously by our government.

And we need to know that the investigation will be supported and that we are supported by this administration and supported by the Department of Justice.

In today's environment, with this inflammatory rhetoric that is being used against judges, it isn't helping the situation.

I think it is only exacerbating the situation.

AMNA NAWAZ: Judge Salas, you mentioned that rhetoric.

Much of that has come from President Trump himself attacking individual judges, calling for them to be impeached.

The White House would argue the president has the right to say he disagrees with the judge if they rule in a way that's not favorable to him.

And Chief Justice John Roberts has even said some criticism is OK, as long as you're not attacking judges.

What do you make of that and where that line is, especially when it comes to the president?

JUDGE ESTHER SALAS: I have absolutely no problem with anyone in the administration, anyone in a position of power, anyone with a large media platform criticizing our rulings, absolutely no problem with that.

What I have is when they begin to really accuse us of being partisan and there is no basis for that accusation, when they use inflammatory rhetoric like calling us rogue judges or calling us crazy leftist unconstitutional judges.

That's not responsible leading.

That is language that is irresponsible.

And when our leaders lead by using inflammatory rhetoric, they are inviting people to do us harm.

And we have to remember, we have to remember that lives are at stake.

I don't have my son anymore.

My son is no longer on earth, my only child.

I can tell you right now, there are severe consequences to the type of rhetoric that is being used.

And I fear for the safety of judges and their families.

And I fear for our nation if we allow this conduct to continue to go unchecked, with civility and professionalism and agreement to disagree.

But let's bring it back to the merits of an issue, instead of bringing it to personal attacks.

That's all we're asking.

AMNA NAWAZ: That is Judge Esther Salas from the U.S. District Court of New Jersey.

Judge Salas, thank you so much for your time.

We really appreciate it.

JUDGE ESTHER SALAS: Thank you very much, and have a good day.