Man charged with threatening to kill 3 presidential candidates

Driving the news: A grand jury indicted Anderson, of Dover, N.H., on three counts of transmitting in interstate commerce a threat to injure the person of another, per a DOJ statement Thursday that did not name the candidates. However, the campaigns of Ramaswamy and Christie have confirmed they were targets.

Details: Anderson, who was arrested on Dec. 9, is accused of sending "a series of threatening text messages" to three separate presidential campaigns that included on Nov. 22 threatening to "impale" and "disembowel" one of them.

• Prosecutors allege he sent a barrage of threats to a second candidate on Dec. 6 that included messages to "blow" the "head off" them and conduct a "mass shooting."
• A third candidate received text messages on Dec. 8 detailing threats to "blow" their "brains out" and "kill everyone" who would attend a then-upcoming campaign event. Ramaswamy's campaign confirmed last week these messages were aimed at them.

• Anderson, who made an initial appearance in federal court on Dec. 11 and was released on conditions on Dec. 14, faces up to five years in prison for each charge if he's convicted.

What they're saying: A campaign spokesperson for former New Jersey Gov. Christie said in a statement to media that they're "thankful for the Department of Justice and law enforcement moving quickly to address these threat."

Go deeper: House Democrats launch task force on lawmaker security