Leaked chats appear to show NH GOP lawmaker urging violence against dissenting Republicans

A leaked encrypted text message from a Signal group chat featuring prominent New Hampshire conservative lawmakers appears to show a state representative encouraging the use of violence against fellow Republicans for voting against the direction of leadership.

In the chat, dated April 13 of this year, a username that appears to belong to State Representative James Spillane is seen suggesting that Republican lawmakers should be subject to increasing forms of intimidation — even physical violence — for voting against the recommendations of leadership.

“There should be punishment from the Caucus for straying too often, in my opinion. Whether by revoking committee, parking spots, flogging them in the state house square, egging their house, or slashing their tires… whatever fits the crime,” user jaspillane68 Spillane wrote in the chat.

The group chat was reportedly used by top members of the Republican State House leadership, according to a source.

“Weird [House Majority Leader Jason] Osborne, [Deputy Majority Leader Joe] Sweeney, [Advisor to the Speaker Katy] Peternel, [Majority Senior Advisor Jim] Kofalt all in that chat and none of them bothered to step in and call out inappropriate comments,” said the source with knowledge of the chat, adding it was a “Class B felony to threaten government officials.”

The Granite Post also obtained a screenshot of a spreadsheet, reportedly created by another Republican state lawmaker, Rep. Donald McFarlane of Orange, that is seemingly used to track and grade fellow Republican lawmakers on their willingness to vote in accordance with the wishes of party leadership.

The Granite Post reached out to the House GOP Office and Representatives Spillane and McFarlane for comment and to confirm the legitimacy of the message and the spreadsheet, and to confirm the members included in the Signal chat, but did not hear back before publication.

The New Hampshire legislature has been rife with threats and intimidation among Republican lawmakers this year. 

The leaked chat comes just weeks after other Republican lawmakers took to social media to claim that State Rep. Ross Berry of Weare was threatening caucus members during debate over the 2026 state budget.

State Rep. Kim Rice posted on social media after an April session of the House that Berry was “threatening everyone” after Republicans voted to kill a long list of amendments to the 2026 budget, nearly derailing the entire process.

Berry denied the accusation.

Last month, Rep. David Nagel of Gilmanton — the only physician on the House Health and Human Services committee — was removed from the committee by Republican leadership because he refused to vote for a bill which sought to eliminate the New Hampshire Vaccine Association, the state’s mechanism for purchasing vaccines at a steep discount. 

“It was kind of like ‘The Godfather,’” Rep. Nagel told the New Hampshire Bulletin about his removal from the committee. “I considered it an attempt at intimidation.” 

Nagel said he was urged to “step in line” with Republican leadership’s agenda, which he said was at odds with the feelings of his constituents.

The leak also comes amidst several shakeups of House Republican leadership reportedly resulting from leaders not displaying proper loyalty to Osborne and others in leadership.

Rep. Mark Pearson, a Republican from Hampstead, was removed last week as Chair of the House Child and Family Law Committee.

“It’s not that I’m a liberal or even a moderate…The problem is that I have not always voted the way House leadership demanded of me,” Pearson told Union Leader reporter Kevin Landrigan.

Rep. Arnold Davis of Milan, the vice chair of the Resources, Recreation and Development Committee, was also removed from his perch last week, the Concord Monitor reported.

Speaking to the Monitor, Republican lawmakers described House leadership as having a “strong-arm culture emanating from the higher-ups.”

Others took to social media last week to express their frustration over last week’s decisions.

“Yet again today house ‘Leadership’ stripped committee chairs, vice chairs, and members who failed to be their puppets. Such totalitarian leadership behavior is a disgusting representation of what good leadership entails. The ‘do as I say or else’ mentality is ridiculous!!” wrote Republican State Rep. Mike Bordes in a post on social media just days ago.