Judge Diane Goldstein's House Just Burned Down — Is She a Trump Supporter?

Following the news that her home burned down, South Carolina Judge Diane Goodstein is receiving national attention in a way she never has before.

According to local outlet FITSNews, Goodstein had been receiving death threats for weeks leading up to the burning of her home, and while she was not home at the time of the incident, her husband and their son are reportedly in the hospital with serious injuries.

While we don't yet know for sure whether an arsonist burned down Goodstein's home, many are wondering whether the attack might have been politically motivated, and what Goodstein's own political affiliations are.

Here's what we know.

Although judges in some states are openly partisan, South Carolina does not require judges to have a political party associated with them, so Goodstein does not have an official party designation.

We do know, though, that her husband is former Senator Arnold Goodstein, who was a Democrat. It seems possible, then, that Goodstein might also be a Democrat, although we don't know for sure.

We do know, though, that her name has been a part of the news in recent weeks because of a conflict between her and the Trump administration.

In September, she temporarily blocked the state's election commission from releasing sensitive voter information to the Department of Justice.

Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon openly criticized the decision, which was later overturned by the state Supreme Court, per FITSNews.

The attempt to attain voter information was related to Trump's March executive order, suggesting that information would be used to restrict non-citizens from voting. It's worth noting, though, that, per NPR, noncitizen voting is already illegal and is therefore incredibly rare.

Although Judge Goodstein was not the most high-profile opponent of the Trump administration, she is nevertheless one of many judges who have halted the president's actions.

Although we don't yet know whether Goodstein's home burning down was an intentional act of political violence or a coincidence, if it turns out to be arson, it would mark the latest example of violence erupting in our politics.

The assassination of Charlie Kirk was one high-profile example, but others include the murder of Democratic Speaker of the Minnesota House of Representatives Melissa Hortman and her husband in June and the attempted arson at Governor Josh Shapiro's house.

So far, the president has not done much to cool down the rhetoric that might be leading to this violence, instead suggesting that the language of the Democratic Party is causing violence directed against people like Kirk.

While we don't know yet whether Goodstein's house burning down is part of this trend, it's troubling either way.

Hopefully, everyone emerges from the blaze with their lives, and we can learn more about precisely why her house burned down.