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The White House has warned House Democrats that some of the investigations they plan to launch next year could “cross the line into blatant criminality,” escalating a fight with the incoming Democratic Congress over its oversight powers.
Getting into it: In a letter dated Monday and released Wednesday, White House counsel Will Scharf told Rep. Robert Garcia, the likely next chair of the House Oversight Committee, that congressional investigations must serve a “legitimate legislative purpose” and accused Democrats of gearing up to use them to “harass and aggrandize.” He also warned that issuing what he called unlawful subpoenas “may warrant further investigation.”
Garcia plans to investigate the Trump family’s business and crypto dealings, a $2 billion Saudi investment in Jared Kushner’s private equity fund, Pentagon contracts to companies linked to Trump’s sons, donations for the ballroom, immigration enforcement and the Epstein case.
Scharf pointed to Garcia’s post-midterm message telling Trump officials to “lawyer up,” as well as social media posts from incoming Democrats, including one who wrote that he “can’t wait to watch” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth “squirm” at a hearing. The letter came days after Trump ordered the Justice Department to look into Democrats over what he called “extortion.” Separately, the US attorney for the Southern District of Texas wrote to Sen. Richard Blumenthal, who is set to lead a Senate investigative panel, accusing him of an “intent to deprive citizens of their core constitutional rights” over his letters to donors behind Trump’s White House ballroom.
Democrats pushed back hard, calling the warning unconstitutional, with Blumenthal saying he “will not be intimidated” and incoming House Speaker Hakeem Jeffries telling the White House to “consult the Constitution.” Legal experts said a criminal case against lawmakers would be unlikely to go anywhere, since the Speech or Debate Clause protects members of Congress from prosecution over their legislative work. Even Rep. James Comer, the Oversight Committee’s current Republican chair, said the panel is “very independent,” while calling Garcia’s “lawyer up” comments in “bad taste.”
This all comes as Democrats prepare to take control of both chambers on Jan. 3, after failing on Tuesday to stop House Republicans from shelving Rep. Thomas Massie’s resolution to impeach Hegseth, an effort they could revive once they hold the majority.
