Democrats Push Back After White House Threatens Criminal Investigations Into Lawmakers Who Probe Trump Administration

House Democrats are not being deterred in their plans to investigate members of the Trump administration after the White House counsel, Will Scharf, said Wednesday that the threats to investigate officials may constitute a criminal act. Democrats say they do not care about Mr. Scharf’s threats. Mr. Scharf, a former personal attorney and campaign lawyer for President Trump, served as White House staff secretary from the beginning of the administration until September, when he became the White House’s top legal advisor. The move was made as it became increasingly likely that Democrats would take control of the House of Representatives, and that the latter half of the second Trump administration would be dominated by tussling over investigative issues between Democrats and the president’s team. In a letter to the incoming chairman of the Oversight Committee, Congressman Robert Garcia, Mr. Scharf warned him against making threats or issuing “unlawful” subpoenas. “I write to remind you of the foundational limits that the Constitution imposes on congressional investigations and subpoenas, which you and members of the new Congress have evinced a clear intent to transgress,” Mr. Scharf wrote to Mr. Garcia. He cited the case Watkins v. United States, which argued that investigations conducted “solely for the personal aggrandizement of the investigators “or to punish the investigated “are indefensible.”“We are monitoring the abusive and capricious threats that are now proliferating from Democrat legislators who seek to abuse the legislative process to intimidate and to interfere with the lawful functioning of government,” Mr. Scharf wrote. He cited comments made by Mr. Garcia and several other Democratic members of Congress. Mr. Scharf accused Democrats of trying “to harass, threaten, and deter dedicated members of the Administration from further service.” He pointed to comments made by Congressman-elect Richard Ojeda, a 24-year Army veteran who said he wants to see Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth “squirm” in front of Congress. Mr. Scharf also highlighted Mr. Garcia’s midterm night reaction to the news that Democrats would retake the House. Mr. Garcia last week wrote simply: “LAWYER UP.”“Beyond being inconsistent with the clear, well-recognized constitutional limitations on your investigative functions, threats to executive branch officials designed to deter them from public service, or [a] process designed merely to abuse or instill fear in the recipient may cross the line into blatant criminality,” Mr. Scharf continued. “And issuing unlawful subpoenas with the intention of depriving citizens of their constitutional rights and privileges may warrant further investigation.”Mr. Garcia told reporters on Wednesday that he will not be “intimidated” by Mr. Scharf’s threats. “The truth is, is that he needs to understand that Congress is a co-equal branch of government,” Mr. Garcia said as he left the Capitol. “It is our job in the Oversight Committee … to investigate. That is our constitutional duty.”The likely soon-to-be speaker of the House, Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, echoed those sentiments, telling reporters that he and Democrats were not going to be a “rubber stamp” for Mr. Trump and simply not investigate the administration’s actions. “A Democratic Congress is going to be a check and balance on an out-of-control executive branch in the face of unprecedented corruption that they’ve unleashed on the American people. And if they don’t like it, consult the Constitution,” Mr. Jeffries said Wednesday.

Democrats Push Back After White House Threatens Criminal Investigations Into Lawmakers Who Probe Trump Administration

Democrats Push Back After White House Threatens Criminal Investigations Into Lawmakers Who Probe Trump Administration

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