The White House has threatened Democrats in Congress with a criminal investigation over their announced probes and efforts to hold people associated with President Donald Trump accountable. The president says the announcements amount to “intimidation,” while Democrats respond that it shows the president “has something to hide.”
In a letter published by Punchbowl News and Politico, among others, White House counsel Will Scharf threatened to open a criminal investigation against Democrats for conducting what he claims are illegal investigations of the executive branch. The message is addressed to Robert Garcia, the incoming chair of the House Oversight Committee.
Scharf writes in the letter that Democrats’ public promises to use their new majority to conduct congressional inquiries, including into potential corruption by the president and his allies, constitute “intimidation and interference with the lawful functioning of the government.” Scharf stressed that the announced investigations are unrelated to Congress’s legislative work and warned that they could amount to “flagrant crimes.”
Trump himself reacted similarly to the Democrats’ announcements earlier, saying they are “totally illegal” and ordering prosecutors to open proceedings in the matter.
Even before the elections, Democrats announced a series of inquiries into potentially corrupt dealings between Trump and donors to his campaign, companies and businessmen, as well as into abuses by immigration agencies and the Pentagon, and into many aspects of Elon Musk’s activities.
Just after Democrats won a majority in the next Congress, Robert Garcia, the likely new chair of the Oversight Committee, posted on the X platform: “Lawyer up.”
In response to the letter from the White House, Garcia said in a statement that “apparently Donald Trump has something to hide.” He also noted that Congress has broad authority to conduct investigations and exercise oversight.
“The American people voted overwhelmingly for us to pass legislation aimed at rooting out corruption and abuse (…) We are a co-equal branch of government and will not be deterred by baseless threats,” he declared.
From Washington, Oskar Górzyński (PAP)
