White House Warns Democrats Over Planned Investigations of Trump
The White House counsel, William Scharf, has warned Democratic lawmakers that their pledges to investigate President Donald Trump "may cross the line into blatant criminality." The warning was set out in a letter to Robert Garcia, the senior Democrat on the House Oversight Committee and its incoming chair, according to The Guardian.
Democrats won back control of both chambers of Congress in the midterm elections. They will arrive in January with their largest House majority since 2008, and their plans for oversight of the executive branch, the part of government headed by the president, have drawn sharp responses.
Scharf's letter argued that congressional inquiries need a legitimate legislative purpose, meaning a goal tied to making or changing laws. It said such inquiries cannot be used to punish targets or to lay the groundwork for prosecutions.
Garcia responded that it appears Trump has "something to hide." He said Congress's authority comes from Article I of the Constitution, which sets out the powers of the legislative branch, "not from the permission of the White House." He added: "We are a co-equal branch of government and will not be deterred by baseless threats from a weaponized DoJ or from the president's lawyers."
The letter cited a number of comments by incoming Democrats. It quoted Representative-elect Richard Ojeda as wanting to see Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth "squirm." It pointed to Texas Representative-elect Katy Padilla Stout telling witnesses to "put makeup on for the cameras," and to Representative Yassamin Ansari describing accountability as eventually ending in jail. Scharf wrote that the intent behind Garcia's "Lawyer Up" campaign was "not to legislate, but to intimidate."
The dispute comes as corruption played a large role in voters' decisions. According to an NBC News exit poll cited by The Guardian, 90% of voters said corruption was a crucial or major factor in their votes in the midterms.
Trump has also weighed in on the results. He said on social media that he was not responsible for Republican midterm losses, and he later posted an image of a cap embroidered with the word "veto."
