The White House has warned the Democrat set to lead the House oversight committee that investigations targeting the Trump administration could themselves be considered criminal, escalating a standoff over the subpoena power Democrats plan to wield when they take control of the House in January. The White House Democrats warning was delivered in a letter that has now drawn a defiant reply.
White House counsel William Scharf wrote on Monday, November 9, to Representative Robert Garcia of California, the incoming chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. Scharf wrote that members of the new Congress had shown “a clear intent to transgress” the constitutional limits on congressional investigations and subpoenas, and said the administration is “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.”
“May Cross the Line”
“Threats to executive branch officials designed to deter them from public service, or process designed merely to abuse or instill fear in the recipient may cross the line into blatant criminality. And issuing unlawful subpoenas with the intention of depriving citizens of their constitutional rights and privileges may warrant further investigation,” the letter said. Scharf’s argument rests on two Supreme Court decisions: Watkins v. United States from 1957, which held that committees may compel testimony only when it is clearly connected to a legislative purpose, and Trump v. Mazars from 2020, which set standards for congressional subpoenas seeking private records. The letter names no criminal statute and does not announce a referral to the Justice Department.
The letter follows President Donald Trump’s social media post on Saturday, November 7, in which he characterised Democrats’ threatened investigations as “extortion” and said he was “ordering the Department of Justice to look into this criminal act.” On Sunday, Attorney General Todd Blanche criticised the planned investigations and said the department would represent administration officials before Congress.
Garcia: “We Will Not Be Deterred”
Responding to Scharf’s letter on Wednesday, Garcia said the committee would continue its work despite threats from the administration. “Congress has wide latitude to conduct investigations and oversight. We are a co-equal branch of government and will not be deterred by baseless threats,” he said. House Democrats have already begun preserving records for investigations in the 120th Congress: on November 9, Representative Jared Huffman, the top Democrat on the House Natural Resources Committee, sent 36 preservation requests to federal agencies, companies and other organisations. The letter was first reported by Punchbowl News and published by ABC News and CBS News. Garcia’s office said on Wednesday morning that the Oversight Committee had not formally received Scharf’s letter. Read our earlier report on the lame-duck Congress funding fight here: https://reportrig.com/lame-duck-congress-day-three-funding-fight-heads-to-dec-11/
