White House warns congressional Democrats: Investigating us may be a crime

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Incoming House Oversight Committee Chairman Robert Garcia noted that the Constitution grants Congress “wide latitude to conduct investigations” into the Trump administration.

WASHINGTON — Previewing the partisan battles to come, the White House fired a warning shot at House Democrats’ top investigator Wednesday.

The Trump administration is “monitoring” Democrats’ “abusive and capricious threats” to launch congressional probes, White House counsel Will Scharf said in a letter to Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif., who is poised to become chairman of the powerful Oversight Committee starting in January.

And, Scharf warned, those threats may be criminal and warrant their own executive-branch investigations. His letter was shared with NBC News by a White House official.

While threats of political reprisal for partisan investigations are commonplace, the suggestion of a congressional probe constituting criminality is not.

When President Joe Biden occupied the White House, and Republicans took control of Congress, Democrats cried foul that Trump’s allies were only interested in launching partisan probes that damaged their political enemies.

But those high-profile investigations continued unimpeded. House Oversight Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., led probes into the international business dealings of Biden’s son Hunter Biden and brother James Biden.

In the letter dated Monday, Scharf rattled off numerous examples of Democratic lawmakers making cavalier threats of issuing subpoenas. For example, Rep. Analilia Mejia, D-N.J., wrote on X, “We’re going to toss out subpoenas like Mardi Gras beads,” while Rep. Emily Randall, D-Wash., said they’ll be passed out “like candy.”

The White House pointed to Supreme Court rulings that have held that congressional investigations must be tied to a legitimate legislative purpose and must not be used to punish political opponents. But House and Senate committees under both parties have broad authority to investigate a range of matters, and they’ve rarely been stopped by the courts.

Likely House Speaker Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., called the Scharf letter “outrageous,” telling reporters on Capitol Hill Wednesday: “It’s factually…

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