The White House’s top lawyer sent a warning letter Wednesday to the new chairman of the House Oversight Committee, Rep. Robert Garcia, Democrat of California, saying Democrats’ promise to investigate the Trump administration “could cross the line into blatant criminality.”
White House counsel William Scharf wrote Garcia a three-page letter to “remind” him of the constitutional limits on congressional investigations, “which you and the members of the new Congress have made clear your intention to transgress.”
The letter, obtained by PBS News, accuses Democrats of “abusive and capricious threats” against President Donald Trump and members of his administration.
Read the full letter by clicking on the image below.
On election night, after projections showed that Democrats would control the House of Representatives in the next Congress, Garcia addressed the Trump administration with a two-word statement: “Attorney stand up.”
WATCH: Rep. Garcia says voters gave Democrats mandate to demand accountability
Last week on the PBS News Hour, White House correspondent Liz Landers asked Garcia if he thought voters had given Democrats a mandate to investigate the Trump administration.
“I think that’s the case,” Garcia said.
“The American public looks at their own bills and sees prices going up when they go to the supermarket, while they see the Trumps getting richer. So it’s a real contrast, and it’s a real problem that we need to solve,” he added later in the interview.
WATCH: Trump’s $2 billion in 2025 income raises new questions about profiteering from the presidency
Garcia didn’t let go of that feeling after Scharf’s letter.
“It appears Donald Trump has something to hide,” Garcia said in a statement Wednesday. “We are a co-equal branch of government and will not be deterred by baseless threats from an armed Justice Department or the president’s lawyers.”
A free press is the cornerstone of a healthy democracy.
Support trusted journalism and civil dialogue.
Gn headline
