WASHINGTON — Attorney General Todd Blanche said Thursday there has been no criminal investigation by the Justice Department into comments made by senators or congressmen, the same day President Donald Trump once again called for six Democrats to be prosecuted over a video they posted on social media last year.
“There is no ongoing investigation, no criminal investigation, into the comments made by the new senators or members of Congress,” Blanche said during a news conference at the Justice Department.
Blanche’s comments came hours after Trump called for six sitting members of Congress to be indicted for their speech in a social media video in which they told members of the intelligence and military communities not to obey illegal orders. The Trump administration attempted to indict the lawmakers earlier this year, but a federal grand jury in Washington unanimously dismissed the charges.
“Will the Seditious Six ever be prosecuted? What they did is a serious violation of our country and its Constitution!” Trump posted on his social media site Thursday morning.
Earlier in the week, the White House warned congressional Democrats that efforts to investigate the administration could constitute a crime. And on Wednesday, a top federal prosecutor sent a letter to a senator suggesting the lawmaker was under civil rights investigation for his congressional investigation into Trump’s White House ballroom donors.
Blanche said he thinks Americans should be concerned about the rhetoric of some politicians since Democrats won majorities in the House and Senate in last week’s midterm elections.
“Freedom of expression is allowed,” Blanche said Thursday. “But there can come a time when a criticism turns into a threat, and then a threat becomes something criminal.”
Blanche said that point had not been reached.
U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Texas Aaron Reitz, who was recently named a top federal prosecutor after losing his race for attorney general, sent a letter this week demanding that Sen. Richard Blumenthal preserve records related to a Congressional investigation into donors to the White House ballroom project. Reitz, former chief of staff to Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, said it was harassment of citizens.
In response to the letter, Blumenthal said in a statement that he would not be intimidated and would continue his investigation into the ballroom.
On Thursday, Blanche said Reitz was a “great American lawyer” but did not explain why a Texas prosecutor would investigate a Washington, D.C., Connecticut-born lawmaker, nor did she explicitly state whether Reitz had his approval before publicly announcing the investigation on social media.
“Any office could investigate this,” Blanche said, when asked about Reitz’s letter. “I’m the attorney general, so I don’t oversee everything that’s done, but yes, DOJ leadership works with all U.S. Attorneys, including U.S. Attorney Reitz, on ongoing investigations.”
Trump last week ordered the Justice Department to investigate Sen. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan, saying her remarks at a school constituted a “criminal act.” In his remarks, Slotkin sent a “message of dissuasion” to those considering joining the Trump administration.
“The Department should stop threatening our constitutional freedoms and make clear that it will not launch another frivolous investigation at taxpayer expense,” a lawyer for Slotkin said in a letter to Blanche this week.
Slotkin is also one of the members of Congress that the Justice Department failed to indict because of the video.
“There is no clearer sign of an authoritarian leader in failing than when he attempts to sue those who simply denounce him,” Slotkin said Thursday on X in response to the review of Trump’s video. “It is also a desperate move to distract from the generational loss he has brought to his party.”
“So I say to President Trump and his attorney general: Bring it on. It would demonstrate to the country how low you are hitting rock bottom,” she added. “And if this allows us to begin to recover from your disastrous leadership, please continue.”
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