The White House is warning incoming House Democrats that their promised barrage of investigations and subpoenas targeting President Donald Trump’s administration must serve legitimate legislative purposes or risk crossing constitutional and potentially legal boundaries.
White House Counsel Will Scharf delivered the warning in a sharply worded letter to Democratic Rep. Robert Garcia of California, who is expected to become chairman of the powerful House Oversight and Government Reform Committee in January.
The confrontation comes after Garcia celebrated Democrats’ midterm victory with a blunt two-word warning to Trump administration officials: “LAWYER UP.”
Scharf responded by reminding Garcia that congressional investigative authority is extensive but not unlimited.
“We are 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,” Scharf wrote.
The White House counsel specifically cited Democratic statements about issuing subpoenas to Trump officials, businesses and other potential investigative targets.
Scharf argued that congressional investigations must further a legitimate legislative function rather than simply punish or intimidate political opponents.
“Compulsory process is a power Congress has for oversight functions, and only for oversight functions,” Scharf wrote.
“Abusive threats and public statements about the indiscriminate issuance of subpoenas, along with threats directed at prospective targets within the Administration make it abundantly clear that any forthcoming investigative processes will be deployed to harass and aggrandize rather than to advance any legitimate legislative end.”
Scharf went further by suggesting certain conduct could potentially warrant investigation itself.
“Beyond being inconsistent with the clear, well-recognized constitutional limitations on your investigative functions, 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,” Scharf wrote.
“And issuing unlawful subpoenas with the intention of depriving citizens of their constitutional rights and privileges may warrant further investigation.”
The warning previews what could become a prolonged constitutional confrontation between the White House and Congress during the final two years of Trump’s presidency.
Democrats will take control of House committees and their accompanying subpoena powers when the new Congress begins in January. Other Democrats have been equally aggressive in describing their plans.
Democratic Rep. Analilia Mejia of New Jersey said lawmakers would be issuing subpoenas “like Mardi Gras beads,” while Democratic Sen. Ed Markey of Massachusetts joked that new forests would be needed to supply enough paper for subpoenas.
The White House cited such remarks as evidence supporting its concern that some lawmakers may view congressional investigative powers as instruments for political retaliation.
Any major disputes could eventually produce lengthy litigation over executive privilege, separation of powers and Congress’ authority to compel documents and testimony.
The Trump administration is already preparing for that possibility. The White House Counsel’s Office has added approximately 15 attorneys as it prepares for an expected wave of investigations, according to The Washington Post.
