Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) urged Democrats not to devote all their time to investigating President Donald Trump as they retake the majorities in Congress.
“Do we want to hold the Trump administration accountable for their corruption, for their illegal, unconstitutional actions? Absolutely,” Sanders said on NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday.
“But, at the end of the day, when you’ve got the highest rate of childhood poverty in America, of any major country, when 20% of our seniors are trying to survive on $15,000 a year, when people are scared to death that Elon Musk and the other billionaires are pushing [artificial intelligence] down our throats with cataclysmic impacts on the economy, our privacy rights, on our health, and imposing an existential threat to humanity — we cannot spend all of our time investigating Trump,” Sanders said.
Sanders argued that the Democratic caucus should “stand up for working-class families” and “make a real difference in their lives” instead of probing the president.
Republicans have raised alarm bells since the start of the midterm election cycle that Democrats would target the Trump administration and Trump allies with investigations. Despite Democrats mainly focusing their midterm messaging around affordability, the cost of living, and criticism of the war in Iran, several Democrats have hinted at using their new majorities in the House and the Senate to investigate Trump.
Rep. Robert Garcia (D-CA) warned Trump administration officials on election night to “lawyer up” after the results began to show positive numbers for Democrats.
Attorney General Todd Blanche has warned against Democrats making “threats” to investigate administration officials, saying the Department of Justice would come to the defense of federal officials if they’re investigated.
“If these threats, telling our people to ‘lawyer up,’ if that’s what these new incoming leadership wants to do, we are ready. And if you work in this administration, you have a lawyer: It’s me. We will defend you,” Blanche said.
TRUMP ORDERS DOJ TO INVESTIGATE DEMOCRATS OVER ‘EXTORTION’ AND CALLS OUT SLOTKIN BY NAME
Trump took it a step further over the weekend, calling Democrats’ threats to investigate him and Republicans “extortion” and “totally illegal.”
“The threats being made by the Democrat Party against innocent Republican Donors and Party Members are absolutely unprecedented, and totally illegal,” he wrote in one post, saying in another, “This is extortion at the highest level, and they should be held accountable for this.”
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[ H/T Washington Examiner ]
