A top Department of Justice attorney on Wednesday expressed concern that Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) is seeking to intimidate people who support President Donald Trump through his investigation into the White House ballroom project.
Blumenthal, the top Democrat on a key Senate investigations committee, revealed in October that he is probing people who donated funds to help build Trump’s ballroom in the White House, which the president said will be privately funded through around $400 million in “patriot” donations.
U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Texas Aaron Reitz accused Blumenthal of using the investigation to threaten “citizens for associating themselves with the President and other public officials.” Reitz ordered Blumenthal to preserve all records related to the senator’s investigation.
“It is … extraordinary for an elected official to intimidate citizens for engaging in philanthropic practices that will benefit our nation for generations. The American people are entitled to freely associate without elected officials terrorizing them with aggressive, harassing government action,” Reitz wrote in a letter, which he highlighted in a post to X. “You are obligated to preserve all potential relevant evidence related to your efforts to suppress associational activities for philanthropic projects throughout the nation’s capital.”
Acting Deputy Attorney General Trent McCotter, the second-highest-ranking official at the DOJ, backed up Reitz’s move.
“The First Amendment expressly prohibits Congress from infringing the speech and association rights of Americans. DOJ will defend against threats to those rights, period,” McCotter said.
Blumenthal has defended the investigation on the basis of concerns that undisclosed donors have benefited from “favorable government actions, including regulatory decisions and government contracts.” In November, the Connecticut Democrat demanded Apple, Meta, Google, Nvidia, Amazon, Microsoft, BlackRock, Lockheed Martin, Palantir, and others who donated to the ballroom project turn over records or else face possible subpoenas in January 2027.
“I have … written to dozens of companies and individuals who have given millions to the ballroom,” Blumenthal said last month. “Many have apparently attempted to keep their contributions secret, and have deep financial, business, or other personal interests before the Trump Administration.”
SUPREME COURT LIFTS BLOCK ON BIG BEND BORDER WALL CONSTRUCTION LAWSUIT
Aside from the Senate investigation, Trump’s project was hit with a lawsuit after a wave of critics were outraged that the president tore down the White House’s East Wing to make way for the ballroom.
The legal saga made it all the way to the Supreme Court, where justices ruled in Trump’s favor in August, allowing construction of the 90,000-square-foot ballroom to proceed. As of November, the DOJ is going through the process of asking the Supreme Court to entirely throw out the lawsuit targeting the ballroom or else take up the case and hear oral arguments on the merits.
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[ H/T Washington Examiner ]
