The White House counsel warned Rep. Robert Garcia (D-CA), the incoming Democratic chair of the House Oversight Committee, that “some of the new majority’s investigations could cross the line into criminal behavior,”
Punchbowl News founder Jake Sherman reports.
“It’s an audacious claim that signals the White House is taking an aggressive — and hugely controversial — stance toward Democratic oversight in the 120th Congress. The letter, penned by White House counsel Will Scharf, says that Congress can only investigate matters for a legislative purpose — a position that Republicans have relied on and stretched in recent years,” Sherman wrote.
“Further, the Scharf letter, sent to Garcia on Monday, says that Democratic investigations are designed to ‘harass and aggrandize rather than to advance any legitimate legislative end,'” he continued.
BREAKING NEWS in
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The White House counsel warned Democratic Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.), the incoming House Oversight Committee chair, in a new letter that some of the new majority’s investigations could cross the line into criminal behavior.
It’s an…
— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman)
November 11, 2026
Punchbowl News shared further:
This is an early signal that the administration won’t cooperate in investigations it does not like. But it’s also an indication that top Trump administration officials may go after Democrats conducting those investigations, a potentially troubling development that raises significant new legal and political questions.
President Donald Trump raised this claim in a Truth Social post Saturday. Then Attorney General Todd Blanche echoed Trump’s claim during a weekend interview on CNN.
But to have the White House counsel raise this claim in a letter to a prospective House committee chair is a far more serious threat.
Will this deter Democrats? Unlikely. There is ample precedent that Congress can investigate nearly anything it wants. But this does set the tone for Trump’s posture toward Democrats in 2027.
On election night, Garcia sparked backlash for posting “LAWYER UP” after Democrats took the majority in the Senate and the House of Representatives.
LAWYER UP.
— Congressman Robert Garcia (@RepRobertGarcia)
November 4, 2026
“The Attorney General and the Department of Justice are responsible for representing the American people, not protecting the President or Stephen Miller. Our investigations are focused on rooting out corruption and lowering the cost of living for working families,” Garcia said on Monday.
The Attorney General and the Department of Justice are responsible for representing the American people, not protecting the President or Stephen Miller.
Our investigations are focused on rooting out corruption and lowering the cost of living for working families.
https://t.co/hEe3sZ3fg3
— Congressman Robert Garcia (@RepRobertGarcia)
November 9, 2026
More from
The Guardian:
Garcia said in a statement that Congress’s authority comes from article I of the constitution, “not from the permission of the White House”. He described that power as inherent in the job of writing laws.
“The American people voted overwhelmingly for us to pass laws to root out corruption and abuse,” Garcia said on Wednesday, accusing the administration of continuing to weaponize the government with “threats of unconstitutional attacks on Congress”.
Corruption became a key issue in last week’s midterm elections. While the economy was the issue voters named most often as the country’s top problem in the NBC News exit poll, 90% of voters said corruption was a crucial or major factor in their votes.
Having promised during the campaign to tackle those issues, Democrats won back control of both chambers of Congress, and will arrive in January with their largest House majority since 2008. Trump wrote on social media that he was not responsible for the Republican losses, and later posted an image of a cap embroidered with the word “veto”.
Scharf’s letter also pointed to public remarks by incoming Democratic lawmakers. It said the Representative-elect Richard Ojeda of North Carolina wants to see defense secretary Pete Hegseth “squirm”, that Texas representative-elect Katy Padilla Stout told witnesses to “put makeup on for the cameras” and that Representative Yassamin Ansari of Arizona described accountability as eventually ending in jail. It also took aim at Garcia’s “Lawyer Up” campaign, saying his intent was “not to legislate, but to intimidate”.
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White House Counsel Issues Warning To Incoming Democratic Chair Of House Oversight Committee appeared first on
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