Trump's week in review: Hegseth impeachment vote; White House counsel sends warning to Dems
2. White House counsel sends warning to Democrats
In a Monday letter to the ranking member of the U.S. House of Representatives' Oversight Committee, Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif., White House Counsel Will Scharf reminded him of the 1957 U.S. Supreme Court decision Watkins v. United States. Garcia is expected to chair the committee in the 120th U.S. Congress.
The 1957 ruling stated that "[i]nvestigations conducted solely for the personal aggrandizement of the investigators or to 'punish' those investigated are indefensible."
Scharf cited comments from recently elected and reelected House Democrats as signs that they intend to ignore the Watkins decision. Those comments included vows to make Secretary of War Pete Hegseth "squirm" and to hand out subpoenas like "candy."
"You and your congressional colleagues have asserted that they will issue subpoenas to harass, threaten, and deter dedicated members of the Administration from further service," he wrote.
"Compulsory process is a power Congress has for oversight functions, and only for oversight functions," he added. "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 stressed that "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."
"And issuing unlawful subpoenas with the intention of depriving citizens of their constitutional rights and privileges may warrant further investigation," Scharf wrote.
Ryan Foley is a reporter for The Christian Post. He can be reached at: ryan.foley@christianpost.com
