Trump is threatening to investigate the investigators. Can he do that?

President Donald Trump is attempting to short-circuit Democratic investigations of his administration before they get started. White House lawyers this week warned congressional leaders they could face Justice Department inquiries if they push too hard. The threat could upend the Constitutional system of checks and balances.

What did the commentators say?

Congressional investigations could cross the line into “blatant criminality” if intended to “harass ​and aggrandize” the administration and its allies, said White House counsel Will Scharf in the Monday letter to the House Oversight Committee’s Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.), per Reuters. Democrats are shrugging off the warning. Congress is a “co-equal branch of government,” said Garcia in a statement, and members “will not be deterred by baseless threats.”

Administration officials have a “false impression of how the U.S. government actually works,” said Matt Ford at The New Republic. Article I of the Constitution grants members of Congress immunity for “any speech or debate” that takes place in the House or Senate. Courts have ruled that provision covers “many of Congress’s official functions, including hearings and investigations,” said Ford.

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.

Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.

Sign up

Scharf’s letter is the “latest sign of panic” from the White House following vast GOP losses in the midterm elections, said Steve Benen at MS NOW. The administration’s unwillingness to endure scrutiny suggests it is “absolutely terrified” of questions executive branch officials “apparently don’t want to answer.”

What next?

The threat to investigate the investigators demonstrates the “extent to which the administration is prepared to go” to fight oversight, said John Light at Talking Points Memo. The issues will be “litigated in court,” and could “send Democrats’ efforts at accountability down a labyrinth of legal wrangling” that results in “fewer revelations or consequences” for Trump and his allies.

House Democrats are looking for a new top lawyer to “shatter Trump’s anticipated stonewalling,” said Politico. The hire is a “crucial priority” for leaders looking to reassert congressional authority. “We need lawyers who are ready and willing to go and fight,” said Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) to the outlet.