Trump Orders Justice Department To Investigate His Congressional Critics, Saying They Deserve 'Imprisonment'

That does not "necessarily" mean that "every case is going to be prosecuted," said Attorney General Todd Blanche, without clarifying what the charge could possibly be.

Democrats who plan to investigate executive-branch officials when they take over Congress in January are "EXTORTIONISTS" worthy of "imprisonment," President Donald Trump declared in a Truth Social post on Saturday. Trump said he was "ordering the Department of Justice to look into this criminal act, immediately!"

As is often the case when Trump demands the prosecution of his political opponents, he was hazy on what crime he had in mind. Although he repeatedly mentioned "extortion," that crime entails the use of threats to obtain money, property, or other things of value, so the label is clearly inapt in this context. Attorney General Todd Blanche nevertheless seemed to reinforce Trump's threat during an interview on CNN's State of the Union yesterday, saying members of the House Oversight Committee, which will be chaired by Rep. Robert Garcia (D–Calif.) in the next congressional session, should "be very worried."

Blanche was responding to Garcia's Election Day recommendation that potential targets of congressional investigations should "LAWYER UP." Garcia, in turn, objected to Blanche's response.

"What Todd Blanche is doing right now is a threat," Garcia said later on the same CNN show. "He is threatening our committee. He's trying to stop us from doing real oversight….The Constitution makes it very clear that it's our job in the Congress to conduct oversight of the executive and the administration."

Blanche conceded that congressional oversight is legitimate but suggested that Garcia and other Democrats plan to exceed that role. "You have members of Congress who after Tuesday have done nothing but threaten everything that's happening in this administration," he said. "That is not governing. That is not leading. That is not oversight."

Blanche alluded to comments that Sen. Chuck Schumer (D–N.Y.), the incoming majority leader, and Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D–N.Y.), the incoming speaker of the House, made on Friday after Trump announced that Stephen Miller, the main architect of the administration's mass deportation campaign, would replace Susie Wiles as White House chief of staff. Keep in mind that the context of Blanche's remarks was the president's threat to imprison Democrats who "are going around threatening a lot of people."

Here is what Schumer said: "Donald Trump learned nothing from his historic defeat. Stephen Miller is the architect of the most barbaric, inhumane policies of this administration. Trump couldn't have made a worse choice. Our Democratic majorities will fight him every step of the way."

Here is what Jeffries said: "Stephen Miller is a dangerous xenophobe and reckless extremist who has American blood on his hands. His presence in government should be eradicated like a malignant tumor. Fire him today."

And here is Blanche's take on those comments: "You have Stephen Miller getting promoted to chief of staff, and within moments, within moments, the leaders of the Senate and the Congress start threatening him, OK? That's not oversight. That's not governing. That's not leading. That's actually a disappointment." But is it, as Trump claimed, a "criminal act"?

Trump "said that the Democratic lawmakers are extortionists and they should be imprisoned," CNN's Dana Bash noted. "Is that a possibility?"

Here was an opportunity for Blanche to say: "Obviously not. Political rhetoric, no matter how harsh, is constitutionally protected and cannot be grounds for criminal prosecution." Here is what he said instead: "Well, it depends on what the crime is and what they have done." That does not "necessarily" mean that "every case is going to be prosecuted," he added, without even trying to explain what the charge could possibly be.

You might dismiss all of this as meaningless bluster. But the Justice Department has shown it is happy to pursue Trump's personal vendettas by bringing frivolous criminal charges against people who say things that irk him.

Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. attorney for the District and Columbia, tried and failed to obtain an indictment of six Democratic legislators, claiming they had committed federal felonies by producing a video reminding U.S. military personnel of their duty to "refuse illegal orders." As a federal judge noted, that video was "unquestionably protected" by the First Amendment.

Blanche himself has repeatedly defended an indictment charging former FBI Director James Comey with threatening to assassinate Trump by posting a photo of seashells arranged to form the numerical slogan "86 47"—a ubiquitous expression of opposition to the president that does not even come close to the Supreme Court's definition of a "true threat." In light of that precedent, it is not exactly reassuring when Blanche says the viability of prosecuting lawmakers for "threatening" members of the Trump administration "depends on what the crime is and what they have done."

Blanche nevertheless may have a hard time finding a crime to pin on Trump's congressional critics. The "criminal act[s]" that Trump perceives include trying to impeach federal officials when "there have been no impeachable acts committed," which he describes as an "illegal process" and "extortion at the highest level," saying legislators "should be held accountable" for attempting it. But the Constitution gives Congress complete discretion in identifying "high crimes and misdemeanors," which need not include conduct that would qualify as a criminal violation.

Trump also averred that Democrats are "threatening our Donors, some of the most respected people anywhere in the World, with imprisonment, and many other levels of punishment, just because they happen to be Republicans, or Republican supporters," which he described as "Weaponization and Lawfare at another level." Trump amplified that complaint in a subsequent post: "The threats being made by the Democrat Party against innocent Republican Donors and Party Members are absolutely unprecedented, and totally illegal. Please report them to the Department of Justice, IMMEDIATELY!"

What is Trump talking about? As Reason's Tosin Akintola notes, some Democrats have suggested that their investigations will "extend to the actions of private companies and industries they perceive as allies of the president." Last week, for example, Sen. Ron Wyden (D–Ore.) said he was "putting the special interests that have worked hand-in-hand with Trump to rip off American families for the last year and a half on notice." When he is chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, Wyden warned, they "will be forced to answer" for "their role in hurting the American people and enabling Trump's corruption."

Whatever you think of that plan, it does not qualify as a threat of "imprisonment," unlike Trump's response. While Wyden is promising to conduct congressional hearings, Trump is threatening criminal prosecution, and his attorney general does not seem inclined to refuse his marching orders.