White House confronts Democrats over planned probes, claiming they may be ‘blatant criminality’

WASHINGTON — The White House has issued a warning to Democrats over their planned probes into the Trump administration, going as far as claiming that such investigations — a standard oversight function of Congress — may amount to “blatant criminality.”

White House counsel Will Scharf issued the warning in a letter dated Monday to Rep. Robert Garcia, the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee.

Garcia most likely would chair the powerful panel in the new Democratic-controlled Congress that is seated in January. Garcia warned Trump officials to “lawyer up” after his party’s stunning victories in last weeks midterm elections.

In response, Scharf wrote in Monday’s letter 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.”

Garcia said in response to the letter that “it appears Donald Trump has something to hide” and stressed that Congress’s investigative powers do not need the “permission of the White House.”

“Congress has wide latitude to conduct investigations and oversight, an authority inherent in the power to legislate,” Garcia said. “The American people voted overwhelmingly for us to pass laws to root out corruption and abuse.”