Sen. Richard Blumenthal is defending his plans to pursue oversight investigations into the Trump administration after he got a threatening letter from a U.S. attorney with what he called “baseless” threats.
“The public deserves to know the terms under which dozens of American companies were persuaded to donate millions of dollars to the president’s vanity projects,” Blumenthal wrote in a letter Thursday to Aaron Reitz, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Texas.
The Connecticut Democrat, as the incoming chair of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, said he’ll work to pursue investigations into the administration’s misuse of taxpayer dollars and corporations that have enabled its alleged corruption. Numerous top companies wrote checks for the president’s ballroom, The New York Times previously reported.
Blumenthal’s letter responded to one from Reitz, posted on social media, that accused Blumenthal of intending to deprive citizens of their constitutional rights by promising to investigate the renovation efforts.
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“This is just the latest in a series of unlawful actions on the part of the Trump Administration attempting to intimidate Members of Congress for engaging in constitutionally protected activity,” Blumenthal wrote. “Your implied threat of an investigation is baseless.”
Reitz had told Blumenthal to preserve all documents, communications and other electronically stored information relevant to pending investigations. If the senator does not preserve records, Reitz said, he may be hit with sanctions, adverse inference instructions, penalties and potential legal consequences.
“In recent weeks, you have threatened citizens for associating themselves with the President and other public officials,” Reitz wrote. “The American people are entitled to freely associate without elected officials terrorizing them with aggressive, harassing government action.”
Blumenthal, in his letter, directed Reitz to preserve all of his records and correspondence, including those with the White House, about his decision to draft and post his letter.
Shortly after Democrats’ sweeping victories across the country earlier this month, lawmakers publicly vowed to investigate the Trump administration for potential corruption.
Blumenthal isn’t the only lawmaker being threatened with potential investigations for legislative activity.
Earlier this week, White House Counsel Will Scharf warned Rep. Robert Garcia (D-California) that the White House is prepared to investigate him if his planned probes into the administration “cross the line into blatant criminality.”
In response, Garica said the Trump administration continues to weaponize the government with threats of unconstitutional attacks on Congress.
“We are a co-equal branch of government and will not be deterred by baseless threats from a weaponized DOJ or from the president’s lawyers,” Garcia said.
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