Donald Trump speaks in the Oval Office at the White House. REUTERS/Kent Nishimura
House Democrats are already lining up whistleblowers and tips for a wave of investigations into President Donald Trump, according to a top Democrat who will help lead the effort when the party takes control of the chamber in January.
Democrats are girding for a long-awaited constitutional clash with the 80-year-old president, and lawmakers have been huddling for weeks with lawyers who specialize in congressional power so they’ll be ready when the new Congress is seated on Jan. 3, reported Politico.
“We have already heard from a whole bunch of whistleblowers,” said Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD), who is slated to chair the House Judiciary Committee. “We have lots of tips about things happening, everybody they’ve worked with in the private sector on various corrupt schemes, people who’ve been shaken down by them. We will be adamant about getting the information we need in order to legislate.”
A key piece of the plan is the selection of the House general counsel. Hakeem Jeffries, who is expected to become speaker, will choose the House’s top lawyer, who will lead the chamber’s court fights against the administration. According to a person familiar with the caucus deliberations, Jeffries hasn’t settled on a candidate but considers the choice a crucial priority, and he also wants to expand the counsel’s office.
“We need lawyers who are ready and willing to go and fight, people who have devoted their lives to the Constitution,” Raskin said. “We’re going to stand up for Congress against both the executive branch and the Supreme Court.”
Democrats have already signaled plans to investigate corruption allegations against Trump and his family, his use of the pardon power, ICE’s mass deportation campaign, the Justice Department’s targeting of Trump’s perceived enemies and the administration’s handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files.
Democrats expect Trump to try to run out the clock, so they plan to go around the administration. They’ll pursue third-party witnesses such as companies with ties to Trump or his family, along with whistleblowers who can give lawmakers leverage.
“Often the best tactics are to find and protect willing witnesses, like John Dean during Watergate, or private witnesses not within the executive branch,” said Charles Tiefer, a former top House lawyer.
Trump has already gone on the offensive. He has declared that House investigators should “go to jail” and ordered his Justice Department to “look into” lawmakers’ investigative letters, which he called a “criminal act.” On Sunday, Attorney General Todd Blanche told CNN that “there could be” investigations into Democrats who conduct oversight.
Blanche struck a softer tone at a press conference Monday. “Congress has oversight authority. It always has,” he said.
Even so, Raskin said he was still holding out hope for cooperation.
“I do want to presume, even against all evidence, that there will be some lawful compliance on the side of the Trump administration,” Raskin said.
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