Congressional Oversight Becomes Criminal After Democrats Win House

Democrats committed Washington’s gravest constitutional offense Wednesday by winning control of the House and announcing plans to examine the Justice Department. Incoming committee leaders said they would investigate the department’s pursuit of President Donald Trump’s political opponents, removal of career employees and reliance on legal arguments repeatedly rejected by federal judges. The White House said subpoenas, testimony and document requests could constitute a coordinated attack on the government by one of its own three branches.

Trump defended the Justice Department’s independence while providing detailed instructions about whom it should prosecute. “The Justice Department is completely independent, probably the most independent department in history, and I personally tell it every morning exactly who the criminals are,” Trump said. “Congress cannot investigate a president merely because the Constitution gives it that power. Using constitutional powers against me is unconstitutional, and many brilliant lawyers agree.” Administration officials said the president’s directions did not qualify as political interference because they were issued publicly, repeatedly and in capital letters.

Attorney General Pam Bondi said Democratic oversight would not distract the department from its nonpartisan mission of prosecuting whichever Trump critic had most recently appeared on television. Robert Garcia maintained that Congress remains a coequal branch of government, a fringe interpretation previously considered legitimate during Republican investigations of Democratic presidents, Cabinet officials, private citizens and anyone who had exchanged an email with Hunter Biden. Constitutional scholars noted that lawmakers possess broad authority to conduct investigations. White House lawyers replied that the framers wrote those provisions before understanding how irritating follow-up questions could become.

Justice Department officials began preparing for emergency conditions, including compulsory testimony, hostile requests for records and the possibility that senior appointees might have to explain their conduct without leaving the room. The administration also reviewed whether committee hearings could be classified as domestic disturbances and whether asking a witness to answer the original question violated the president’s exclusive authority to change the subject. Officials said Republican oversight would remain lawful because it seeks evidence for conclusions already reached, while Democratic oversight improperly begins with evidence. With Democrats poised to exercise powers explicitly assigned to Congress, federal authorities confirmed that checks and balances are now organized crime.

* None of the quotes in this article were spoken by an actual person. More info.