The top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee vowed Sunday to lead a series of probes into Trump administration officials, telling CNN’s “State of the Union” that Democratic leaders will no longer “take the high road.”
“When Republicans go low, what we’re not going to do anymore is just take that, take the high road and turn the other cheek,” said Rep. Robert Garcia. “The days of us not fighting back are over.”
Following his party’s decisive midterm wins, the California Democrat formally announced his bid to chair the Oversight Committee in a letter to colleagues Thursday.
The bid comes after Garcia warned members of the Trump administration and others to “lawyer up.” On Sunday, he added that even members of the president’s family — such as President Donald Trump’s son, Donald Trump, Jr., and his son-in-law, Jared Kushner — could “absolutely” be subjects of the committee’s investigations.
“They should be expected to answer questions,” Garcia said.
He also indicated that pardons Trump made earlier in his second term could be investigated, as well as donors helping finance the president’s White House ballroom; the operation into the removal of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro; the Iran war; and Trump allies including Elon Musk and the president’s newly appointed chief of staff Stephen Miller.
Attorney General Todd Blanche on Sunday accused Garcia and other Democratic leaders of “outright threats” and condemned the promised probes of “basically every member of the Cabinet,” including Miller.
“You have members of Congress who, after Tuesday, have done nothing but threaten everything that’s happening in this administration. That is not governing, that is not leading, that is not oversight,” Blanche said in an interview immediately preceding Garcia’s. “That’s actually a disappointment. And it’s sad.”
Blanche on Sunday appeared to indicate the Justice Department could investigate Democratic members at the behest of Trump, who has called Democratic leaders extortionists and, on multiple occasions, called for them to be jailed.
“What Todd Blanche is doing right now is a threat,” said Garcia. “He is threatening our committee. He’s trying to stop us from doing real oversight.”
