Zero criminal investigations target lawmakers’ speech, Attorney General Todd Blanche said on Thursday in Washington, pushing back against presidential demands for prosecutions.
President Donald Trump called for the arrest of six Democratic members of Congress over a social media video from last year, according to NBC News. The administration attempted to indict those lawmakers earlier this year, but a federal grand jury unanimously rejected the charges.
Hours before Blanche spoke at a Justice Department news conference, White House Counsel Will Scharf sent a three-page letter to Representative Robert Garcia, D-Calif., warning that aggressive oversight of the Trump administration “may cross the line into blatant criminality,” The New York Times reported. Garcia, poised to lead the House Oversight Committee, called the letter outrageous.
LAWYER UP.
“It’s shocking that the White House would send a letter that is clearly a threat to the Congress, a threat to me, when all we’re focused on is investigation and rooting out corruption,” Garcia told MS NOW.
Blanche defended the administration’s stance on political rhetoric while dialing back threats of immediate criminal charges. Free speech is allowed, he noted, but criticism can cross a line into criminal threats.
In 2025, Ed Martin, a senior DOJ official, amplified a post that read, “Lawyer up, Lawfare Democrats.” @AGToddBlanche do you plan to criminally investigate @EagleEdMartin? pic.twitter.com/1oDg5X66YX
“There’s no ongoing investigations, criminal investigations, into words that incoming senators or congressmen have said,” Blanche said, according to POLITICO.
Aaron Reitz, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Texas, sent a letter demanding Sen. Richard Blumenthal preserve records related to a probe into donors for the White House ballroom.
Blumenthal stated he would not be intimidated by the demand. Trump also ordered the Justice Department to investigate Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., over remarks she made at a school regarding the administration.
“There is no clearer telltale sign of a disassembling authoritarian leader than when he tries to prosecute those who simply speak up against him,” Slotkin said on X, according to CNN.
It's been almost exactly one year since the six of us made a 90-second video simply restating the law, and the President cannot let it go. Based on that video, he ordered his then-Attorney General to ‘investigate, arrest and hang’ us for sedition. Last February, the Attorney…
Blanche maintained that leadership works with U.S. attorneys on active inquiries, though he did not explain why a Texas prosecutor targeted a Connecticut senator. The ongoing clash mirrors investigative standoffs from Trump’s first term in 2019, when the administration routinely fought congressional subpoenas in court.
The time has come for criminal prosecutions. Comey, Clapper, Brennan, and anyone else involved better lawyer up. pic.twitter.com/PeVbWrwCnP
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz is either complicit in massive fraud or grossly incompetent at preventing it. Though Walz is not running for governor again, he cannot run from accountability. He better lawyer up. @GOPoversight expects him to appear on February 10. @JacquiHeinrich pic.twitter.com/YwkkWocx1v
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