Trump Calls For Doj Investigation Into Democratic Calls For Oversight

President Donald Trump on Saturday said he had ordered the Justice Department to look into “threats” by Democrats against Republicans in the wake of the GOP’s midterm electoral defeat, adding that those responsible should be imprisoned.

Across two Truth Social posts, Trump accused Democrats of threatening Republican donors with imprisonment and Attorney General Todd Blanche and other administration officials with impeachment. He also said Democrats were targeting people “just because they happen to be Republicans, or Republican supporters.”

“The imprisonment should be against these EXTORTIONISTS, and Republicans should get smart, fast! Threatening letters have been sent to many people, all innocent, from Democrat Political Leaders,” the president wrote on Truth Social. “By copy of this statement, I am ordering the Department of Justice to look into this criminal act, immediately!”

In a subsequent post, Trump called on Republicans to report the “threats” to him personally as well as to the DOJ.

Trump’s characterization of the Democrats’ actions and statements as “extortion” misrepresents what lawmakers have actually said. In the run-up to the next Congress, Democrats have stated that they are preparing to use their congressional oversight powers — including issuing subpoenas and holding hearings — to investigate what they have characterized as misconduct by administration officials.

Recent letters from Sen. Richard Blumenthal’s (D-Conn.) to White House ballroom donors, for example, sought records about their contributions and warned of possible subpoenas if they failed to comply, not imprisonment.

And while Democratic leaders have not ruled out impeachment, they have emphasized investigations over immediately pursuing impeachment proceedings.

Trump singled out Michigan Sen. Elissa Slotkin in his first social media post, accusing her of “saying that she is going to go after all young people that believe in Republican Values” — an apparent reference to Slotkin telling an audience at the University of Chicago in October that she wanted to deter young people from working in the administration.

“I want them to be like, lord, that might be buying myself a ton of problems that I don’t want,” Slotkin said at an Oct. 13 event at the university. A student at the university filed a Senate ethics complaint over the remarks.

Slotkin’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

It’s not the first time he’s gone after the first-term senator. Trump accused Slotkin and several other congressional Democrats of sedition last year after they filmed a video imploring federal troops to disobey orders they felt were illegal.

“SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH!” he charged on Truth Social.

The Justice Department, meanwhile, has been roiled by a spate of high-profile defections from its ranks in the wake of the midterm losses. DOJ officials Harmeet Dhillon, John Eisenberg and Jason Reding Quiñones all resigned in recent days, as Blanche has looked to change the makeup of the agency’s upper crust amid frustration over its struggles to deliver victories for the department.

The DOJ did not respond to a request for additional information on its plans to implement the president’s call to action.