USAupdated 1h ago2 min read
Archive photo · 10 August 2026Todd Blanche Warns Democrats’ Oversight Probes Could Face Criminal Prosecution
“Trump said he has ordered the Department of Justice (DOJ) to open an investigation”
“Blanche dodged questions Sunday on whether he would open investigations into Democratic members of Congress”
Photo: Ryan M. Biller / US federal government, Public domain · Cropped for layout
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Trump orders DOJ to probe Democrats over alleged threats to impeach officials. Todd Blanche says lawmakers planning oversight probes could face criminal prosecution.
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Blanche warns of prosecution
Attorney General Todd Blanche told CNN’s “State of the Union” that Democratic lawmakers planning oversight investigations into the Trump administration could face criminal prosecution, saying, “It depends on what’s said. So yes, there could be.”
“It depends on what’s said. So yes, there could be.”
Blanche framed his warning around “outright threats,” and he said, “What we‘ve seen over the past several days and even over the past several weeks are outright threats,” as he discussed the fallout from last week’s elections.
President Donald Trump set the tone on social media by declaring that investigative requests already made by Democrats are “extortion at the highest level, and they should be held accountable.”
Rep. Robert Garcia, who is poised to chair the House Oversight Committee in the next Congress, said Democrats are not going to be intimidated, adding, “The days of us not fighting back are over,” as he prepared investigations into what he called the “Trump crime family.”
Democrats weigh impeachment
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries told MS NOW his party will “hold the crooks accountable,” and he said he’s a “hard yes” on a resolution to impeach the defense secretary.
Jeffries accused Pete Hegseth of abusing his power, undermining national security and engineering a “reckless and costly war of choice in Iran,” while Hegseth dismissed the impeachment push as “all about the politics of personal destruction.”
Sen.-elect Adam Hamilton, the first Democrat elected to the chamber from Kansas in 94 years, expressed skepticism about impeachment and said he does not want the next two years to be spent “dividing our country further.”
Sen. Bernie Sanders said, “We cannot spend all of our time investigating Trump,” and he added, “We’ve got to stand up for working-class families, make a real difference in their lives.”
DOJ probe and political clash
President Donald Trump said he ordered the Department of Justice to open an investigation into instances of Democratic lawmakers “threatening” to impeach Attorney General Todd Blanche, among others, after Democrats regained control of the House and Senate in the midterm elections.
Trump wrote on Truth Social that “The Democrats are going around threatening a lot of people, including the Attorney General of the United States,” and he added that Democrats “admit they have no reason to do so.”
Blanche, appearing on CNN’s “State of the Union,” said the rhetoric he heard was not oversight and he told host Dana Bash, “It depends on what‘s said,” when asked whether the described threats would amount to a crime.
The Hill reported that Democratic Reps. Hank Johnson (Ga.) and Deborah Ross (N.C.) have already floated the idea of impeaching Blanche following the midterms, and it said Blanche’s leadership at the Justice Department has faced renewed scrutiny.
