Transcript of White House Launches Attack to Jail Democrats!

But first, as always, if you can, subscribe to support this work. I'm going to be covering every subpoena, every hearing, every attempt to dodge accountability, and I'm going to do it with you every step of the way. Like, comment, share, get the word out, and let's talk about what happened this morning. Because the White House Counsel's Office, Will Scharf, the leader of the White House Counsel's Office, sent a letter to Congressman Robert Garcia. I'm going to display the letter for you in three parts, and we're going to walk through it. In January, Garcia becomes chair of the House Oversight Committee.

That's the committee with the power to subpoena the administration, to drag officials in front of cameras, and to make them answer under oath. The letter, which was first reported on by Punchbowl News, warns that some of the new majority's oversight may, quote, "cross the line into blatant criminality," saying that issuing what it calls "unlawful subpoenas" may warrant further investigation. They write, "I want to remind you of the foundational limits the Constitution imposes on congressional investigations and subpoenas, which you and members of the new Congress have evinced a clear intent to transgress," then citing various Supreme Court precedent.

Scharf's legal argument is that Congress can investigate only for a, quote, "legitimate legislative purpose." And he cites two cases in front of the Supreme Court, including Watkins versus United States from 1957 and Trump versus Mazers from 2020. He claims that Democratic investigations are designed to harass and aggrandize rather than to advance any legitimate legislative end. He goes on to cite specific members of Congress talking about the investigations, including Congresswoman-elect Emily Randall, who says, quote, "We're going to be passing out subpoenas like candy."

Rep-elect Analia Mejia, who says, "We're going to toss out subpoenas like Mardi Gras beads." Senator Ed Markey saying that Democrats are going to need to plant new forests for all the subpoenas we will be printing. Congressman-elect Richard Ojeda, who says he cannot watch he cannot wait to watch Pete Hegseth squirm. Congresswoman-elect Katie Padilla-Stout, who told lawyers who told officials to, quote, "lawyer up, clear your schedules, and put some makeup on for the cameras." Every one of those quotes is now in an official White House letter raising the possibility of criminal investigation.

And then he goes after Congressman Robert Garcia directly in the letter. He calls Garcia's statements, quote, "rather shocking." He points to Garcia's lawyer-up campaign, pointing to the moment Mike Johnson warned that Democrats would go after Trump. Garcia replied with three words, quote, "He's not wrong," ending the letter with, "The administration will not be extorted and will not be cowed by unlawful process motivated by animus, pettiness, hatred, or any unlawful motive." Now, Congressman Robert Garcia has issued the following statement in response, saying, quote, "It appears Donald Trump has something to hide."

Let me be clear, Congress's authority comes from Article 1 of the Constitution, not from the permission of the White House. Congress has wide latitude to conduct investigations and oversight and authority inherent in the power to legislate. Here's the thing, this letter from Will Scharf is going to bite the White House later on in court, because now Congress can just simply say, well, they are already pre-budding, pre-budding, preparing to essentially ignore subpoenas before we even issue them in the first place. Before we issue them in the first place. And they're going to tell a court, look at that letter from Will Scharf, we don't have to, we don't have to try to force them to comply.

We can just go directly to the courts and force them to comply. In addition, there's nothing criminal with investigating the president. Absolutely nothing. But you don't send a letter like this two months early unless you're worried about what's coming. I do want to touch on Pete Hegseth briefly, because there was the vote last night to shelve the impeachment of the Defense Secretary. The vote sent Congressman Thomas Massie's eight articles of impeachment to the Republican-led Judiciary Committee, effectively killing them for the rest of Congress. Massie was the only Republican to vote against the motion.

Every other Republican voted to protect Hegseth. Here's what blew up online. Eleven Democrats missed the vote. Seven Republicans missed the vote. Some Democrats say they were stuck in traffic near the Capitol behind an accident and a police escort for a bus, and Democrats, many, were furious. Here's what one congresswoman said outside the Capitol Building.

Well, you scandalous. You doing stuff that's unconstitutional and illegal. So you need to go. So shame on folks who were not here. Because these people lost. They lost, and they still found a way to show up to table this bill. Shame folk.

Now, you can debate for yourselves on what you think about all of that. Democrats do need to show up. But the other thing is, if every one of them had been there, the vote probably would have failed anyway. Why? Because all seven Republicans who also didn't show up could have shown up and would have defeated the vote. But ultimately, we don't know. We don't know. And we don't know what the future holds for Hegseth. Now, meanwhile, I do want to talk about a significant shift in the South. Democrats have now won the popular vote across the South in the last week's midterms.

First time since 1984 in Senate races. First time since 1992 in House races. Democrats flipped Senate seats in Texas and South Carolina. States that had an elected Democrat statewide. They are likely going to flip Mississippi as soon as today. One election doesn't make for a permanent realignment. And, well, we should have warning before reading too much into it. But a region Republicans have taken for granted for a generation just sent a clear message. So that's where we are right now. The White House is threatening Congress with investigation even before Congress has the gavel.

Republicans voted as a block to protect Hegseth. Top officials are living on military bases because of a war that's still ongoing. And the South just voted in a way we haven't seen in decades. The administration knows what's coming in January, and that's why it's lashing out now. I'll keep you updated every step of the way. Subscribe, support. See you soon.