Sen. Richard Blumenthal ordered to preserve documents from inquiry into Trump ballroom

Résumé détaillé

The official’s letter comes on the day the White House told congressional Democrats that investigations into the administration could be a crime.

A Justice Department official called on Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., on Wednesday to preserve documents related to what he claims is harassment of citizens during Blumenthal’s investigation into White House ballroom donors, threatening “significant legal consequences” if he does not comply.

The U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Texas, Aaron Reitz, alleged in a letter to Blumenthal that his investigation equated to threatening “citizens for associating themselves with the President and other public officials.” The White House warned congressional Democrats on Wednesday that efforts to investigate the administration could be a crime.

In a post on X with a copy of the letter attached, Reitz equated Blumenthal’s investigation examining anonymous donors for the roughly $400 million project on White House grounds with wielding Congress as a “weapon” against Americans.

Acting Deputy Attorney General Trent McCotter, the second-highest-ranking official at the Justice Department, responded to Reitz’s post, saying, “The First Amendment expressly prohibits Congress from infringing the speech and association rights of Americans.”

“DOJ will defend against threats to those rights, period,” McCotter wrote.

Blumenthal said in a statement responding to the letter that he “will not be intimidated,” vowing to “vigorously pursue investigations into this Administration’s persistent misuse of taxpayer dollars and any corporate entity that has enabled their boundless corruption.”

“The Trump Administration is so afraid of transparency and oversight that they are weaponizing the Department of Justice to baselessly target Congress in direct violation of the Constitution,” Blumenthal wrote.

Blumenthal is the top Democrat on the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. The subcommittee is tasked with studying the economics and efficiency of government operations.

Blumenthal sent letters last month to a list of people whom a Washington Post…

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