Trump Orders Justice Department to Look Into Democrats Over Threats of Impeachment

President Donald Trump said Saturday he has ordered the Justice Department to look into Democrats he accused of threatening administration officials and others with impeachment and other forms of punishment. He called their actions a criminal act and offered no evidence for the accusation.

Trump made the order in a post on Truth Social, writing that Democrats were “threatening a lot of people” with impeachment. “By copy of this statement, I am ordering the Department of Justice to look into this criminal act, immediately!” he wrote, according to Reuters.

In the post, Trump accused Democrats of sending “threatening letters to many people, all innocent.” He did not name the Democrats he accused or identify the letters. Members of Congress have released copies of letters seeking documents on matters such as donations from tech companies for the ballroom Trump is building at the White House, Reuters reported.

The order came four days after Democrats won control of both chambers of Congress in Tuesday’s midterm elections. The new Congress takes office in January, and Democratic leaders have promised hearings and investigations into the administration’s actions once they are in power.

Slotkin singled out in the post

Trump singled out Sen. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan. Slotkin said last month at the University of Chicago that Congress should investigate people who have enabled Trump’s policies, and said she wanted a “deterrence message” that would make young people think twice about working for the administration.

Republicans criticized her remarks. Sen. Mike Lee of Utah wrote on social media that Slotkin was threatening young people who wanted to go into politics. Slotkin replied that Lee had lied about her comments.

Trump’s Justice Department has investigated Slotkin before. She was among a group of Democratic lawmakers with national security backgrounds whom the department investigated after they posted a video urging service members and intelligence officials to disobey illegal orders. A grand jury declined to indict them, Reuters reported.

No investigation announced

The Justice Department has not publicly said whether it will open an investigation in response to Trump’s order, and no charges have been announced. Spokespeople for the department and for Slotkin did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Reuters.

Reporting based on coverage by Reuters.