White House Counsel Shreds Robert Garcia’s ‘Lawyer Up’ Campaign as ‘Blatant Criminality’

White House Counsel William O. Scharf sent a scathing letter (see below) this week to Rep. Robert Garcia (D-CA), the incoming chairman of the House Oversight Committee, reminding him that the Constitution, and the Supreme Court, limit congressional investigations to legitimate legislative purposes. Scharf warned that the Democrats’ public vows to weaponize subpoenas against the Trump administration, its officials, and even private citizens “may cross the line into blatant criminality.”

The letter, dated November 9, cites Watkins v. United States (354 U.S. 178, 187 (1957)), in which the Court held that “[i]nvestigations conducted solely for the personal aggrandizement of the investigators or to ‘punish’ those investigated are indefensible.” Scharf wrote that Congress “cannot employ them to exercise powers of criminal prosecution assigned to the Executive and the Judiciary.”

He noted that Garcia and other Democrats have “evinced a clear intent to transgress” those limits through “abusive and capricious threats.” Garcia’s own rhetoric drew particular scrutiny.

After Democrats flipped the House, he told Trump administration officials to “lawyer up,” launched a campaign under that slogan, and later chalked up his motives to “gay” “pettiness” rather than any legislative purpose while comparing himself to a demonic clown. Scharf highlighted other Democrats’ statements: one said they would “toss” subpoenas “like candy,” another wanted a Cabinet official to “squirm,” and still others openly discussed using hearings to pave the way for prosecutions or jail time. “

Abusive threats and public statements about the indiscriminate issuance of subpoenas, along with threats directed at prospective targets within the Administration make it abundantly clear that any forthcoming investigative processes will be deployed to harass and aggrandize, rather than to advance any legitimate legislative end,” Scharf wrote.

The letter continued: “Threats to executive branch officials designed to deter them from public service, or process designed merely to abuse or instill fear in the recipient may cross the line into blatant criminality. And issuing unlawful subpoenas with the intention of depriving citizens of their constitutional rights and privileges may warrant further investigation.” Scharf closed by stating the administration “will not be extorted and will not be cowed by unlawful process motivated by animus, pettiness, hatred, or any other unlawful motive to intimidate, penalize, or interfere with the lawful functioning of government.”

This is the same Democratic pattern California has seen for years: sanctuary policies that openly defy federal immigration law, the release of thousands of criminal illegal aliens onto California streets, and rhetoric that labels federal agents as “terrorists”. Garcia, who once prioritized RuPaul over the concrete problems of his Long Beach constituents, now appears ready to turn the Oversight Committee into a stage for punishment rather than legislation—the precise conduct the Supreme Court has called indefensible.

Garcia responded that Congress is a “co-equal branch” and will not be deterred. The Constitution, as Scharf reminded him, says otherwise.