President Donald Trump said Saturday he is ordering the Justice Department to investigate Democratic lawmakers, accusing them of threatening administration officials and Republican donors with impeachment, prosecution and imprisonment after the party's midterm election victory.
In a series of posts on Truth Social, Trump said Democrats were "going around threatening a lot of people, including the Attorney General of the United States, and others, with Impeachment and many other forms of punishment, even though they admit they have no reason to do so." He called the alleged threats "extortion at the highest level" and "a criminal act," writing: "By copy of this statement, I am ordering the Department of Justice to look into this criminal act, immediately!"
In a follow-up post, Trump wrote, "These SLEAZEBAGS should go to jail for what they are doing," and urged Republican donors and party members to report alleged threats to the Justice Department or directly to him.
The only Democrat Trump named was Senator Elissa Slotkin of Michigan, whom he accused of planning to go after young people who support Republican values.
Trump offered no evidence for the alleged threats — he did not say who sent them, who received them, or what they said, CNBC reported. The Justice Department had not announced any investigation as of Saturday afternoon.
The posts came days after Democrats won control of both chambers of Congress in Tuesday's midterm elections. Democratic lawmakers have said they plan investigations into the Trump family's business dealings, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Attorney General Todd Blanche. Representative Robert Garcia of California, who is expected to chair the powerful House Oversight Committee, posted "LAWYER UP" on social media after the Democratic victory. According to Fox News, Democratic Representatives Hank Johnson and Deborah Ross have publicly backed impeaching Blanche.
