Attorney General Todd Blanche pushed back on CNN's "State of the Union" Sunday morning after host Dana Bash described Democrats' planned investigations of the Trump administration as constitutional oversight.
Blanche said that over the past several weeks, elected Democrats in Congress have made "outright threats" against conservatives, Republican donors and college students who might want to work for President Trump. "Before they're even in power, they're already talking about investigations and impeachments with no basis, no facts," he said.
When Bash said Democrats were talking about investigations as part of the oversight role laid out in the Constitution, Blanche cut in: "Wait, wait, wait. No, no, no. They have a very unique role in oversight. I agree." He went on: "Have you been listening to the rhetoric the past couple of days? ... They're talking about going after basically every member of the cabinet. They're talking about impeachments. They're talking about going after companies, private companies who happen to have made investments in this country over the past couple of years. That is not oversight. I welcome oversight."
Asked whether the Justice Department would investigate and whether there was a crime, Blanche said "it depends on what's said" and that "there could be," adding that Americans have free speech and are allowed to criticize President Trump. Later in the interview he said that within moments of Stephen Miller being named chief of staff, Democratic leaders in the Senate and House "start threatening him. That's not oversight. That's not governing."
The interview came a day after House Democrats told the progressive Crooked Con conference in Washington that their first weeks in the majority would be "very aggressive," the Washington Examiner reported. Rep. Robert Garcia, the likely next Oversight chairman, said Democrats would go to court to enforce their subpoenas.
Video: CNN's State of the Union, via @EricLDaugh.
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