DOJ warns Sen. Blumenthal his White House ballroom donor probe is intimidating Trump supporters, orders him to preserve records

The Justice Department on Wednesday accused Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) of using his investigation into donors to President Trump's White House ballroom project to intimidate Americans for supporting the president, and ordered him to preserve every record tied to the probe, the Washington Examiner reports.

Blumenthal, the top Democrat on a key Senate investigations panel, revealed in October that he is probing people and companies who gave money for the ballroom, which Trump says is being paid for privately through roughly $400 million in donations. He has since demanded records from Apple, Meta, Google, Nvidia, Amazon, Microsoft, BlackRock, Lockheed Martin, Palantir and other donors.

U.S. Attorney Aaron Reitz of the Southern District of Texas wrote to Blumenthal that it is "extraordinary for an elected official to intimidate citizens for engaging in philanthropic practices that will benefit our nation for generations," adding: "The American people are entitled to freely associate without elected officials terrorizing them with aggressive, harassing government action."

Acting Deputy Attorney General Trent McCotter, the department's No. 2 official, backed the letter. "The First Amendment expressly prohibits Congress from infringing the speech and association rights of Americans. DOJ will defend against threats to those rights, period," he said. Blumenthal says he is looking into whether undisclosed donors received favorable regulatory decisions or government contracts.