White House counsel Will Scharf warned Rep. Robert Garcia, incoming Oversight chair, that possible Democratic probes next year could slide into outright criminality.
Scharf added that unlawful subpoenas meant to strip citizens of their rights might draw further scrutiny. Garcia plans to look into allegations involving the president's family, DHS and ICE, and corporate corruption.
CNN anchor Kaitlan Collins said the administration is preparing to fight subpoenas and take an adversarial stance toward the new Democratic majority.
House Oversight Republicans released their final Epstein report Tuesday. It concludes that federal law enforcement and prosecutors repeatedly failed, and that Epstein's crimes after 2005 could have been prevented.
The 15-month probe blames a 2007 non-prosecution deal for much of that failure. Bill Gates, Leon Black and a former Obama White House counsel are among those named, though no documents implicate President Trump.
Committee Democrat Robert Garcia, who is set to lead the panel in January, called the report incomplete and promised public hearings.
The White House has warned Democrats that planned probes of the Trump administration could veer into criminal conduct. Its counsel raised the point in a letter to Rep. Robert Garcia, the likely next Oversight chair.
Garcia said the president appears to be concealing something and that Democrats won't be cowed. His panel plans to examine how Trump's family has grown wealthier since his return to office.
A U.S. attorney in Texas separately told Sen. Richard Blumenthal to preserve his records. Blumenthal, set to lead a Senate panel in January, said he would not be scared off.
Trump has named Stephen Miller, the architect of his immigration crackdown, as White House chief of staff, and immigrant advocates and California officials are alarmed.
Advocates in Southern California fear more enforcement, but Democrats' midterm gains give the next Congress more ways to rein in the White House.
Rep. Robert Garcia, set to lead the House Oversight Committee, said Trump is escalating, and Sen. Alex Padilla promised oversight and subpoenas. Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez said her office will keep pushing back.
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