AATA

Garcia: I think Trump needs to reread the Constitution, which clearly lays out the powers of the Congress. Congress is an equal branch of government. Our job is to serve as a check and balance and to investigate, especially if there is corruption. And so this idea that Donald Trump has sent his White House counsel to send me a letter threatening investigations of me, of Democrats who actually stand up to him and stand up to this corruption, is crazy. And it is so much a part of what Donald Trump does. He tries to weaponize the government against people he perceives may be his political enemies. The reality is that we’re not going to be intimidated. We have real investigations to conduct, and we’re going to take an aggressive posture in doing so.

Raskin: Somebody should tell Todd Blanche and his team to get a Supreme Court decision called Steffel v. Thompson, which says it’s legally actionable to bring an injunction action against the government if the government is trying to scare you out of exercising your First Amendment rights and your constitutional rights. In our case, it’s not just that these members were exercising their constitutional rights; they were exercising their constitutional duties. We have a duty, as the Article I preeminent branch of government, to conduct oversight operations of the entire government, as well as the economy and other things happening in society.

Garcia: We are not going to be threatened or intimidated because we are demanding accountability and oversight. The truth is that he needs to understand that Congress is a co-equal branch of government. This idea that President Trump or the White House counsel want to send threatening letters to myself… it’s not going to stop our important work.