Washington, November 7: President Donald Trump said on Saturday that he is ordering the US Justice Department to look into Democrats for, in his words, 'threatening a lot of people' with impeachment and other forms of punishment, calling their alleged actions a 'criminal act' — a claim he made in a social media post without providing evidence, Reuters reported.
Source: Reuters via SRN News
In the Truth Social post, Trump accused Democrats of 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, he asserted, they admit there is no reason to do so and no impeachable acts have been committed. 'This is extortion at the highest level,' he wrote. These are the president's allegations; no evidence of a crime was provided in the post.
Source: Reuters via SRN News
'Threatening letters have been sent to many people, all innocent, from Democrat Political Leaders,' Trump also wrote, closing: 'By copy of this statement, I am ordering the Department of Justice to look into this criminal act, immediately!' CNBC reported that he did not say who sent the alleged letters, who received them, or what they said, and none had been made public.
Source: CNBC reporting, via WorkersRights summary
Trump also alleged that Democrats were threatening Republican donors with imprisonment. Bloomberg, Fox News and the Washington Post were among the outlets reporting the same directive on Saturday, and CNBC reported that Trump did not identify any specific communication or provide evidence of criminal conduct. The Justice Department had not announced any investigation in response as of Saturday afternoon, according to the reporting.
Source: Bloomberg/CNBC reporting, via Augerton
The one Democrat Trump named: Senator Elissa Slotkin
The only Democrat Trump named in the post was Senator Elissa Slotkin of Michigan. He claimed she plans to go after young people who hold Republican values. CNBC reported that this appeared to refer to Slotkin's October 13 speech at the University of Chicago, where she said she wants young graduates to weigh whether working for the Trump administration could bring them problems later. Trump's characterisation of her remarks is his allegation; Slotkin's speech itself was about deterring graduates from joining the administration.
Source: CNBC reporting, via WorkersRights summary
Reuters noted that Trump's Justice Department has investigated Slotkin before: the former CIA analyst was among a group of Democratic lawmakers with national security backgrounds investigated after they posted a video urging service members and intelligence officials to disobey illegal orders from the administration — and a grand jury rejected the attempt to indict them.
Source: Reuters via SRN News
Why this is happening now: Democrats won Congress on Tuesday
The directive came four days after the November 3 midterm elections, in which Democrats won control of both chambers of Congress; the new majorities take office when the new Congress convenes in January 2027, and incoming Democratic leaders have pledged investigations of the Trump administration. Congress itself has the authority to conduct oversight and to begin impeachment proceedings.
Source: The National News Desk via Coastal ABC
Since Election Day, two House Democrats — Representatives Hank Johnson of Georgia and Deborah Ross of North Carolina — have publicly said they would support impeaching Attorney General Todd Blanche, Fox News reported in its coverage of Trump's post. Trump did not name either of them in the post announcing the order.
Source: Fox News reporting, via Fair Shake Daily
What happens next
A presidential post ordering the Justice Department to 'look into' a matter is not an indictment and is not a finding that anyone broke the law: no charges have been filed, and the department has not publicly said whether it will open a formal investigation or what statute, if any, it would examine. What is verified today is the order itself — and that it sets up an early confrontation between the White House and the incoming Democratic Congress over the line between oversight and criminal process.