Trump orders Justice Department to investigate Democrats over alleged threats to officials

President Donald Trump said on Saturday that he has directed the Justice Department to open an investigation into Democrats whom he accused of threatening members of his administration and Republican donors. He announced the order in a post on Truth Social, according to Fox News.

“The Democrats are going around 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 they admit they have no reason to do so,” Trump wrote. Fox News said the post came after Democrats took back control of the House and the Senate in the midterm elections, winning strong majorities in both chambers.

The impeachment talk behind the order

Trump did not name the lawmakers he had in mind on the impeachment issue, but Fox News pointed to two House Democrats. Since Election Day, Rep. Hank Johnson of Georgia and Rep. Deborah Ross of North Carolina have each said publicly that they would support impeaching Attorney General Todd Blanche.

Johnson told SiriusXM’s “The Dan Abrams Show” on Thursday that he believed Blanche’s offenses called for impeachment, conviction and removal from office. Ross appeared on the same host’s radio show shortly afterward and also backed impeaching Blanche, though she argued Democrats “should start with Hegseth,” Fox News reported.

In his post, Trump denied that Blanche or any other administration official had committed an impeachable act. Fox News noted that he did not mention that Republican Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky will likely reintroduce articles of impeachment against Secretary of War Pete Hegseth on Monday.

Slotkin and the donors

The only Democrat Trump identified by name was Sen. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan. He accused her of saying she would “go after all young people that believe in Republican Values.” According to Fox News, he seemed to be referring to remarks she made on Oct. 13 at the University of Chicago, where she spoke of pursuing “signature cases” against people who “enabled” Trump.

In those remarks, Slotkin said she wanted graduates to think twice before joining the administration, fearing it might bring them “a ton of problems.” She added: “I want that deterrence message sent.”

Trump also asserted that Democrats have been threatening Republican donors “with imprisonment” over their views. Fox News said he did not say which donors were affected. It added that Democrats have signaled plans to look into some major Republican donors and corporations once they take charge in Congress, as Reuters reported this week. That could include contributors to the White House ballroom.

What remains unclear

Trump ended his post by saying that “these EXTORTIONISTS” should be imprisoned and that he wanted the Justice Department to examine the alleged conduct as a “criminal act.”

The coverage leaves open how the department will respond, what legal basis an inquiry would rest on, and whether any specific lawmaker will be targeted beyond the remarks Trump appeared to cite. Fox News did not report any statement from the Justice Department or from Blanche in reaction to the order. The next concrete step in the dispute may come Monday, when Massie is expected to move on impeachment articles against Hegseth.