Democrats map out probes of Trump family, top aides as White House warns of 'criminality'

The sabre-rattling between Democrats on the Hill and the Trump administration is already heating up as both sides prepare for an onslaught of probes into President Donald Trump, his family members, and administration officials when Democrats take control of Congress in January.

The incoming Democratic House Oversight Chairman, Rep. Robert Garcia, has vowed to specifically investigate the "Trump Crime Family, corporate corruption, DHS and ICE abuses, and the cover-up of the Epstein files."

"Lawyer up," the future chairman said in a statement.

The response from White House counsel Will Scharf accused Democrats of veering away from legitimate constitutional oversight function to engage in "threats" that "may cross the line into blatant criminality," as he explained in a letter to Garcia reported Wednesday by Punchbowl News.

The letter came two days after the president escalated on Truth Social, calling the Democrats' threats "Weaponization and Lawfare at another level." He said he would order the Justice Department to "look into this criminal act, immediately."

Attorney General Todd Blanche followed on Sunday with a message for the administration's staff. "If you work in this administration, you have a lawyer. It's me," he said.

When the 120th Congress convenes on Jan. 3, Democrats will hold the gavels in both chambers. The Oversight chairman is one of only three House chairs who can issue a subpoena without a committee vote or sign-off from the ranking member.

Some Democrats are warning, however, that sweeping probes into the administration and its allies could distract lawmakers from delivering on the things Americans voted for. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer recently warned on The New York Times podcast "The Daily" that the party would lose if it focused only on corruption. "You got to do some but not let it overshadow and take away what we can do on costs," he said.

The Trump family

Garcia previously said that his new committee will focus on probing the Trump family's cryptocurrency deals, Donald Trump Jr.'s business dealings, and other family members like Jared Kushner "sitting on boards and getting contracts."

World Liberty Financial, the crypto venture the Trump family founded with the family of special envoy Steve Witkoff, is at the top of the list. Democrats have previously focused on a reported $500 million stake held by an Emirati investor known as the "Spy Sheikh" and on the president's October 2025 pardon of Binance founder Changpeng Zhao. Oversight Democrats calculate the family has made more than $2.45 billion from crypto, with more than $630 million coming from foreign sources.

Democrats have also raised questions about the president's sons' independent business activities. In a May 8 letter to Pentagon Inspector General Platte B. Moring III, Garcia flagged a $24 million award to a robotics company that employs Eric Trump.

"Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr.'s purchases, consultancies, and advisory roles create unprecedented intertwining of President Trump's personal financial interests with U.S. policy," he wrote.

Then in August, Garcia joined Sens. Elizabeth Warren, Richard Blumenthal and Tammy Duckworth in asking the inspector general to review $3.2 billion in awards to companies backed by 1789 Capital and American Ventures, investment firms affiliated with the Trump sons. A Trump Organization spokeswoman told The Washington Post the sons are "passive, minority investors" with no role in running the companies.

Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin, the House Judiciary Committee's incoming chairman, opened an inquiry in April into what he called the "glaring and incurable conflict of interest" of Jared Kushner serving as the president's "Special Envoy for Peace" while raising money for Affinity Partners, Kushner's investment firm, which has received investments from Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund.

"This investigation will be a priority for our Committee in the coming period," Raskin wrote.

Kushner never replied to Raskin's initial letter seeking information.

In an Aug. 24 follow-up, Raskin expanded the probe to a land purchase in Albania and warned the deal could expose Kushner to liability under a federal anti-bribery law, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. Affinity's chief legal officer has said Kushner complied with all applicable laws.

Democrats also plan to revisit the president's pardons, which Judiciary Democrats alleged in an August staff report erased nearly $1.7 billion in restitution, fines and forfeitures.

Administration officials

Garcia also wants to target Stephen Miller, whom Trump named White House chief of staff on Nov. 6 to replace the outgoing Susie Wiles, for his role in developing what he described as an "unjust" immigration policy. In an interview, Garcia said his actions were "unconstitutional, unjust, and possibly illegal." The chairman-in-waiting said a probe would cover family separations, detention contracts and due process.

Democrats are also expected to dig into former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem's tenure at the agency. Specifically, they will likely probe a $220 million ad campaign Democrats allege was steered to politically connected firms through no-bid contracts.

In March, Democrats asked the Justice Department to investigate whether Noem committed perjury when she testified that the ad contracts were competitively bid. The DHS inspector general has since opened a review of contracting under Noem and Lewandowski.

Lewandowski has also faced accusations of asking companies seeking DHS work to pay him or hire his associates. A spokesperson for Lewandowski called those allegations "absolutely false."

The Democrats on the Foreign Affairs Committee have demanded testimony on the Iran war from Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, Trump special envoy Steve Witkoff and Kushner.

Oversight Democrats have also called for Blanche to testify on the release of the Epstein files.