Rep. Robert Garcia (D-CA) told Republican leaders to “lawyer up” on Tuesday night, posting the warning on social media just as projections showed Democrats retaking the U.S. House majority.
Garcia’s post came shortly after Breitbart News’s election livewire reported, just before 10:30 p.m., that NBC News had projected a Democrat House majority, with the network noting Democrats could also take the Senate barring surprises in a handful of still-open races.
Garcia is the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee. He has previously discussed plans to issue subpoenas to acting Attorney General Todd Blanche and other Trump administration officials on the first day of a Democrat majority. The Long Beach lawmaker has argued his party needs new rules and a new standard to confront a president he accuses of trying to rig elections, and has said his team is preparing investigations into what he calls “Trump family corruption” as well as the Epstein files.
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) has warned that a Democrat-controlled House would launch “nonstop investigations,” targeting the first family and the next Republican presidential nominee.
President Trump has responded by vowing to preemptively pardon administration officials if Democrats move to target them. “Well, that’s what Biden did. He gave everybody a pardon. I mean, you had the congressional committee, the unselect committee set up. It was a corrupt committee, they were all corrupt. He gave everybody a pardon,” Trump said. Asked if he would do the same, he said, “I would if I needed to, sure.”
Garcia’s post drew reaction online. One user wrote, “So now the democrats are gonna waste two years on fake investigations, instead of making things better for the american people? Guess their complaints about trump wasting time and money is now full circle.” Another replied, “A great way to waste 2 years. Easier to say that you have no plan to improve the lives of Americans.”
