DOJ attorney threatens senator over White House ballroom donor probe
Select a version of the text written from a presumed ideological perspective. This is not the original text, but a hypothetical version — how someone with that viewpoint might have phrased it. Tapping the current version again will return to the original or select cleaned version.
U.S. Attorney Aaron Reitz warned Senator Richard Blumenthal of possible criminal penalties for not complying with a document request tied to investigations of donors to the White House ballroom project.
U.S. Attorney Aaron Reitz, appointed by President Donald Trump, sent a letter to Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal demanding that the senator preserve emails and other records related to an inquiry into donations for the White House ballroom and confirm compliance by Nov. 18, while threatening that destroying evidence could lead to criminal consequences. Reitz cited two federal criminal statutes, including one covering conspiracies to violate constitutional rights, but did not indicate that the senator was the subject of a criminal investigation.
Blumenthal, who will chair a Senate subcommittee on investigations, said the warning was a blatant attempt to intimidate Congress and pledged to keep investigating the administration’s use of taxpayer funds and corporate contributions. He said the public deserves to know whether donations from companies such as Nvidia, Apple, Amazon, Comcast, Microsoft, T-Mobile and Caterpillar were tied to contracts, lawsuits or regulatory decisions.
The letter was posted publicly on X, where Reitz wrote, "Congress is not a weapon to be wielded against the American people. I’m taking the first step to stop this abuse of power." Blumenthal, in turn, asked Reitz to preserve his own communications with the White House and the Justice Department.
Documents obtained by The Washington Post show that the ballroom project has attracted at least $333 million in private gifts, while the overall cost of the renovation has climbed from an estimated $200 million to as much as $600 million, with half potentially funded by the federal budget. The project includes extensive security features described in DOJ filings.
The exchange follows recent letters from White House counsel Will Scharf to Democratic members of Congress, branding planned investigations as "abusive and capricious threats" and warning that they could cross into criminal conduct. Representative Robert Garcia replied that congressional authority comes from the Constitution, not from White House permission.