A Department of Justice official accused Sen. Richard Blumenthal of harassing citizens in his investigation into pay-for-play allegations about White House ballroom donors.
U.S. Attorney Aaron Reitz for the Southern District of Texas told Mr. Blumenthal, Connecticut Democrat, in a letter to preserve documents related to his probe, accusing him of threatening “citizens for associating themselves with the President and other public officials.”
“It is also extraordinary for an elected official to intimidate citizens for engaging in philanthropic practices that will benefit our nation for generations,” Mr. Reitz wrote in the letter. “The American people are entitled to freely associate without elected officials terrorizing them with aggressive, harassing government action.”
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He told Mr. Blumenthal that the lawmaker is obligated to preserve all documents, communications and other information relevant to “your intent to deprive citizens of their core constitutional rights” and “your efforts to suppress associational activities for philanthropic projects throughout the nation’s capital.”
Mr. Reitz threatened “significant legal consequences,” including sanctions, adverse-inference instructions or other penalties, if Mr. Blumenthal doesn’t comply.
Mr. Blumenthal countered in a statement that he “will not be intimidated,” promising to “vigorously pursue investigations into this Administration’s persistent misuse of taxpayer dollars and any corporate entity that has enabled their boundless corruption.
“The Trump Administration is so afraid of transparency and oversight that they are weaponizing the Department of Justice to baselessly target Congress in direct violation of the Constitution.”
He also responded with his own record preservation request.
“Since you appear to have evidence of the Trump Administration’s efforts to protect corporate donors and Administration officials from legitimate oversight, I accordingly direct you to preserve all records and correspondence, including all communications with the White House or senior officials at the Department of Justice, related to the decision to draft and post your letter,” Mr. Blumenthal wrote in a Wednesday letter to Mr. Reitz.
A Justice Department spokesperson said that “the Department routinely requests that records be preserved when public officials take such extreme actions.”
White House counsel Will Scharf warned Rep. Robert Garcia, the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, that threats against executive branch officials meant to deter them from public service “may cross the line into blatant criminality.”
“After the election, @SenBlumenthal & his allies think they can intimidate Americans for their constitutionally protected associations w/ President Trump,” Mr. Reitz said Wednesday on social media. “Congress is not a weapon to be wielded against the American people. I’m taking the first step to stop this abuse of power.”
Mr. Blumenthal, the top Democrat on the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, had mailed out dozens of letters to known ballroom donors — including Amazon, Apple, BlackRock, Google, Lockheed Martin, Meta, Microsoft, Nvidia and Palantir.
The White House released a list of 37 donors without amounts in October 2025. An internal list obtained by The Washington Post showed $333 million in private contributions, including at least $77 million from donors who requested anonymity.
In Mr. Blumenthal’s letters, he warned them to voluntarily hand over records related to their donations by Jan. 4 or face subpoenas.
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