Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut said Thursday he received a letter from a U.S. attorney informing him he’s being investigated for conducting a congressional inquiry.
Blumenthal, who is set to chair the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations when the Democratic majority takes control of the Senate next year, said the implied investigation is baseless.
In his own letter to the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Texas Aaron Reitz, Blumenthal said the public has a right to know under what circumstances corporations donated millions of dollars to projects Trump supports. He directed Reitz to preserve records and correspondence with the White House and senior Justice Department officials related to Reitz’s letter.
“I will not be intimidated,” the senator wrote.
I’m not sure what argument the government’s attorney could make about this in court. Congressional representatives have ABSOLUTE immunity from Article 1, Section 6, Clause 1 of the US Constitution for their official acts as congressmen in their representation on the floors of Congress. Aaron Reitz would have learned that in law school.
The argument is that all these upcoming Congressional investigations will infringe on the minions’ 1A right to freely associate with Donald Trump.
I don’t know how you can spin any 1A claim into a criminal investigation. That’s not how that works. Criminal investigations are only conducted by the government. The first amendment is only a protection from government interference.
Also, did the federal prosecution of John Gotti infringe on his right to associate with la Cosa nostra? Noooo.
And, of course, there’s the speech and debate clause that you mentioned.