White House lawyer's hardball warning to Dems has legal experts on both sides questioning one key threat

Counsel to the president William Scharf sent a letter to House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform ranking member California Democratic Rep.Robert Garcia Nov.

9, warning Democrats against running afoul of their allotted powers pertaining to investigations and subpoenas.The letter put Democratic lawmakers on notice to remind them of the "foundational limits that the Constitution imposes on congressional investigations and subpoenas" and suggesting that their actions could cross the line of criminal misconduct.Garcia, who is poised to chair the committee next year when Democrats gain the House majority, responded to the letter suggesting that the president has "something to hide."Legal experts from across the political spectrum who spoke to Fox News Digital suggested that, while the White House is within its rights to challenge individual subpoenas, it faces significant obstacles if it decides to seek criminal indictments related to Garcia's oversight activities."In short, the administration can assert privileges, negotiate over requests and challenge particular subpoenas through the appropriate legal process, but criminal prosecutions are, to mix metaphors, a very different animal that face a higher bar," Ilya Shapiro, director of constitutional studies at the right-of-center Manhattan Institute, told Fox News Digital.AG BLANCHE CLASHES WITH ANCHOR ASKING WHETHER IT'S HIS 'JOB' TO DEFEND THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATIONWill Scharf during an executive order signing in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C., on Thursday, Aug.

6, 2026.(Aaron Schwartz/CNP/Bloomberg via Getty Images)Congressional investigations also enjoy protections under the Constitution's Speech or Debate Clause, which the Supreme Court has held shields lawmakers from judicial interference when their investigative activities fall within the legitimate legislative sphere.Shapiro explained that Democrats who are "promising indiscriminate subpoenas are inviting challenges to their dema...