Donald Trump and his MAGA accomplices are about to discover what happens when the congressional majority that spent two years protecting their backsides gets replaced by Democrats determined to hold them accountable.
Incoming House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jamie Raskin offered a preview of the coming reckoning during a blistering post-midterm discussion with CNN’s Manu Raju at George Washington University.
MAGA Lost. Raskin Isn’t Interested in Playing Nice
Raskin demolished the familiar Washington ritual of demanding that Democrats compromise whenever they win an election.
“When Trump beats us, everybody says to the Democrats, ‘Well, have you learned your lesson about what you did wrong and everything?’” he observed.
Turning to last week’s Blue Tsunami, Raskin said, “When we absolutely eviscerate Trump and MAGA, then they all say, ‘Well, are you reaching out to find some common ground with the people who’ve been standing up for authoritarianism and corruption for the last two years?’”
Raskin wasn’t buying it.
“We just won a landslide repudiation of their corruption and their authoritarianism.”
Republicans, he argued, should be the ones looking for common ground, starting with a way out of Trump’s disastrous Iran war.
“Let him come to us.”
More Than 200 Investigative Letters - And Counting
Raskin offered a particularly unpleasant preview for Trump administration officials who have grown comfortable with congressional Republicans looking the other way.
“My top investigative targets are corruption, authoritarianism, and violence by the government,” he declared, adding one more word: “lawlessness.”
“Everything that we are investigating now is contained in more than 200 investigatory letters that I’ve written to Donald Trump, and I’ve written to Todd Blanche and others.”
Raskin wouldn’t reveal which scandals would receive immediate attention. His explanation carried its own delicious insult.
“I’m not telling you what my top priorities are, because you have all these friends who are waiting to hear from you three months away, and we don’t know yet. That’s probably 10 scandals from now.”
Trump’s Justice Department Is Headed for the Hot Seat
Raskin reserved some of his harshest criticism for the Trump administration’s transformation of federal law enforcement.
He accused officials of purging prosecutors and other Justice Department personnel because they had worked on the January 6 investigation.
“The first thing they did was get rid of anybody who had worked on the case, the largest criminal investigation in American history,” he said. “What a scandal and an outrage that is.”
Raskin also targeted the handling of Jeffrey Epstein’s case files, which he said were transferred from New York to Washington and buried for six and a half months.
He challenged the administration’s assertion that the files provided no basis for investigating possible accomplices, saying a recent Democratic report identified “enough evidence on Donald Trump alone in his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein to justify further investigation.”
A Felony Charge for Touching the Reflecting Pool?
Raskin illustrated the absurdity of what he considers politically weaponized law enforcement with the case of Davey Hearn, a 67-year-old constituent.
“Davey goes on a bike ride. He’s 67 years old. He stops at the Reflecting Pool. He dips his hand in the water.”
“Multiple federal agents pounce on him, arrest him, take him in, and hold him for five hours.”
Federal authorities charged Hearn with felony destruction of government property. A judge ultimately dismissed the charges with prejudice.
Raskin said he wrote U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro regarding her office’s b.s. prosecution:
“Number one, you should pay for Davey Hearn’s legal fees. Number two, get your hands off my constituents.
And number three, if you’re still looking for a scofflaw criminal vandal who also happens to be a convicted felon at large who’s been damaging federal property in amounts of more than $1,000, I’ve got a great lead on the guy who bulldozed the East Wing of the White House illegally and has been desecrating the Kennedy Center.”
Turning to Raju, Raskin said: “I haven’t heard back from her yet.”
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Follow the Money
Raskin connected Trump’s Iran war to the administration’s foreign relationships and financial entanglements.
He accused Jared Kushner of operating under an extraordinary conflict of interest while serving as a regional peace envoy and maintaining business relationships with foreign sovereign wealth funds.
“It’s an absolute egregious conflict of interest,” Raskin declared, adding, “It’s also a violation of the foreign government Emoluments Clause, too.”
Raskin put the cost of Trump’s Iran war at $50 billion to $60 billion, money that could otherwise address Americans’ needs.
“That’s our money, tens of billions of dollars.”
Congress Is Not Trump’s Royal Court
Raskin also delivered a constitutional warning to Trump and his congressional loyalists.
“We’ve got the power to declare war,” he explained, “not Donald Trump and JD Vance and Tulsi Gabbard and their Signal group.”
“We’ve got the power to spend money, not Donald Trump.”
He challenged the conventional description of Congress and the executive as “co-equal” branches, arguing that it obscures Congress’s extensive constitutional authority over legislation, spending, oversight, and impeachment.
“If we’re a co-equal branch, why do we have the right to impeach, try, convict, remove, and disqualify him for life, and he doesn’t have the power to do that to us?”
Impeachment Isn’t Off the Table
Raju pressed Raskin about the possibility of impeaching Trump for a third time.
Raskin refused to predict what would happen, but he left no ambiguity about Democrats’ resolve.
“We are absolutely willing to do it because it’s part of our constitutional oath to defend American democracy against all enemies, foreign and domestic.”
He also reminded the audience that “impeachment applies not just to the president, but to every member of his cabinet.”
Raskin noted that immediate priorities, particularly restoring healthcare and food assistance, may take precedence over a prolonged impeachment battle.
“I would tell you tonight it’s much more important for us to get their healthcare back now than to launch into that process.”
MAGA’s Reckoning Is Coming
For two years, Trump and his MAGA loyalists operated under the protection of a Republican Congress that treated oversight like an inconvenience and accountability like a dirty word.
That protection is coming to an end.
Jamie Raskin isn’t promising political theater or another round of empty threats. He’s preparing to put the administration’s conduct under congressional scrutiny, demand answers, and hold officials accountable.
Trump may still occupy the White House, but he no longer gets to pretend Congress is merely another branch of his personal empire.
The voters have spoken. Raskin has heard them. And MAGA is about to discover just how much trouble it’s in.
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You can watch the full discussion below:
He is a warrior