First posted on Instagram
Attorney General Todd Blanche has vowed that the Justice Department will defend Stephen Miller, President Donald Trump's incoming chief of staff, after the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee warned Miller to "lawyer up" ahead of promised investigations into his conduct.
President Trump announced on Friday that Miller, his deputy chief of staff and the architect of his hardline immigration agenda, will replace Susie Wiles as chief of staff starting Monday, November 9. Hours later, Representative Robert Garcia of California, the ranking Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, issued a statement saying Oversight Democrats "will continue to investigate Miller for his misconduct" and declaring: "Stephen Miller should lawyer up."
Blanche fired back late on Friday in an interview on Fox News, telling host Laura Ingraham: "You have Garcia saying — minutes after Stephen Miller was promoted to be the Chief of Staff to the President of the U.S. — telling him to 'lawyer up.' Well, I tell you what, Stephen Miller has a lawyer. It's me and the entire Department of Justice." He posted the same message on X, writing: "The Chief of Staff already has a lawyer. The Attorney General of the United States and the Department of Justice."
Garcia's statement, posted by House Oversight Democrats on X on Friday evening, called Miller "the architect of the unconstitutional ICE raids that have terrorized our communities and kidnapped and killed American citizens and immigrant families." It said Oversight Democrats "will fight against his hateful policies in Congress and the courts."
Garcia, 48, is in line to become chairman of the Oversight Committee when Democrats take control of the House in January, after their victories in the November 3 midterm elections gave them the majority in both chambers. Democrats will not hold the committee's subpoena power until the new Congress is sworn in, and no subpoena has been issued. Garcia has told reporters he plans four investigations in the new term — the Trump family's business dealings, abuses at Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Department of Homeland Security, corporate corruption, and the government's handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files — and has named Miller, former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and former Noem adviser Corey Lewandowski among the officials he intends to call first.
Garcia has since dismissed Blanche's vow. In an interview with MS NOW, he said: "Todd Blanche is not Stephen Miller's lawyer. He's not the lawyer of the president. At the end of the day, he's the lawyer for the Department of Justice and the people of this country." House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, speaking on ABC's "This Week" on Sunday, said Democrats are "going to visit accountability on the wrongdoers," and called Miller a "dangerous xenophobe and reckless extremist" who had "blood — American blood — on his hands."
Miller, 41, has been one of Trump's closest advisers since the 2016 campaign and currently serves as deputy chief of staff, with a wide-ranging portfolio centered on immigration policy. Wiles, who resigned on Thursday night, is moving to Trump's outside political operation. She was the longest-serving chief of staff across both of Trump's terms. The White House has dismissed the Democrats' planned investigations as politically motivated.