Trump, DOJ Stand Defiant Ahead of Probe11/09 06:17

   President Donald Trump and his Department of Justice are taking a combative 
stance toward Democrats after their election victories in the midterms, 
signaling intense conflict to come as lawmakers prepare aggressive 
investigations into the executive branch next year.

   (AP) -- President Donald Trump and his Department of Justice are taking a 
combative stance toward Democrats after their election victories in the 
midterms, signaling intense conflict to come as lawmakers prepare aggressive 
investigations into the executive branch next year.

   Trump set the tone, declaring on social media that investigative requests 
already made by Democrats are "extortion at the highest level, and they should 
be held accountable." Attorney General Todd Blanche echoed the Republican 
president and said criminal investigations of Democrats are possible.

   "They are not allowed to just go around threatening existing members of the 
administration, to go around threatening companies, and that's what President 
Trump is extremely worried about and he should be," Blanche said as he and 
congressional Democrats appeared on the Sunday news shows to discuss the 
repercussions from last week's elections.

   Rep. Robert Garcia, who is poised to chair the powerful House Oversight 
Committee in the next Congress, is preparing investigations into what he calls 
the "Trump crime family." He said Democrats are not going to be intimidated.

   "The days of us not fighting back are over," said Garcia, D-Calif.

   The early rhetoric sets up a showdown ahead that will likely define Trump's 
remaining two years in office and test the power of Congress to put a check on 
the White House. About 7 in 10 voters nationally say Congress is not doing 
enough to provide checks and balances on the presidency, according to The AP 
Voter Poll, a survey of more than 100,000 midterm voters.

   Democrats have made clear that impeachment is an option.

   If there are people who have been "shortchanging the American people, 
screwing over the American people, or stealing from the American people, then 
they need to be held accountable in a manner consistent with Congress' role, 
constitutionally," said Democratic House leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York.

   Some Democrats are worried about overreach 

   But the investigative onslaught is also a source of tension for Democrats, 
with many warning that delivering on their central promise to voters -- actions 
to lower the cost of living -- must take precedence.

   Some fear their resounding wins Tuesday that have given them healthy 
majorities in the House and Senate will prove fleeting if conflict with Trump 
defines the agenda.

   Sen.-elect Adam Hamilton, the first Democrat elected to the chamber from 
Kansas in 94 years, expressed skepticism about impeachment, saying his campaign 
was about trying to bring people together. He said he does not want the next 
two years to be spent "dividing our country further."

   "I'm not as interested in impeachment as setting up guardrails," Hamilton 
said. Still, Hamilton said he understands that some investigations are 
necessary, and Democrats "have to look at what's happened in Washington."

   Sen. Bernie Sanders, a Vermont independent who caucuses with Democrats, said 
he wants to hold Trump accountable, but warned there was only so much time.

   "We cannot spend all of our time investigating Trump," Sanders said. "We've 
got to stand up for working-class families, make a real difference in their 
lives."

   Jeffries casts doubt on working with Stephen Miller 

   Jeffries, who is on the cusp of becoming the nation's first Black House 
speaker, was asked on election night about the prospects of working with Trump. 
He said he would be ready to work with the other side of the aisle "whenever 
and wherever possible to deliver real results."

   Jeffries on Sunday criticized Trump's choice of longtime adviser Stephen 
Miller to succeed Susie Wiles as his chief of staff, calling him an "awful 
choice" and cast doubt on the prospect of working with him.

   "There's not going to be an opportunity, certainly, to work with Stephen 
Miller and what he represents. And we're committed to forcefully pushing back 
against the extremism that they may try to continue to unleash on the American 
people," he said.

   Democrats across the ideological spectrum have been critical of the 
appointment of Miller, an architect of Trump's mass deportation machine that 
became an issue in the midterm elections. Nationally, about 6 in 10 voters said 
the administration's actions on immigration enforcement had "gone too far," 
according to The AP Voter Poll.

   Jeffries also said he supports a pending resolution from Rep. Thomas Massie, 
R-Ky., to impeach Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. Jeffries said Democrats would 
be discussing it when they return to the Capitol this week. "Hegseth has got to 
go," he said.

   "I'm a hard yes on the Hegseth resolution," Jeffries said.

   Hegseth in a video dismissed the impeachment push as "all about the politics 
of personal destruction." He said it "won't work with me."

   New senators express skepticism about Schumer 

   At least two new incoming Democratic senators expressed some reservations 
Sunday about Democratic leader Chuck Schumer, who's expected to be reelected to 
his post after leading his party back to the majority.

   Hamilton said he's told Schumer, who is currently running unopposed, that he 
means no disrespect but that the New Yorker is a polarizing figure in Kansas 
and Hamilton is aiming for someone less divisive.

   "What I'd be looking for is a leader who can lead from the center, somebody 
who can bring Republicans and Democrats together," Hamilton said. "It feels 
like it is a time for fresh and new ideas and somebody who can unite us instead 
of dividing us."

   Hamilton said he wants to get to know the other Democratic senators better 
before he makes any recommendations.

   Sen.-elect Abdul El-Sayed of Michigan, whom Schumer did not back in the 
Democratic primary, said he had been committed to Sen. Chris Van Hollen, but 
acknowledged that the Maryland Democrat does not appear to be running for the 
post.

   El-Sayed said he and Schumer, who put $67 million into El-Sayed's general 
election campaign, "figured out how to work together" after the primary.

   "The question to me is, who wants to be the leader who's going to make sure 
that we deliver on the mandate that we just got?" El-Sayed said.

   Blanche was interviewed on "Fox News Sunday" and CNN's "State of the Union." 
Garcia also was on CNN, Jeffries spoke on ABC's "This Week," Hamilton and 
Sanders were on CNN and NBC, and El-Sayed appeared on ABC.