The White House says it's rejecting an unauthorized 'do-over' of the Mueller investigation. Nadler says that's 'preposterous.'

President Donald Trump.
(Image credit: Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images)

The White House is rejecting a request for documents from the House Judiciary Committee, blasting Democrats' investigation into President Trump as an attempted "do-over."

White House Counsel Pat Cipollone in a letter to House Judiciary Committee Chair Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) on Wednesday criticized the committee's March request for documents from former and current administration officials. Democrats are currently investigating whether Trump abused his power in office and obstructed justice. Special Counsel Robert Mueller's probe did not establish whether Trump committed an obstruction of justice offense but also did not exonerate him, laying out instances of potential obstruction.

Cipollone characterizes this congressional investigation as "unauthorized 'do-over'" of the "exhaustive" one conducted by Mueller. He argues Democrats are operating outside of their constitutional authority in order to conduct a "pseudo law enforcement investigation" because Mueller's probe "did not reach the conclusion that some members of the committee apparently would have preferred." He also says the "appropriate course" would be to end the inquiry.

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The White House will "resist the overbroad demands" from Democrats out of "respect for the rule of law," Cipollone concludes, demanding that they "narrow" the scope of the requests. This letter comes after the White House previously said it was instructing former counsel Don McGahn not to supply requested documents to Congress.

Nadler in response to the letter told CNN's Manu Raju that the White House is "claiming that the president is a king," adding, "no president, no person in the United States is above the law" and "this is preposterous." He also said that Democrats will not end their investigation and that they're considering hitting people who don't comply with subpoenas with "very large" fines. Earlier in the day, Nadler had said in an interview with CNBC that while we're "probably" not "heading for impeachment," Trump is "making it increasingly difficult" to avoid.

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Brendan Morrow

Brendan worked as a culture writer at The Week from 2018 to 2023, covering the entertainment industry, including film reviews, television recaps, awards season, the box office, major movie franchises and Hollywood gossip. He has written about film and television for outlets including Bloody Disgusting, Showbiz Cheat Sheet, Heavy and The Celebrity Cafe.