Congressional Democrats plan to use their subpoena power to target private companies and individuals as a way of circumventing what they anticipate will be massive resistance by the Trump administration to their demands for documents and testimony from government officials, four people familiar with the planning told MS NOW.

As they map out their plans to investigate what they say has been rampant corruption and lawbreaking during the second Trump administration, Democrats are counting on a widespread refusal to answer subpoenas by President Donald Trump and his appointees, said sources, who were granted anonymity to discuss internal strategy. It’s seen as unlikely that the Trump Justice Department will prosecute anyone for defying a Congressional subpoena, and the federal government could pay any fines Congress or a court can impose after a contempt finding.

But a lot of pertinent evidence exists outside of government, in the correspondence files and email accounts of law firms, corporations and former officials, who are far more likely to comply, they said.

And the private sector knows what’s coming.

“We can expect subpoenas to go after internal corporate communications, as well as communications between corporate executives and administration officials,” said Daniel Suleiman, a former DOJ official at the Covington and Burling law firm who represents companies in congressional investigations.

In a bulletin to clients, Suleiman advised companies to reach out proactively to congressional committee staff if they believe they might be targeted for scrutiny. Many are already heeding that and similar advice. A senior congressional aide told MS NOW, “I just have done 15 meetings in the last 72 hours with corporate counsel.”

In interviews, Democratic congressional staffers said the challenge is prioritizing which topics to dig into among dozens of fruitful areas. House Judiciary Committee Democrats, for example, have written 194 letters over the last two years making investigative demands. House committee staffers were asked to prepare hundred-day plans, and “everybody turned in 15 years worth of work,” the senior aide said.

Interviews with aides, coupled with the public comments of Democratic lawmakers, suggest that Democrats plan to focus on a handful of major investigative areas they believe will resonate with voters who told pollsters that government corruption was among their top concerns:

• Alleged corruption and self-dealing by the Trump family and close Trump associates;
• Alleged “pay to play” corruption involving Trump connected lawyers and lobbyists being paid to influence pardons, contracts, investigations or regulatory policy;
• The handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files;
• Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement uses of force, detention and surveillance;
• Alleged weaponization of the DOJ and FBI;
• Law firms, media companies and universities that forged agreements with the Trump administration;
• The Iran war and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s purge of generals

In most of these areas, Democrats said they expect to learn crucial details from documents and testimony from companies and individuals outside the purview of the Trump administration.

For example, it’s been widely reported that Trump-connected lawyers have been paid millions of dollars to lobby for pardons, contracts and antitrust relief; that companies and individuals that made those payments will likely have little choice but to explain to Congress how much they paid and what they believe they got for the money.

Congressional aides said lawyers at large firms, academics and other experts have been contacting them to offer to help with their investigations.

Exactly which of these topics will first be tackled in congressional hearings early next year remains to be seen.

“There are so many issues that have been highlighted and flagged and they can’t possibly go after all of them,” Sulieman said. “So I am looking to see what the caucus coalesces around in terms of their top priorities.  We will know that soon, because they will tell us.”

Trump officials in recent days have accused Democrats of making improper threats. Attorney General Todd Blanche even threatened to prosecute members of Congress on Sunday over what he said was intimidation. He did not explain what laws he believes could have been violated.

“They’re talking about going after companies, private companies who happen to have made investments in this country over the past couple years. That is not oversight. I welcome oversight,” Blanche said Sunday on CNN.

Blanche also appeared to refer to comments made last month by Sen. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan, who argued that Democrats should pursue selected accountability cases involving officials who enabled misconduct. The Democrat added she wanted college graduates to ask, “Should I go work for the Trump administration?” and concluded, “I want that deterrence message sent.”

She later said she wanted prospective employees not to engage in illegal activity.

“When the threats become so vile and so dangerous that you are telling people in college that they better be careful if they want to work in the Trump administration because somebody will come after them, at some point you have to draw the line,” Blanche said on CNN. “And I’m not saying that necessarily that every case is going to be prosecuted. But we have a real problem if this in this country, if a young person in college is getting threatened by a United States senator that if they go to work for President Trump, they’re going to be subjected to investigations and lawyers.”

Rep. Robert Garcia of California, the incoming chair of the House Oversight Committee, responded to Blanche’s comments Sunday by saying, “They can come after us however they want. We’re not going to be intimidated.”

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From MS Now.