U.S. Department of Justice and Democratic Party clash head-on over 'controversial figures' Hegseth and Miller

(Washington = Yonhap News) Correspondent Hong Jeong-gyu = The U.S. Department of Justice and the Democratic Party are poised to clash head-on over Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and White House Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, who are at the center of controversy during the U.S. Donald Trump administration.

The Democratic Party, which took control of the Senate and House of Representatives with a landslide victory in the midterm elections, announced the impeachment of Secretary Hegseth and a congressional investigation targeting Chief Miller. The Justice Department even hinted at the possibility of an investigation, saying that Democratic lawmakers' threats against members of the Trump administration had crossed the line.

Justice Minister Todd Blanch appeared on CNN on the 8th (local time) and criticized this as an "blatant threat," saying, "They (the Democratic Party) are already going around talking about investigation and impeachment without any basis even before they take power."

When asked whether he would open an investigation into Democratic lawmakers as President Trump mentioned, Secretary Blanche did not rule out the possibility, saying, "If the threat becomes so malicious and dangerous that it reaches the level of telling college students, 'If you want to work in the Trump administration, you have to be careful,' then we have to draw a line."

He pointed out, “The incoming chairman (Democratic Rep. Robert Garcia), who has not yet taken charge of the committee, is threatening a specific person (Chief Miller) to appoint a lawyer,” and added, “As soon as Miller was promoted to chief of staff, (Democratic Party) congressional leaders began threatening him.”

The Democratic Party will not secure a majority in the Senate and House of Representatives until January 3 of next year, but it is claimed that the Democratic Party's 'threats' against Minister Hegseth and Chief Miller have already gone too far.

“If Garcia were to target Stephen Miller for something that he believed he had done, of course the Justice Department would come to his defense,” Blanche said. “The same would apply if he were to target any cabinet minister or government figure (including Secretary Hegseth).”

In a subsequent CNN interview, Rep. Garcia (Democrat, California) countered that “what Blanche is doing now is a threat,” and said, “They can target us in any way. But we will not give in to threats.”

Rep. Garcia is currently the ranking member of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee and is likely to be the next chairman. The House Oversight Committee is a standing committee that will lead comprehensive investigations and hearings into the Trump administration.

“Stephen Miller is the architect of terrible and unjust policies. Miller called Alex Preti an assassin,” Garcia said. Preti was shot and killed by immigration agents in Minnesota earlier this year, and at the time of the incident, Miller described Preti as an "assassin who tried to kill federal agents."

He said, "Miller is at the center of major policy decisions being made in this administration. Therefore, supervision and investigation of him are sufficiently necessary," and even mentioned President Trump's family, companies that donated to the construction of the White House banquet hall, and Tesla CEO Elon Musk as targets of investigation.

Minister Hegseth's impeachment bill is expected to be voted on when the National Assembly reconvenes next week. Democratic House Leader Hakeem Jeffries predicted that “there will be incredibly strong support” for Secretary Hegseth’s impeachment. Minister Hegseth was reported to have shown his will to tackle the issue head-on, telling his aides, "I intend to complete my entire four-year term."