President Donald Trump has accused Democrats of extortion, claiming they are threatening Republican lawmakers with impeachment despite having no grounds to pursue it.
The president, still reacting to the Democrats’ sweeping “bluenami” victory in this week’s midterm elections, called for an investigation into what he described as “extortion at the highest level.”
Trump urged the Department of Justice (DOJ) to immediately investigate the Democrats allegedly issuing those threats and singled out Michigan Senator Elissa Slotkin.
In a post on Truth Social on Saturday, Trump wrote: “The Democrats are going around threatening a lot of people, including the Attorney General of the United States, and others, with Impeachment and many other forms of punishment, even though they admit they have no reason to do so, and there have been no impeachable acts committed, or even thought of, by the victims of this illegal process.”
“This is extortion at the highest level, and they should be held accountable for this.”
He further alleged that Democrats were “threatening our Donors” with “imprisonment and many other levels of punishment, just because they happen to be Republicans or Republican supporters.”
“This is Weaponization and Lawfare at another level,” he wrote.
“The Senator from Michigan, Elissa Slotkin, is saying that she is going to go after all young people that believe in Republican Values, and that give even the slightest inclination to be a Republican.”
Donald Trump called on the Department of Justice to investigate Democrats allegedly issuing threats, specifically naming Michigan Senator Elissa Slotkin
“This is extortion at the highest level, and they should be held accountable for this,” Trump wrote on Truth Social
“The imprisonment should be against these EXTORTIONISTS, and Republicans should get smart, fast!”
Trump also claimed that “threatening letters” had been sent to Republican figures, saying he was therefore “ordering the Department of Justice to look into this criminal act, immediately!”
It was not immediately clear what the letters contained or who received them.
The Daily Mail has contacted the White House, the DOJ and Slotkin’s office for comment.
Trump’s latest remarks came after he suggested that more members of his inner circle could be dismissed, following the departure of Chief of Staff Susie Wiles on Friday.
Trump, 80, appeared on 60 Minutes yesterday, only hours before announcing Wiles’ exit and naming Stephen Miller as her replacement.
“I do,” the Republican president replied when journalist Ross Douthat asked whether he expected to remove anyone after his party suffered heavy losses in Tuesday’s midterm elections.
Democrats won control of both the House and Senate and flipped deep-red Texas by electing Gina Hinojosa as governor and James Talarico to the Senate.
“The Senator from Michigan, Elissa Slotkin, is saying that she is going to go after all young people that believe in Republican Values,” Trump wrote. “The imprisonment should be against these EXTORTIONISTS, and Republicans should get smart, fast!”
“I love my cabinet, I think they’re good,” Trump said. “But I’ll be doing maybe a few changes. I don’t want to mention who.”
Sources told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins that the rest of Trump’s cabinet was operating in a “knives out” atmosphere.
“It’s hard to overstate, really just how factionalized that environment has become in the last several days alone,” Collins said.
“Aides that I’ve spoken with have described a workplace filled with tension and infighting, likening it to the knives-out days of the president’s first term.”
According to sources cited by Collins, Wiles’ departure “will only accelerate the shift in the balance of power that is underway right now.”
CNN’s sources said Trump blamed Wiles for the Republican Party’s poor midterm performance.
However, Trump told reporters on Friday that Wiles’ departure was “not because of the election.”