David Axelrod Calls Out Democrats for Making Investigations Look Like ‘Witch-Hunt’

Jerry Nadler
Cheriss May/NurPhoto via Getty Images

David Axelrod, who served as senior adviser to former President Barack Obama, criticized House Democrats on Monday for their blanket demand for documents from more than 80 people associated with President Trump, warning it could play into the characterization of a witch hunt.

“Maybe I’m missing something, but the hazard of an omnibus document demand by House judiciary versus discreet, serial ones is that, however legitimate the areas of inquiry, the wide-ranging nature of it is too easily plays into the ‘witch-hunt’ meme,” he tweeted.

Axelrod’s warning came after House Democrats sent letters to more than 80 people who have worked for President Trump, his administration, and his campaign.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler (D-NY) said in a statement that Democrats would “gather this information, assess the evidence, and follow the facts where they lead with full transparency with the American people.”

The Democrats’ investigation is launching as Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s is winding down, so  far without any revelations of collusion with Russia.

The document demand is related to everything from Trump’s business dealings with Russia, whether he obstructed justice by firing former FBI Director Jim Comey, and payments his former lawyer made to women who alleged affairs with Trump.

It is not clear whether Democrats can hold Trump accountable for any actions taken before he became president.

Trump was asked Monday afternoon whether he would cooperate with the Democrats’ demands.

“I cooperate all the time with everybody,” he said, adding that the collusion claims are a “hoax.”

Later he tweeted that Democrats were trying to switch from collusion to some other reason to impeach him.

Trump mocked the Democrats’ determination to find something on him during his speech at Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) on Sunday.

“They fight so hard on this witch hunt, this phony deal that they put together; this phony thing that now looks like it’s dying,” he said.

“So they don’t have anything with Russia. There’s no collusion. So now they go and morph into, ‘Let’s inspect every deal he’s ever done. We’re going to go into his finances. We’re going to check his deals. We’re going to check…’ These people are sick. They’re sick.”

COMMENTS

Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.