White House Warns Democrats on Probes as Hassett Exit Report Is Denied

White House counsel Will Scharf warned in a Monday letter that Democratic investigations of the Trump administration “may cross the line into blatant criminality,” days after Democrats won the midterms. The letter went to Rep. Robert Garcia of California, who would likely chair the House Oversight Committee when the new Congress is seated in January, and House Democrats have vowed to investigate anyway.

Scharf wrote after Garcia told Trump officials to lawyer up. Separately, Semafor reported Friday, citing three people familiar with his plans, that National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett would leave within weeks. Hassett told CNBC's Eamon Javers by text that the report was not true, and the White House also denied it on X. The report named Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and his counselor David Zervos as possible replacements. A poll cited in coverage found 67 percent of Americans disapprove of Trump's handling of the economy.

The New Republic, on the left, leads with Hassett's reported exit and treats it as a verdict on Trump's economy. It cites the 67 percent figure, the Democratic flips of both chambers and renewed calls to remove Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, and it describes Hassett as a cheerful defender of failing policy. It does not mention the Scharf letter or the denial. Townhall, on the right, leads with the letter as a criminal warning to Far Left Democrats, quoting Scharf and Garcia at length. It does not mention Hassett. The two sides cover different developments, so they do not directly dispute facts. The Hill supplies the denial that the left-leaning piece lacks, and Truthout frames the letter as a threat against Democratic oversight.