In hindsight, President Trump may look back on his first two years in office and think he had it easy.
The numerous investigations into his presidency were only in their infancy, and the Republican-controlled Congress was effectively able to shield him from too much scrutiny.
“Republicans in the house and to a lesser degree the Senate have treated the Trump administration with kid gloves,” explained University of Virginia political scientist Kyle Kondik.
But that will all change Jan. 3, when Democrats officially take control of the House of Representatives, after their sweeping gains in the midterm elections.
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In short, control of the House means control of House committees, and that comes with substantial investigatory power.
The day after the midterms, Democratic Congressman Rep. Jerry Nadler warned, Trump “and his administration will be held accountable to our laws and to the American people.”
“We have a constitutional responsibility for oversight,” House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi said to reporters at the time. “This doesn’t mean we go looking for a fight. But it means that if we see a need to go forward, we will,” she said.
Reports suggest that as many as six different Democrat-led committees could soon start probing as many as 85 different targets.
The biggest fish in this sea of investigations would be President Trump’s tax returns, his business dealings, collusion and Russian interference in the 2016 election, and allegations that Trump violated campaign finance laws with hush money payments to two women during the campaign.
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The presumed new chair of the House Intelligence Committee, Rep. Adam Schiff, has already said he wants to investigate questions of Russian money laundering through the Trump Organization.
“We will get answers the Republicans were unwilling to pursue, records that the Republicans wouldn’t ask for,” he told CNN.
Jared Kushner’s compliance with ethics laws, the response to Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico and misused perks by cabinet secretaries could also face scrutiny.
“There’s probably a lot for the Democrats to pick at frankly, and they’re going to try to do that,” explained Kondik.
But Democrats face another challenge: it’s hard to know where to begin when there’s so much to investigate, and it’s difficult to know what will resonate with the voting public. “Tying all those together to create a political narrative against the president, or frankly a legal one, might be kind of difficult to present that to the public,” said Kondik.
At the same time, subpoenas, reports and investigatory choices will all be seen through the lens of political motivation, and could just as easily serve to rally Trump’s base to his defence in 2020.
“You know, I keep hearing about investigations fatigue,” said President Trump, the day after the midterm elections.
“Like from the time — almost from the time I announced I was going to run, they’ve been giving us this investigation fatigue. It’s been a long time. They got nothing,” he said, hinting at his eventual response to the impending avalanche of scrutiny.
Even some Democrats question whether going after Trump is the best strategy for the year ahead.
Former congressman Jim Moran urged his colleagues to “accomplish substantive things that are going to make a difference in the long run.”
Moran told Global News that Democrats need to focus their energies on “serving the interest of the American public.”
“Dealing with Trump is not what they need,” he said.
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