U.S. Attorney Orders Blumenthal to Preserve Ballroom Probe Records

A Texas federal prosecutor has ordered Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., to preserve every record tied to his inquiry into donors behind President Donald Trump’s White House ballroom, accusing the senator of threatening Americans for “associating themselves with the President,” according to NBC News.

Aaron Reitz, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Texas, sent the letter Wednesday, formally notifying Blumenthal of an obligation to preserve “all documents, communications, and other electronically stored information,” according to Fox News. Reitz said the senator had “threatened citizens for associating themselves with the president and other public officials,” the New York Post reported.

After the election, @SenBlumenthal & his allies think they can intimidate Americans for their constitutionally protected associations w/ President Trump.

Congress is not a weapon to be wielded against the American people.

I'm taking the first step to stop this abuse of power. pic.twitter.com/SxKJflB1t6

— U.S. Attorney Aaron Reitz (@USAttyReitz) November 11, 2026

Reitz posted a copy of the letter on X. “After the election, @SenBlumenthal & his allies think they can intimidate Americans for their constitutionally protected associations w/ President Trump,” he wrote. “Congress is not a weapon to be wielded against the American people. I’m taking the first step to stop this abuse of power.”

What the letter says

“It is also extraordinary for an elected official to intimidate citizens for engaging in philanthropic practices that will benefit our nation for generations,” Reitz wrote, according to Fox News. “The American people are entitled to freely associate without elected officials terrorizing them with aggressive, harassing government action.”

The letter cited the federal conspiracy-against-rights statute and the federal deprivation-of-rights-under-color-of-law statute, according to NBC News. A demand to preserve records is not a criminal charge, and Blumenthal has not been charged with any offense.

Acting Deputy Attorney General Trent McCotter backed Reitz in a reply on X, writing that “the First Amendment expressly prohibits Congress from infringing the speech and association rights of Americans” and that “DOJ will defend against threats to those rights, period,” NBC News reported. A Justice Department spokesperson said “the Department routinely requests that records be preserved when public officials take such extreme actions,” according to NBC News.

Blumenthal’s inquiry

Blumenthal, the top Democrat on the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, sent letters last month to people a Washington Post report identified as private donors to the ballroom, according to NBC News. The New York Post reported that Blumenthal, who is set to chair the subcommittee in January, has sent nearly 60 letters to known ballroom donors, including Amazon, Apple, Google, Microsoft and Nvidia, asking them to hand over records voluntarily by Jan. 4 or face subpoenas.

“The aggressive fundraising push by the president’s advisers suggests possible conflicts of interest and even corruption, and raises questions that Americans deserve to have answered,” Blumenthal wrote in an Oct. 20 letter, according to the New York Post.

Senator fires back

Blumenthal said in a statement that he “will not be intimidated” and would “vigorously pursue investigations into this Administration’s persistent misuse of taxpayer dollars,” according to NBC News. “The Trump Administration is so afraid of transparency and oversight that they are weaponizing the Department of Justice to baselessly target Congress in direct violation of the Constitution,” he wrote, NBC News reported.

In his own letter to Reitz, Blumenthal wrote, “Your implied threat of an investigation is baseless,” according to Fox News.

The senator also sent Reitz a preservation demand of his own Wednesday night, directing him to keep all records and correspondence, “including all communications with the White House or senior officials at the Department of Justice, related to the decision to draft and post your letter,” according to NBC News.

Part of a wider fight over oversight

Reitz’s letter followed a separate warning from White House counsel Will Scharf to Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif., the incoming chairman of the House Oversight Committee, that Trump officials “will not be extorted and will not be cowed” by Democratic investigations and subpoenas, the New York Post reported. “Threats to executive branch officials designed to deter them from public service, or process designed merely to abuse or instill fear in the recipient may cross the line into blatant criminality,” Scharf wrote, according to the Post.

Reitz, a former chief of staff to Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, has served as U.S. attorney since July, according to NBC News.

Sources

• U.S. Attorney Aaron Reitz on X
• NBC News
• Fox News
• New York Post

Reporting by Daily Beltway.