Dear Congressman Jeffries,
You said that the American people do not want Democrats focused on getting even. We want you focused on getting things done.
I would like to respectfully challenge the premise of that statement, because it’s already wobbling like a three-legged table.
We can do both, Sir.
The American people are not stupid. We are capable of caring about the price of groceries and the rule of law at the same time. We can demand affordable healthcare while demanding investigations into corruption. We can expect Congress to protect Medicaid while expecting it to exercise its constitutional oversight authority. We can worry about rent, wages, gas prices and whether powerful people who may have broken the law are actually held accountable.
Nobody handed Congress a menu and said, pick one… groceries or the Constitution. We expect both.
And let’s get this straight… accountability is not revenge, no matter how many times cable news tries to sell it that way.
Democratic leadership should probably stop borrowing language from the people they’re supposed to be holding accountable. There’s a universe of difference between using government power to settle scores and using it to actually enforce the law… and if you can’t tell the difference, maybe you shouldn’t be holding the gavel.
One is retaliation.
The other is the rule of law.
Nobody’s asking for a Democratic remake of The Godfather. (Well, not nobody👀…but most of us…)
We just want to know if the institutions in this country still mean anything, or if the whole thing is just a very expensive improv show.
Does a subpoena mean something?
Does congressional oversight mean something?
Do ethics laws mean something?
Do conflict-of-interest rules mean something?
Does the Constitution mean something?
And perhaps most importantly, does the law apply to powerful people when applying it becomes politically uncomfortable?
That’s the pop quiz on the table right now…We The People have the score card.
You have repeatedly promised that a Democratic House would follow the facts, apply the law and be guided by the Constitution. You have said that people who stole from, shortchanged or exploited the American people would be held accountable. You have said that nobody would receive a pass.
I want you to understand that many of us heard you.
And we expect you to keep that promise.
So when you start talking about how Americans don’t want Democrats to ‘get even,’ my eyebrows go up so high they’re practically in orbit.
Because nobody is asking you to get even.
We are asking you to investigate and subpoena records where there is legitimate cause to do so.
We are asking you to hold hearings and to follow financial trails.
We are asking you to protect inspectors general, whistleblowers and career civil servants.
We’re asking you to bring congressional oversight back from the dead, after years of watching norms and institutions get stretched like cheap yoga pants.
And when evidence warrants referral to prosecutors or other appropriate authorities, we expect Congress to make those referrals without fear or favor.
That is not vengeance.
That’s not even a radical demand… that’s literally the job description.
Your private meeting with Jared Kushner makes this distinction even more important, don’t you think?
When that meeting became public in August, you assured Americans that Kushner had asked to meet with you about affordability and that nobody connected to the Trump administration would receive a pass. You said Democrats would follow the facts, apply the law and be guided by the Constitution.
Since then, congressional concerns surrounding Kushner have not disappeared. They have increased.
Members of Congress have raised serious questions about his foreign financial relationships, his private investment interests and his simultaneous involvement in American diplomacy. More recent allegations concerning foreign money have prompted additional demands for records and scrutiny.
Those allegations must be investigated fairly. Kushner has denied them, and an investigation should determine what the evidence actually shows. That is precisely the point.
Accountability does not begin by deciding someone is guilty.
It begins by refusing to decide that someone is untouchable.
This is where your words stop being fluffy victory PR and start being receipts.
When Democratic leadership repeatedly warns against “revenge” immediately after the American people have handed Democrats congressional power, some of us hear something very different from restraint.
We hear the opening argument for looking away.
We hear the old familiar Washington instinct to declare accountability too divisive, too distracting, too partisan or too dangerous to the legislative agenda.
‘We have seen that film before, and we didn’t like the ending…’(-T.S.)
The American people did not give Democrats power so that January arrives and suddenly everyone discovers that accountability would interfere with governing.
Congress is a legislature.
Congress is also an oversight body.
You can walk, chew constitutional gum, and keep an eye on the cash register… all at once.
Pass legislation.
Lower costs.
Protect healthcare.
Restore programs that have been gutted.
Fight price gouging.
Address housing.
Protect workers.
End destructive policies.
And investigate credible allegations of corruption.
Do all of it. Yes, really. That’s what the job pays for.
That is what governing looks like.
Honestly, pretending that accountability gets in the way of helping people is a magic trick that only benefits the magician. Corruption is not some abstract villain… it’s the reason our rent is high and our paychecks are low. You’ve said this yourself.
So please do not retreat from it now.
And please do not tell us that requiring accountability means we are demanding revenge.
We know the difference.
Revenge says, “Punish my enemies.”
Justice says, “Follow the evidence.”
Revenge says, “Decide the outcome first.”
Justice says, “Apply the same law regardless of who is standing in front of you.”
Revenge belongs to factions. Justice belongs to institutions.
After everything we’ve been through, accountability can’t just be another episode of Congressional Theater… all sound and fury, then six months later, nothing but a pile of fundraising emails and viral clips.
Americans deserve something more serious than political theater, don’t you agree, Congressman?
We need to see whether the machinery of constitutional government still works.
We need basic democratic maintenance… not exactly a radical concept. Sometimes you have to clean out the gunk before anyone trusts the machine again.
And trust is exactly what is at stake.
Millions of Americans have watched the rich and powerful play by a different rulebook… if there even is a rulebook. That’s why we need investigations that don’t just look transparent, but actually are. Justice cannot merely exist. People need evidence that it exists.
So yes, Congressman Jeffries, get things done.
Please.
Get a tremendous amount done.
Make healthcare affordable. Protect Social Security and Medicaid. Lower costs. Deal with housing. Protect civil rights. Rein in executive overreach. Restore congressional authority. Pass legislation that materially improves people’s lives.
But while you are doing those things, follow the money.
Issue the subpoenas.
Ask the uncomfortable questions.
Demand the records.
Protect the investigators.
Follow the facts wherever they lead.
And if those facts lead to Democrats, Republicans, billionaires, corporations, administration officials, members of Congress, members of the president’s family or anyone else who violated the law, then apply the law.
Not because we hate them or want revenge.
Because a country in which political power provides immunity from accountability is no longer operating under equal justice.
The American people are more than capable of holding two ideas at once.
We want our government to work.
And we want our laws to matter.
Those are not competing demands.
They are the same demand.
We do not want revenge.
We want justice.
And we expect our leaders to understand the difference.
Please move accordingly.
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