Trump to be investigated by Congress over use of state powers to target media

Donald Trump is set to be investigated by Congress over whether he used “the instruments of state power” to punish media outlets, a senior Democrat has said.

Adam Schiff, who is expected to chair the House intelligence committee next year, said Democrats plan to probe the Trump administration on two fronts following his party’s gains in the midterm elections.

First, they intend to find out if the president attempted to punish Amazon by pressuring the US Post Office to hike shipping prices for the world’s biggest online retailer.

Jeff Bezos, Amazon’s chief executive, owns The Washington Post – a newspaper Mr Trump considers a foe and has regularly branded the “Amazon Washington Post”.

"It is very squarely within our responsibility to find out," Mr Schiff told Axios in an interview that aired on Sunday on HBO.

He said Mr Trump "was secretly meeting with the postmaster (general) in an effort to browbeat the postmaster into raising postal rates on Amazon ... This appears to be an effort by the president to use the instruments of state power to punish Jeff Bezos and The Washington Post," Mr Schiff said.

Mr Trump has repeatedly complained Amazon does not pay the US postal service a fair rate for package delivery. He has said, without providing evidence, this costs US taxpayers billions of dollars, and has threatened to raise the company's postal rates.

The House is also set to investigate the Trump administration’s attempt to block AT&T Inc from acquiring Time Warner, which owns CNN, Mr Schiff said.

Mr Trump has reserved his most strident criticism for the US cable news network, and last week revoked the press pass of its chief White House correspondent Jim Acosta.

The Justice Department is appealing a federal judge's approval of the $85.4 billion (£66.47bn) AT&T acquisition of Time Warner. Mr Trump opposed the AT&T-Time Warner merger as a candidate.

It is not clear which committees may probe the corporate issues, since Mr Schiff's intelligence committee would not have oversight. A Schiff spokesperson declined further comment.

AT&T and Amazon both declined to comment on Sunday. The White House did not immediately comment.

Representative Elijah Cummings, the likely incoming chairman of the House oversight and government reform committee, also said his committee "may want to look into" if the White House retaliated against Amazon and AT&T.

Shape Created with Sketch. President Trump vs the press Show all 16 left Created with Sketch. right Created with Sketch. Shape Created with Sketch. President Trump vs the press 1/16 "You are fake news!" Then President-elect Trump directed this insult to CNN's Jim Acosta while refusing him a question at a press conference on January 11 2017. The President-elect's anger was due to the publishing by Buzzfeed of unverified memos that implicated Michael Cohen in Russian collusion. CNN had reported on a briefing of Obama and Trump on the memos by US intelligence chiefs, but knowing the content to be unverified had not revealed it AFP/Getty 2/16 "They are among the most dishonest human beings on earth" President Trump said this of journalists during a visit to the CIA on the the day following his inauguration. His claim of having the largest crowd of any inauguration ceremony in history had been debunked and he clearly wasn't happy Reuters 3/16 "Failing New York Times" President Trump commonly addresses the New York Times in this way, contrary to its increasing profit margins and expanding global readership. He is pictured here in the midtown Manhattan office of the paper Getty 4/16 "Enemy of the American People" President Trump has since repeated the claim that such news outlets are the enemy of the people, often after they break negative stories about him 5/16 "They have no sources" Speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference on February 24 2017, President Trump suggested that a Washington Post article with 9 sources was "made up". The article in question exposed how then National Security Advisor Michael Flynn had misled Vice President Mike Pence over a phone call to a Russian ambassador. That the article was "made up", while highly doubtful at the time, seems even less likely since Michael Flynn pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about the same phone call Reuters 6/16 Access denied for major publications Protesters gathered outside of the New York Times office after Trump's White House barred a number of publications from attending a press briefing on February 24 2017. Just hours after the President had again denounced the media, then Press Secretary Sean Spicer denied access to news outlets such as CNN and the New York Times, while permitting Breitbart News, CBS, Fox and others AFP/Getty 7/16 "#FNN" On July 2 2017, President Trump tweeted an edited clip from his Wrestlemania XXIII appearance in which the CNN logo had been imposed onto the face of his wrestling opponent Vince McMahon. CNN is a common target for President Trump and here he suggests that he is getting the better of the network through his repeated attacks 8/16 "The most powerful TV show in America" On July 27 2017, President Trump quoted a New York Times article about Fox & Friends. The President is known to watch Fox & Friends every morning, often tweeting about matters discussed on the show, leading to speculation over its influence on his outlook and policies Getty 9/16 "It's frankly disgusting the way the press is able to write whatever they want to write" In a meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on October 11 2017, President Trump suggested that the press ought not to be allowed their constitutionally secured freedom. He added "people should look into it", suggesting that he also doesn't respect the protection of sources. At the time, he was angry at an NBC report claiming that the President had expressed a desire to return the size of the US' nuclear arsenal to its 1960s height, a claim that he and others in his administration dismissed as fake news AFP/Getty 10/16 "negative (Fake)" In a tweet on 9 May 2018, President Trump conflated negative reporting about him with fake news 11/16 "I didn't criticise the Prime Minister" In a press conference with the Prime Minister on his visit to Britain, President Trump disputed claims published in the Sun that he had criticised Mrs May's Brexit strategy Reuters 12/16 "Horrible, horrendous people" At a Republican rally in Pennsylvania on August 3 2018, President Trump deemed all journalists in attendance "horrible, horrendous people". He later denounced the "fake, fake, disgusting news" for falsely reporting that he was late to his meeting with the Queen when visiting Britain AFP/Getty 13/16 Trump's rhetoric "very close to inciting violence" In an interview with the Guardian on 13 August 2018, the outgoing UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein suggested that President Trump's attacks on the press are "very close to inciting violence". Zeid singles out the President's repeated claim that the fake news (negative coverage) media is the "enemy of the people" as dangerous Reuters 14/16 "anonymous source" = fiction President Trump claimed that any report citing anonymous sources is fiction. The protection of sources is a vital matter of press freedom, without it a potential source's fear of repercussions could lead them to withhold important information 15/16 "You are a rude, terrible person" At a press conference in the wake of the midterms, President Trump clashed with CNN's Jim Acosta when he asked about the President's use of language during the campaign Reuters 16/16 "I would never kill Journalists" For any journalists frightened by President Trump's attacks on the press, perhaps you can take solace in his words from a campaign rally in Grand Rapids on December 21 2015. Responding to remarks over Vladimir Putin's handling of journalists, Trump stated: "I hate some of these people, but I'd never kill them... I'll be honest - I would never kill them. Uhhh lets see.. no, I never would" Getty 1/16 "You are fake news!" Then President-elect Trump directed this insult to CNN's Jim Acosta while refusing him a question at a press conference on January 11 2017. The President-elect's anger was due to the publishing by Buzzfeed of unverified memos that implicated Michael Cohen in Russian collusion. CNN had reported on a briefing of Obama and Trump on the memos by US intelligence chiefs, but knowing the content to be unverified had not revealed it AFP/Getty 2/16 "They are among the most dishonest human beings on earth" President Trump said this of journalists during a visit to the CIA on the the day following his inauguration. His claim of having the largest crowd of any inauguration ceremony in history had been debunked and he clearly wasn't happy Reuters 3/16 "Failing New York Times" President Trump commonly addresses the New York Times in this way, contrary to its increasing profit margins and expanding global readership. He is pictured here in the midtown Manhattan office of the paper Getty 4/16 "Enemy of the American People" President Trump has since repeated the claim that such news outlets are the enemy of the people, often after they break negative stories about him 5/16 "They have no sources" Speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference on February 24 2017, President Trump suggested that a Washington Post article with 9 sources was "made up". The article in question exposed how then National Security Advisor Michael Flynn had misled Vice President Mike Pence over a phone call to a Russian ambassador. That the article was "made up", while highly doubtful at the time, seems even less likely since Michael Flynn pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about the same phone call Reuters 6/16 Access denied for major publications Protesters gathered outside of the New York Times office after Trump's White House barred a number of publications from attending a press briefing on February 24 2017. Just hours after the President had again denounced the media, then Press Secretary Sean Spicer denied access to news outlets such as CNN and the New York Times, while permitting Breitbart News, CBS, Fox and others AFP/Getty 7/16 "#FNN" On July 2 2017, President Trump tweeted an edited clip from his Wrestlemania XXIII appearance in which the CNN logo had been imposed onto the face of his wrestling opponent Vince McMahon. CNN is a common target for President Trump and here he suggests that he is getting the better of the network through his repeated attacks 8/16 "The most powerful TV show in America" On July 27 2017, President Trump quoted a New York Times article about Fox & Friends. The President is known to watch Fox & Friends every morning, often tweeting about matters discussed on the show, leading to speculation over its influence on his outlook and policies Getty 9/16 "It's frankly disgusting the way the press is able to write whatever they want to write" In a meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on October 11 2017, President Trump suggested that the press ought not to be allowed their constitutionally secured freedom. He added "people should look into it", suggesting that he also doesn't respect the protection of sources. At the time, he was angry at an NBC report claiming that the President had expressed a desire to return the size of the US' nuclear arsenal to its 1960s height, a claim that he and others in his administration dismissed as fake news AFP/Getty 10/16 "negative (Fake)" In a tweet on 9 May 2018, President Trump conflated negative reporting about him with fake news 11/16 "I didn't criticise the Prime Minister" In a press conference with the Prime Minister on his visit to Britain, President Trump disputed claims published in the Sun that he had criticised Mrs May's Brexit strategy Reuters 12/16 "Horrible, horrendous people" At a Republican rally in Pennsylvania on August 3 2018, President Trump deemed all journalists in attendance "horrible, horrendous people". He later denounced the "fake, fake, disgusting news" for falsely reporting that he was late to his meeting with the Queen when visiting Britain AFP/Getty 13/16 Trump's rhetoric "very close to inciting violence" In an interview with the Guardian on 13 August 2018, the outgoing UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein suggested that President Trump's attacks on the press are "very close to inciting violence". Zeid singles out the President's repeated claim that the fake news (negative coverage) media is the "enemy of the people" as dangerous Reuters 14/16 "anonymous source" = fiction President Trump claimed that any report citing anonymous sources is fiction. The protection of sources is a vital matter of press freedom, without it a potential source's fear of repercussions could lead them to withhold important information 15/16 "You are a rude, terrible person" At a press conference in the wake of the midterms, President Trump clashed with CNN's Jim Acosta when he asked about the President's use of language during the campaign Reuters 16/16 "I would never kill Journalists" For any journalists frightened by President Trump's attacks on the press, perhaps you can take solace in his words from a campaign rally in Grand Rapids on December 21 2015. Responding to remarks over Vladimir Putin's handling of journalists, Trump stated: "I hate some of these people, but I'd never kill them... I'll be honest - I would never kill them. Uhhh lets see.. no, I never would" Getty

An aide to the same committee said on Sunday it has "already been investigating these matters, but the Trump Administration to date has not complied with our requests. We fully expect that to change now that we are in the majority”.

Mr Cummings added, on ABC's "This Week", that he intends to investigate whether Mr Trump killed plans to relocate the new headquarters of the FBI because moving it could harm his business interests in the Trump Hotel across the street.

In September, Mr Cummings asked the White House and the Trump Organization for documents about Mr Trump's "failure to accurately report debts and payments" to his personal attorney Michael Cohen "for silencing women who alleged extramarital affairs before the election”.

Since winning control of the House of Representatives in the midterm elections last week, Democrats have vowed to launch investigations on a wide range of topics involving the Trump administration.

But with a split decision in last week's congressional elections, Democrats plan a cautious approach. House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi told CBS's "Face the Nation" that Democrats will not conduct "any investigation for a political purpose, but to seek the truth".

Mr Cummings vowed a "methodical" approach in approaching investigations. "I'm not going to be handing out subpoenas like somebody’s handing out candy on Halloween," he said.