Attorney General Todd Blanche on Sunday declined to rule out prosecuting Democratic lawmakers who have vowed to investigate Trump administration officials. His comments came a day after President Trump ordered the Justice Department to look into what he called a "criminal act."

Appearing on CNN's State of the Union, Blanche said Congress holds constitutional oversight authority, but he argued that Democrats' recent statements had gone beyond it.

The exchange followed a wave of investigative pledges from Democrats after the midterm elections. Rep. Robert Garcia (D-CA), the incoming chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, laid out his plans in a statement on election night. In that statement, Garcia referred to Trump's relatives as "The Trump Crime Family" and told Republicans to "lawyer up."

As we noted on election night, Garcia's "lawyer up" message set the tone for the new House's oversight plans.

Trump answered in a Truth Social post on Saturday, Nov. 7, saying Democrats were threatening administration officials, Republican donors and young conservatives.

"The Democrats are going around threatening a lot of people, including the Attorney General of the United States, and others, with Impeachment and many other forms of punishment," Trump wrote, "even though they admit they have no reason to do so, and there have been no impeachable acts committed, or even thought of, by the victims of this illegal process."

"This is extortion at the highest level, and they should be held accountable for this," he added. "Also, they're threatening our Donors, some of the most respected people anywhere in the World, with imprisonment, and many other levels of punishment, just because they happen to be Republicans, or Republican supporters," Trump wrote. "This is Weaponization and Lawfare at another level."

Trump named Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) in the post, writing that she was threatening young people who hold Republican views. He ended the message with a demand. "The imprisonment should be against these EXTORTIONISTS, and Republicans should get smart, fast!"

On Sunday, State of the Union host Dana Bash read Trump's order to Blanche and asked whether he would carry it out and what crime the president had in mind. Blanche pointed to statements from members of Congress over the preceding weeks.

"Well, what we have seen over the past several days and even over the past several weeks are outright threats, many - many by elected members of Congress and some senators against anybody that's conservative and anybody that happens to be a Republican," Blanche said. "They have threatened donors. They have threatened individuals who are in college and might want to work for conservative institutions or for a conservative government or for President Trump."

He said Democrats were already discussing investigations and impeachments "with no basis, no facts" before taking power.

Bash noted that Democrats describe the planned investigations as part of the oversight role the Constitution assigns to Congress. While Blanche agreed that lawmakers have that role, he questioned whether their recent rhetoric fit within it.

"You honestly think that all they're doing is talking about their oversight obligations when they're talking about going after basically every member of the Cabinet, they're talking about impeachments, they're talking about going after companies, private companies who happen to have made investments in this country over the past couple of years?" Blanche said. "That is not oversight. I welcome oversight."

Bash then asked directly whether he planned to investigate the lawmakers and whether the conduct he described amounted to a crime. Blanche said the answer depended on the specific statements.

"So, yes, there could be. You have free speech in this country. You are you are allowed to be critical of President Trump, of me, of this administration," he said. "But when the threats become so vile and so dangerous that you are telling people in college that they better be careful if they want to work in the Trump administration because somebody will come after them, at some point, you have to draw the line."

Blanche did not cite a criminal statute or confirm that an investigation had begun. He did say the Justice Department would provide legal defense to officials facing congressional scrutiny, including incoming White House chief of staff Stephen Miller, one of the officials Garcia told to "lawyer up."

"I would be very worried if I was a member on that committee," Blanche told Bash.

He referred to Garcia's election night statement directly. "You have an incoming chairman threatening without -- they're not even in charge yet -- saying 'Lawyer up' to anybody in particular," Blanche said. "So, if that doesn't bother you, if that doesn't bother your viewers, then we really need to kind of wake up in this country, because it certainly bothers me."

Garcia rejected the warning. "They can come after us however they want. We're not going to be intimidated," he told Bash. Garcia said Blanche was trying to intimidate Congress and that his committee would continue to pursue alleged wrongdoing involving the Trump administration, the president's family and corporate allies.

Garcia is set to lead the Oversight Committee when the new Congress convenes in January.