The new House Republican majority has pledged to investigate the political opposition. Announcing a congressional investigation is a bit like announcing that you plan to sue someone. A lot of those investigations were announced, generated headlines — and then didn’t do much. Until subpoenas start showing up, it may be largely empty threat. I looked at the House committees’ investigations and their end-of-year summaries.
With some exceptions, most probes either didn’t warrant mention or faltered after requests for information. One exception was the first impeachment of Donald Trump, which followed a whistleblower report.
