Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) said on CNN Monday that Democrats will go after private citizens who strike deals with the Trump administration if they manage to win the majority in the House of Representatives in the 2026 midterm elections.

The threat comes as Democrats decry what they are calling a weaponization of the Department of Justice against President Trump’s political enemies in the wake of former FBI Director James Comey’s indictment.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt addressed that concern last week during the White House daily press briefing.

“It is NOT “weaponizing the Department of Justice” to demand accountability for those who weaponized the Department of Justice,” she said, alluding to the Democrats’ years-long efforts to prosecute Trump, as well as a multitude of his allies and supporters.

“Nobody knows what that looks like more than President Trump. We are not going to tolerate this gaslighting,” she declared.

Swalwell expressed high confidence in the Democrats’ 2026 prospects, telling CNN host Kate Bolduan that they “have every intention” of gaining the majority of seats in the House, despite the party’s historically low approval ratings.

“First, we’re making it clear, we’re going into the majority a year from now. We have every intention to do that,” he stated confidently. “We will bring oversight, accountability. We will subpoena the Department of Justice.”

He added that Democrats will also subpoena “private actors who have done—who have struck deals with the administration.”

Swalwell listed “college campuses, entertainment companies and law firms” as among those who will be persecuted by Democrats if they retake power.

The congressman made clear that the purpose of his threat was to intimidate private citizens from working with the Trump administration.

“Accountability is coming,” he said, adding “I hope that deters people from doing more of these deals, these one-offs with the president.”

It wasn’t immediately clear what “deals” the California Democrat was referring to.

Swalwell serves on the House Committee on Homeland Security and the House Committee on the Judiciary. The Democrat was stripped of his committee assignment to the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI) in 2023 over his alleged affair with a suspected Chinese spy.