A "disgraceful and abusive" fishing expedition.

That's how the White House has described the Democrat-controlled House Judiciary Committee's multi-pronged investigation launched this week.

The committee is prying deep into US President Donald Trump's entire world — his White House, his inauguration committee, his 2016 campaign, his 2020 campaign, his organisation, his family. The administration is furious.

"Democrats are harassing the President to distract from their radical agenda of making America a socialist country, killing babies after they're born and pushing a 'green new deal' that would destroy jobs and bankrupt America," cried a statement from White House press secretary Sarah Sanders.

Democrats are asking for documents from folks like Trump Organisation chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg, former chief strategist Steve Bannon, former press secretary Sean Spicer, publisher of the National Enquirer David Pecker, sons Donald Trump Jr and Eric Trump, and son-in-law Jared Kushner.

In total, 81 people and organisations are on the list announced by the committee's chairman, representative Jerrold Nadler.

Jerrold Nadler is seeking records from a range of people connected to Mr Trump. ( AP: J. Scott Applewhite )

And when reporters noticed a few names missing — Ivanka Trump for one — Mr Nadler said this was only the first round. There's more to come.

Feels like it's only a matter of time before they announce a subpoena for Mr Trump's kitchen sink.

What gives?

Mr Nadler said the documents would be used "to begin investigations to present the case to the American people about obstruction of justice, corruption and abuse of power".

Translation: The Democrats are thinking more seriously about impeachment (again, still). But they won't say that because the word is loaded, and they'll be doubly accused of political opportunism.

So it's just investigations … for now

And to that end, of course they're padding this move with lots of caveats.

"Impeachment is a long way down the road. We don't have the facts yet. But we're going to initiate proper investigations," Mr Nadler said.

The lines of inquiry overlap with investigations conducted by special counsel Robert Mueller and the Southern District Court of New York.

There's no knowing what the judiciary committee will find. And the bar for impeachment is sky-high.

Remember that any recommendation along those lines would have to get through a Republican-controlled Senate. The chances of that happening for the moment are next to zero.

The Democratic investigation follows bombshell testimony from the President's former fixer, Michael Cohen, in a congressional hearing last week and continued disclosures in private this week.

For his last visit to Capitol Hill before serving a three-year jail sentence, Cohen brought an entire suitcase full of documents.

Sorry, this video has expired Michael Cohen gave damning evidence against Donald Trump.

However, paradoxically, news has also surfaced alleging Cohen had previously asked the White House for a pardon. So lawmakers will don their sceptics' glasses when examining his testimony.

There's no denying the tale of Paul Manafort, however.

The President's former campaign chairman has well and truly traded in his ostrich jacket for a prison jumpsuit.

In sentencing him to 47 months, a judge said living an "otherwise blameless life" wasn't enough to erase his crimes.

Oh, and three powerful House committees launched a separate probe into the President's communication with Russian President Vladimir Putin. They've called for records of private phone calls and meetings.

"Hey Vlad, it's Don …" oh never mind.

None of this looks good for the President, especially as the Mueller report still hangs over him like the sword of Damocles.

Anyway, back to the 'I' word

Only the House Judiciary Committee can initiate impeachment proceedings.

The probe will look into everything from campaign finance violations to hush money payments. One case that Mr Nadler has suggested is "very clear" is obstruction of justice (that seems like an overreach, but let's see).

Republicans say the Democrats are turning over every stone in the forest without knowing what sort of bug they want to find.

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They also say it's a way to distract from the Mueller probe, which could reveal much less than the Democrats hope.

And because the probe will stretch on for months, its conclusion could (strategically, on the part of the Democrats) align with the peak of Mr Trump's 2020 campaign.

After all, as Mr Nadler has said, it's ultimately the American voter who needs to be convinced whether impeachment is necessary or not.

"This investigation goes far beyond collusion — we've seen all the democratic norms that we depend on for democratic government attacked by the administration," Mr Nadler said.

"All of these are very corrosive to liberty and to the proper functioning of government and to our constitutional system. All this has to be looked at and the facts laid out to the American people."

A recent CNN poll suggested 64 per cent of Americans believe the President committed crimes before his presidency and 45 per cent believe he has done so while in office.

However, Mr Nadler's position is that crimes are different from impeachable offences.

Removing a president from office is overturning an election result, Mr Nadler has said. It should be saved for the most stark, terrible, unrecoverable circumstances.

Trump's week moves from 'cooperation' to 'stone cold crazy'

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The President started out the week with this uncharacteristically mild comment.

"I cooperate all the time with everybody," he told reporters on Monday, when asked if he'd answer the committee's requests.

He added that he thought the probe was "a political hoax".

But as the chatter about the probe grew, so did his fury.

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By Tuesday the Democrats were "stone cold crazy".

Despite saying he'd cooperate, the President can and probably will flex his executive privilege to block access to some of these documents.

So, yep, another lengthy court battle is likely.

Just another step in a long and complicated process.