Washington — When Democrats took back the House in the midterm elections, they made it clear they intend to ramp up investigations of the president and his administration. On Thursday, they kicked into high gear.

Thursday's hearings were just the beginning. In one hearing room, Democrats kicked off their pursuit of the president's tax returns. In another hearing room, they probed the administration's controversial move last year to separate families at the border.

Just a month into their new majority, House Democrats are demanding sensitive documents that could shed light on how security clearances were granted at the White House, how companies got contracts to clean up after Hurricane Maria and whether the president's decisions have been influenced by his foreign financial interests.

The president complained Thursday Democrats are "going nuts," tweeting "the Republicans never did this to President Obama."

But they launched plenty of probes. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi insisted her parties' investigations will be carefully chosen and carried out

"They want to know the truth, they want to know the facts. And he has nothing to hide," she said.

On Friday, Democrats are hauling Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker before Congress for the first time. They were threatening to subpoena him if he didn't answer every question but he threatened not to show up, so Democrats relented a few hours ago.