The simmering tensions between the Trump administration and House Democrats are threatening to boil over after agents of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) forced their way into the office of Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.).

The incident, which happened last week, led to the brief detention of one of Nadler’s staffers by DHS agents, who said they had entered the congressman’s Manhattan office searching for “protesters.” One agent accused Nadler aides of “harboring rioters.”

The episode has infuriated Nadler and other Democrats in the Capitol, who have long accused President Trump of ignoring the separation of powers and crashing through legal guardrails, particularly in his effort to deport people living in the country illegally. Recently, the administration has escalated its deportation campaign with an aggressive new strategy of arresting people at immigration courts, where claims of asylum are typically heard.

On Monday, Nadler called the administration’s conduct “outrageous,” and accused DHS of “lying” about the details surrounding the episode. He's calling for an investigation into what he considers an abuse of executive power to target political adversaries.

“They barged in. And in barging in one of the offices, a very big, heavyset fellow pushed my aide — a very petite young woman — and they then said that she pushed back and they shackled her and took her downstairs,” Nadler told CNN on Monday.

“And she was obviously traumatized.”

It’s not the first time the sides have clashed over Trump’s deportation policies. Last month, the Justice Department arrested the Democratic mayor of Newark,........

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