Democrats’ election night sweep handed them control of Congress and put subpoena power within reach in January. Rep. Robert Garcia, the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee and its likely next chair, offered corporate America a blunt warning: “Lawyer up.”

Some of the nation’s biggest companies apparently did not need to be told twice. After two years of courting President Donald Trump, firms expecting Democratic scrutiny have quietly opened back channels to the party, according to lawyers and congressional investigators familiar with the matter.

The outreach amounts to a hedge against investigations Democrats have spent the year previewing. Companies that built paper trails through their dealings with the White House may now find themselves holding information congressional investigators want.

Modern administrations have resisted congressional oversight before, but Trump’s White House went further during his first term. It refused to comply with multiple subpoenas from House Democrats and declared it would not cooperate with the 2019 impeachment inquiry.

This time, Democrats may have another route. Much of the information they seek sits with private companies, particularly publicly traded firms that answer to shareholders and remain vulnerable to falling stock prices and reputational damage.

Lawyers handling congressional investigations at major Washington firms are already fielding anxious calls. “People are terrified of the reputational issues,” said one lawyer representing clients previously targeted by Democratic oversight.

That lawyer said corporations do not necessarily expect Trump’s pardon power to protect everyone. “At the end of the day, a lot of corporations don’t believe there will be a blanket pardon — they believe there’s going to be a pardon for people that Trump loves.”

More than a dozen lawyers and congressional staff members told MS NOW they expect most targets to cooperate with Democratic investigators to some degree. Executives are reportedly looking beyond one damaging headline toward what could happen after the next presidential election.

“The world is long, power shifts,” said a lawyer representing clients in congressional investigations. Companies, that lawyer added, want to remain recognizable and viable after the Trump administration ends.

Reputational harm is only one concern. A company could become a recurring target in Democratic floor speeches and campaign advertisements, or emerge as a test for 2028 candidates seeking to demonstrate toughness toward corporate influence.

Companies also fear Democrats could use spending legislation against businesses connected to Trump. Lawyers cited possible language barring firms that accepted investment from a member of the president’s family from receiving federal contracts, though such a measure would be unlikely to become law while Trump remains in the White House.

The White House is already developing a possible shield. In August, the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel issued an opinion extending executive privilege to some communications between the administration and private parties.

Lawyers at Covington & Burling called the opinion a “potential new, but untested, framework” for resisting disclosure involving outside parties. They also said it would add complexity for anyone responding to congressional inquiries involving interactions with the White House or senior administration officials.

It is unclear how aggressively the White House will use privilege against document requests. White House spokesperson Lauren Bis said Trump was willing to work with anyone, but accused Democrats of choosing “sham investigations and radical left policies” if they pursue their plans.

Trump allies may prove more willing than ordinary corporations to resist. Elon Musk has warned Democrats that he would come after them if they targeted him, an approach one lawyer described as “the middle finger strategy.”

Trump told the New York Post that he was prepared to grant preemptive pardons to Musk and others if necessary. Pardons can arrive before criminal charges, but they cannot protect a company’s share price or prevent civil litigation seeking to enforce a subpoena.

Tesla and SpaceX shares fell sharply Wednesday as investors considered what Democratic majorities could mean for Musk’s companies. Lawyers also noted that courts could still enforce subpoenas against companies or individuals despite pardons.

Democrats may face internal obstacles as well. Current and former investigators have questioned whether the party can coordinate disciplined inquiries, avoid committee rivalries and prevent an overly broad investigative agenda from draining its resources.

Narrowing the target list carries risks of its own. “It does sort of give companies the hope that maybe they can sort of hang out on the sidelines and not be on that short list,” one lawyer said.