|
FILE -
In this
May 28,
2019
file
photo,
Rep.
Adam
Schiff,
D-Calif.,
left,
and Rep.
Eric
Swalwell,
D-Calif.,
speak
with
members
of the
media on
Capitol
Hill in
Washington.
The
Justice
Department
under
former
President
Donald
Trump
secretly
seized
data
from the
accounts
of at
least
two
Democratic
lawmakers
in 2018
as part
of an
aggressive
crackdown
on leaks
related
to the
Russia
investigation
and
other
national
security
matters,
according
to three
people
familiar
with the
seizures.
(AP
Photo/Patrick
Semansky) |
|
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
President
Trump
repeatedly
and
flagrantly
demanded
that the
Department
of
Justice
carry
out his
political
will,
and
tried to
use the
Department
as a
cudgel
against
his
political
opponents
and
members
of the
media.
It is
increasingly
apparent
that
those
demands
did not
fall on
deaf
ears |
| |
Justice
Dept.
watchdog
to probe
Trump-era
leak
investigations,
secret
subpoenas
for
Congress
and
journalists
By
Felicia
Sonmez,
Matt
Zapotosky,
and
Karoun
Demirjian
washingtonpost.com
WASHINGTON
-
Justice
Department
Inspector
General
Michael
Horowitz
announced
Friday
that his
office
is
launching
a probe
following
reports
that the
department
had
sought
the
records
of
journalists
and
prominent
critics
of
former
president
Donald
Trump on
the
House
Intelligence
Committee.
In a
statement,
Horowitz
said the
review
“will
examine
the
Department’s
compliance
with
applicable
DOJ
policies
and
procedures,
and
whether
any such
uses, or
the
investigations,
were
based
upon
improper
considerations.”
“If
circumstances
warrant,
the OIG
will
consider
other
issues
that may
arise
during
the
review,”
he said.
The move
follows
reports
Thursday
night
that the
Justice
Department
in 2018
secretly
subpoenaed
Apple
for the
data of
two
Democrats
on the
House
Intelligence
Committee,
Rep.
Adam B.
Schiff
(Calif.)
and Rep.
Eric
Swalwell
(Calif.),
as well
as the
data of
their
current
and
former
staffers
and
family
members.
Earlier
Friday,
Senate
Democratic
leaders
on
Friday
demanded
that
former
attorneys
general
in the
Trump
administration
testify
over
secret
subpoenas
of
Schiff
and
Swalwell.
Senate
Majority
Leader
Charles
E.
Schumer
(D-N.Y.)
and
Judiciary
Committee
Chairman
Richard
J.
Durbin
(D-Ill.)
called
the
secret
subpoenas
“a gross
abuse of
power
and an
assault
on the
separation
of
powers.”
They
said
that if
former
Trump
attorneys
general
William
P. Barr
and Jeff
Sessions
do not
voluntarily
testify,
they
will be
subpoenaed
to
appear
before
Durbin’s
committee
— a move
that
would
require
the
support
of at
least
one
Republican
on the
panel.
“The
revelation
that the
Trump
Justice
Department
secretly
subpoenaed
metadata
of House
Intelligence
Committee
Members
and
staff
and
their
families,
including
a minor,
is
shocking,”
Schumer
and
Durbin
said.
“This
appalling
politicization
of the
Department
of
Justice
by
Donald
Trump
and his
sycophants
must be
investigated
immediately
by both
the DOJ
Inspector
General
and
Congress.”
Deputy
Attorney
General
Lisa
Monaco
referred
the
matter
to
Horowitz,
a
Justice
Department
official
said
Friday.
Horowitz
has been
inspector
general
since
2012.
In his
statement,
Horowitz
said his
office
will
examine
the
Justice
Department’s
“use of
subpoenas
and
other
legal
authorities
to
obtain
communication
records
of
Members
of
Congress
and
affiliated
persons,
and the
news
media in
connection
with
recent
investigations
of
alleged
unauthorized
disclosures
of
information
to the
media by
government
officials.”
A House
Intelligence
Committee
official,
who
spoke on
the
condition
of
anonymity
because
the
matter
remains
politically
sensitive,
said
Thursday
night
that
Apple in
May had
notified
at least
12
people
connected
to the
panel of
subpoenas
for
their
data,
and that
one
minor
was
among
them.
Democrats
swiftly
condemned
the
moves,
news of
which
followed
three
recent
disclosures
to
national
media
organizations
that the
Trump
Justice
Department
had
secretly
sought
reporters’
phone
and
email
records
in an
effort
to
identify
the
sources
of
leaks.
“President
Trump
repeatedly
and
flagrantly
demanded
that the
Department
of
Justice
carry
out his
political
will,
and
tried to
use the
Department
as a
cudgel
against
his
political
opponents
and
members
of the
media.
It is
increasingly
apparent
that
those
demands
did not
fall on
deaf
ears,”
Schiff
said in
a
statement
Thursday.
“The
politicization
of the
Department
and the
attacks
on the
rule of
law are
among
the most
dangerous
assaults
on our
democracy
carried
out by
the
former
President.”
In their
joint
statement
Friday,
Schumer
and
Durbin
said
that in
addition
to Barr,
Sessions
and
other
officials
testifying,
the
Justice
Department
“must
provide
information
and
answers
to the
Judiciary
Committee,
which
will
vigorously
investigate
this
abuse of
power.”
“This
issue
should
not be
partisan;
under
the
Constitution,
Congress
is a
co-equal
branch
of
government
and must
be
protected
from an
overreaching
executive,
and we
expect
that our
Republican
colleagues
will
join us
in
getting
to the
bottom
of this
serious
matter,”
they
said.
News of
the
department’s
moves to
obtain
lawmakers’
data was
first
reported
by the
New York
Times. A
Justice
Department
spokesman
declined
to
comment.
A
spokesperson
for
Apple
did not
respond
to
requests
for
comment,
and
Trump
did not
immediately
comment.
Advertise With Us:
Certified Minority Business Enterprise
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
I
HI TECH NEWS
I
SPORTS
I
