Justice Department Secretly Seized Records From Lawmakers and Journalists Under Trump
An internal investigation has revealed that the Justice Department under former President Trump secretly seized phone records of members of Congress and journalists, raising serious concerns about government overreach and threats to democracy.
Under the Radar Investigations
A new report from the DOJ’s inspector general shed light on four expansive leak investigations conducted during the Trump administration that targeted both Democrats and Republicans in Congress.
While the Justice Department claimed these probes aimed to identify the sources behind published stories, the existence of the investigations remained hidden from the public and even Congress until the Biden administration took office.
Hints of Abduse
The inspector general’s report criticized the DOJ’s lack of defined rules when targeting lawmakers and revealed gaping loopholes in existing guidelines intended to protect journalists.
"We did not find evidence of retaliatory motivation by the career prosecutors who issued the compulsory process for records of Members of Congress and congressional staffers, or that they sought the compulsory process based on party affiliation.
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the report revealed but stressed that the investigations revealed a "troubling disparity" between stated policy due process.
The Justice Department’s own rules on investigating journalists were also ignored. These guidelines, subject to change with each administration, lacked the force of law, making it easy for officials to circumvent them, as the report detailed the instance.
"The Department’s findings were deeply disturbing. They reveal a pattern of abuse and a fundamental disrespect for the essential role that a free press plays in upholding our democracy," said
Calls for Congress to Act
Advocates for press freedom are calling for Congress to establish strict laws safeguarding journalists’ sources.
"We need to pass legislation to protect reporters from government overreach. We don’t need more reports; we need action,” argued Seth Stern, a leading voice calling for legislative action.
The investigator general’s report detailed how prosecutors sought records of reporters’ phones. The breadth and severity of the surveillance raise serious questions about the Trump administration’s blatant disregard for the press.
"Failing to comply with these requests would have been a frivolous use of taxpayer money,"
One prominent case detail about seeking
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Many experts believe the majority of that the enclosed.
The inspector general’s review found deeply unsettling.
The Department did not charge anyone with illegal disclosure of classified information, according to lawyer
The FBI asked to regularly assert its purging
A Chilling Impact on Press Freedom
Journalists and lawmakers have expressed profound concern over the revelations. They fear a chilling effect on future leaks, which are often critical to holding the powerful accountable. Rep. Adam Schiff, who was targeted, stated the seizures represented
The DOJ’s
“This is deeply troubling, and it must never happen again,”
Schiff emphasized –
