#Tr*mp DOJ pursued electronic files on Dems staffs family members | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

malenipshadows · 3 years

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+ Former Pres-ident Tr*mp really doesn’t like leakers. He repeatedly deemed Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), the ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee throughout Tr*mp’s time in office, the worst of them. ... + It probably shouldn’t come as a huge surprise, then, that in 2018 Tr*mp’s Justice Department secretly subpoenaed Apple for Schiff’s data as part of a leak investigation, The New York Times reported Thursday night (6-10-2021). + The DOJ also seized records of Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.), another Intelligence Committee member, as well as former staffers and family members of the lawmakers, including a minor. + It is unclear exactly which leaks the DOJ was investigating, but the inquiry was related to media reports about Tr*mp’s ties to Russia, according to the Times. Regardless, the aggressive, unorthodox effort to pry into the private records of Democratic lawmakers is the latest of several disturbing examples of the Justice Department appearing to operate on behalf of Tr*mp’s political interests. + “Pres-ident Tr*mp 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,” Schiff said in a statement. + “It is increasingly apparent that those demands did not fall on deaf ears. 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 Pres-ident.”In issuing the subpoenas, the Justice Department placed a gag order on Apple, preventing the company from disclosing to lawmakers that their data had been turned over until this year. + Swalwell said he was informed only last month that his data was obtained by the DOJ, and that the investigation had been closed. “Of course it’s closed,” Swalwell said on CNN. “We did nothing but our jobs, and we followed the rules we were supposed to follow in our investigation… I’m not above the law, just like no one else is above the law, but to go after this many people … boy, that feels like a Donald Tr*mp-driven investigation and I don’t have a lot of faith in his ability to fairly interpret the law.” + CNN revealed on Wednesday (6-09-2021) that a similar gag order had been placed on its lawyers and others as the Justice Department attempted to secure the emails of one of its reporters. The network’s lawyers had been battling with the DOJ’s efforts to obtain the emails for close to six months. A federal judge told the DOJ its argument for access to Pentagon reporter Barbara Starr’s emails was “speculative” and “unanchored by facts,” according to CNN. + There’s more. In May, The Washington Post learned that the Justice Department secretly obtained the phone records of some of its reporters who were covering the Mueller investigation, and attempted to obtain their email records. + “We are deeply troubled by this use of government power to seek access to the communications of journalists,” Cameron Barr, the Post‘s acting executive editor, said at the time. “The Department of Justice should immediately make clear its reasons for this intrusion into the activities of reporters doing their jobs, an activity protected under the First Amendment.” + Hold on, we’re still not done. Earlier this month, the Biden administration disclosed that Tr*mp’s Justice Department had also secretly seized the phone records of four New York Times reporters over the course of four months in 2017. “Seizing the phone records of journalists profoundly undermines press freedom,” Executive Editor Dean Baquet said in a statement. “It threatens to silence the sources we depend on to provide the public with essential information about what the government is doing.” + The cascade of news that the DOJ attempted to seize the records of Tr*mp’s perceived enemies is more evidence of what was already apparent: that the Department of Justice was operating with the welfare of the former pres-ident in mind. Multiple ethics groups have accused then-Attorney General William Barr of using his office to further political purposes, citing Barr’s mischaracterization of the Mueller report among other dubious actions that seemed to have been carried out with Tr*mp’s agenda in mind rather than, you know, justice. + It is unclear to what extent Tr*mp may have been personally directing some of these efforts, if he was at all. But the news about the leak investigation does bring to mind the time then-Sen. Kamala Harris asked Barr if anyone from the White House had ever directed him to open an investigation. + For some strange reason, Barr didn’t seem to understand the question. + This isn’t the last we’re going to hear about corruption within Tr*mp’s Justice Department. The Associated Press reported on Friday that Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco asked DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz to open an investigation into the data seizure. And that’s exactly what he’s going to do. + “The DOJ Office of the Inspector General is initiating a review of DOJ’s use of subpoenas and other legal authorities to obtain communication records of Members of Congress and affiliated persons,” Horowitz said later on Friday.

#crooked Donald #tr*mp WH most corrupt regime in U.S. history #Drumpf is worst US president ever #Drumpf administration a disaster believe me #Adam Schiff a U.S. congressman (D-Calif.)#I respect U.S. Rep. Adam Schiff #schiff prosecuted House impeachment hearings of Donald Dunce #Robert S. Mueller III ex-FBI director #special counsel Robert S. Mueller III #tr*mp intentionally interfered with Mueller investigation #William Barr the Tr*mp attorney general #William Barr dubious AG to Tr*mp #Tr*mp DOJ subpoenaed Apple files on Dems #Tr*mp DOJ targeted Dems in retaliatory probe #Tr*mp DOJ pursued electronic files on Dems staffs family members #misuse of federal resources #tr*mp did not drain swamp #tr*mp brought swamp into national politics

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malenipshadows · 3 years

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+ During pres-ident Donald Tr*mp's years in the White House, the Department of Justice requested information from tech companies about his Democrat rivals in Congress and members of the press. + Rep. Eric Swalwell, whose data had been sought, said in a statement on Friday (6-11-2021): "Like many of the world's most despicable dictators, former Pres-ident Tr*mp showed an utter disdain for our democracy and the rule of law." + Some of the world's biggest tech companies - including Google, Apple, and Microsoft - received subpoenas or other record requests for information held by accounts belonging to the press, members of Congress, their staff members, or their families.

+ This is how each company reacted to those legal requests: + Apple. An Apple spokesperson on Friday said the company received grand jury subpoenas for 73 phone numbers and 36 email addresses, according to TechCrunch's Zack Whittaker. Apple handed over "account subscriber information and did not provide any content such as emails or pictures. + "The company turned over metadata relating to Swalwell and Rep. Adam Schiff, according to statements from both politicians, who were among Tr*mp's political opponents. + Apple on Friday told CNBC that the grand jury subpoena included a gag order, keeping Apple from telling customers about the requests. The requests didn't include information about the investigation, CNBC reported. Swalwell said he was notified by Apple last month. + Google. The Tr*mp administration's DOJ sought email logs from Google relating to four reporters at The New York Times. That request also came with a gag order, according to The Times. The newspaper reported that "no records were obtained." + Microsoft. Microsoft in 2017 received a subpoena for a congressional staff member's personal email account, according to multiple reports. The reports did not identify the staffer. + In a statement sent to The Daily Mail, a Microsoft spokesperson said the company believes "customers have a constitutional right to know when the government requests their email or documents, and we have a right to tell them." + The spokesperson added: "In this case, we were prevented from notifying the customer for more than two years because of a gag order. As soon as the gag order expired, we notified the customer who told us they were a congressional staffer." + Insider has reached out to Apple, Google, and Microsoft for additional information. + Schiff on Friday called for an investigation into the Tr*mp-era DOJ by the independent Inspector General, saying it would be "just the start." + "We need a full accounting of the Tr*mp DOJ's abuse of power targeting Congress and the press," Schiff said on Twitter on Friday.

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malenipshadows · 3 years

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+ The Justice Department during the Tr*mp administration sought records from Apple, Inc., relating to communications by House Intelligence Committee members as well as some of their aides and family members, a committee official said. + Apple in May notified individuals associated with the committee that the Justice Department had issued grand-jury subpoenas for their information in February 2018, the official said. + The committee immediately contacted the Justice Department for clarification and additional information, the official said, adding that the department informed the committee last month (May 2021) that the matter had been closed. + In 2018, Tr*mp administration officials had complained about leaks to the media regarding alleged ties between Russia and the Tr*mp presidential campaign.

+ Apple didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment. + House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, both California Democrats, called for an investigation into the Justice Department’s pursuit of the communications data, first reported by the New York Times. That newspaper reported that the records of at least a dozen people connected to the panel in 2017 and early 2018, including Mr. Schiff’s, were seized in the probe. + At the time of the subpoenas, then-pres-ident Donald Tr*mp and officials in his administration, including Attorney General Jeff Sessions, were trying to locate the source of leaks about contacts between Russia and figures in Mr. Tr*mp’s 2016 election campaign. Mr. Tr*mp’s second attorney general, William Barr, renewed the leak investigations after taking office in 2019, directing a federal prosecutor from New Jersey to work on about a half-dozen cases, according to a person familiar with the matter. + Mr. Sessions, who had recused himself from the Russia investigation, declined to comment Mr. Barr also declined to discuss any subpoenas of lawmakers’ communications records.

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