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Prosecutors at the Justice Department took data from Apple on two Democratic lawmakers, according to the NY Times.
Prosecutors at the U.S. Department of Justice under former President Donald Trump took data from Apple about two Democratic lawmakers on the House Intelligence Committee, as well as their staff and family members, The New York Times on Thursday.
Subpoenas for communications metadata were targeted at California congressman Adam Schiff, an opponent of Trump who was then the Democrat’s top panel and now its chairman, the paper said.
The record of seizures came in 2017 and early 2018 as the department investigated the leak of classified information related to contacts between the Trump administration and the Russian government, according to the newspaper.
Trump has repeatedly asked the DOJ to follow up on his political enemies.
Clearly his requests did not fall on the ear.
This baseless investigation, while now closed, is another example of Trump’s corrupt weapon of justice.
And how much he is ruining our democracy.
Adam Schiff (@RepAdamSchiff) June 11, 2021
Congressman Eric Swalwell told CNN on Thursday that he was the second Democratic lawmaker on the committee to be targeted.
Apple notified me that they had seized my records. This is wrong, he said.
One of the family members targeted was a minor, the paper reported.
According to the Times, prosecutors working under then-attorney-general Jeff Session made an extraordinary effort to locate the source of the classified information leaks.
Justice Department officials targeted electronic data not only of lawmakers, but of their staff and families, possibly targeting a minor because investigators thought lawmakers were using their associates or children’s device to hide contacts with journalists.
Like many of the world’s most despicable dictators, former President Trump has shown extreme contempt for our democracy and the rule of law. My statement: pic.twitter.com/Pvvb1xYiLn
Rep. Eric Swalwell (@RepSwalwell) June 11, 2021
The Department of Justice and Apple have not yet commented on the report.
Ultimately, none of the data or other evidence tied lawmakers or the House Intelligence Committee to the leaks, the Times said.
But leak investigations were revived by attorney general, Bill Barr, a year later, the paper reported.
The seizure of such records is rarely seen outside of corruption investigations.
Armorization of law enforcement
Schiff, while not confirming that he was a target of the investigation, called for an investigation by the Department of Justice’s inspector general into this and other cases suggesting the law enforcement weapon of a corrupt president.
Trump tried to use the Department as a cudgel against his political opponents and members of the media. Especially evident that those requests did not fall on the ear, Schiff said in a statement.
Top Democrat Nancy Pelosi also called for an investigation, describing the New York Times report as annoying.
These actions appear to be another major attack on our democracy carried out by the former president, he said in a statement.
The Justice Department placed a gag order on Apple that expired this year, meaning lawmakers weren’t aware of the investigations until the tech giant informed them last month, according to the paper.
Schiff, who led the Democratic prosecution team during the first Senate impeachment trial in early 2020, has long cursed against the former president, calling him dangerous.
He made the case in early 2020 for Trump to be removed from office for abuse of power and obstruction in Congress. He was later acquitted. He was later impeach by the House, and acquitted by the Senate, for his suspected role in inciting mobs to storm the U.S. capital on January 6, 2021.
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