In a phone interview, Barr said he didn’t recall getting briefed on the moves.
Former Attorney General William Barr on Friday distanced himself from reports that the Trump Justice Department seized communications records belonging to two prominent Democratic lawmakers who were spearheading investigations into then-President Donald Trump.Barr’s comments came after the New York Timesthat in 2017 and 2018, the Justice Department seized the records of at least 12 people connected to the House Intelligence Committee, including its now-chairman.
According to the Times, the leak investigation swept up the metadata of the committee’s top Democrat, Rep. Adam Schiff of California, who has since become its chairman, and Rep. Eric Swalwell of California, another prominent Trump critic who sits on the panel.to investigate the Trump Justice Department’s efforts to seize their communications records. And Barr’s comments are unlikely to quell their criticisms of his leadership at the department.
Barr said he installed Osmar Benvenuto in DOJ’s National Security Division in February 2020 to try to revive the leak investigations after Craig Carpenito, the U.S. attorney for New Jersey, recommended him to Barr as “a very experienced prosecutor [who] could quickly sort out which of any of these cases merited further investigative steps and what could be done to bring them to resolution.”
Mary McCord, a career attorney, headed the National Security Division before Demers’ Senate confirmation.
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