Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz confirmed that he would launch an investigation into it, as well as on the use of subpoenas to obtain journalists' phone records.
WASHINGTON – The Justice Department’s independent watchdog on Friday announced that it was launching a broad investigation into whether the Trump administration and its two attorneys general improperly seized phone records of House Democratic lawmakers, their staff and journalists as part of an aggressive 2018 leak investigation.
The Office of Inspector General can initiate investigations based on information received from a variety of sources, including its own hotline, referrals from agencies or Congress. In this case, Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco made the request. Senate Democratic leaders demanded on Friday that then-President Donald Trump’s two attorneys general, William Barr and Jeff Sessions, testify about the seizure of phone records.President Donald Trump andAttorney General Jeff Sessions at the FBI National Academy graduation ceremony in Quantico, Va. Dec. 15, 2017.
Apple said the gag order was extended three times. The Justice Department under the Biden administration did not seek to extend the gag order, allowing Apple to inform the subjects of the subpoena on May 5 that their phone metadata and account subscriber information had been seized.
On Thursday night, after the Times published its report, Swalwell went on CNN and confirmed that his phone data were among those that were seized, as well as other lawmakers and their family members. House Democrats promptly denounced the data seizure and called for an inspector general investigation.
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