Trump DOJ seized House Democrats' data from Apple

Trump administration officials subpoenaed Apple for data on accounts belonging to at least two Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee, congressional aides and their family members to find who was behind the leaks of classified information, The New York Times reported on Thursday

Committee officials and sources with knowledge of the inquiry told the Times that records belonging to at least a dozen people, including House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff Adam Bennett SchiffHillicon Valley: Meat producer JBS USA hit by cyberattack | White House says JBS hack likely from Russia | Report finds Amazon injury rate above warehouse standard New Russian hacks spark calls for tougher Biden actions Schiff: Marjorie Taylor Greene's actions 'a sign of the greater rot in her party' MORE (D-Calif.), were seized in 2017 and 2018. Data that belonged to family members, including at least one minor, was also seized.

One source told the Times that Apple turned over metadata and account information, but did not provide photos, emails or other content.

According to the Times, prosecutors under former Attorney General Jeff Sessions Jefferson (Jeff) Beauregard SessionsDemocrats claim vindication, GOP cries witch hunt as McGahn finally testifies CNN reporter's phone and email records secretly obtained by Trump administration: report Biden looks to expand legal assistance for minorities, low-income Americans MORE were looking to identify sources who were speaking to members of the media about contact between Trump associates and Russia.

The data seized in the investigations ultimately did not connect the Intelligence Committee to the information leaks; however, Sessions's successor William Barr Bill BarrHouse Judiciary releases McGahn testimony on Trump Garland defends Justice Department backing Trump-era decisions Trump claims exoneration in Lafayette Square clearing out MORE later revived the investigation, moving a trusted New Jersey prosecutor, Osmar Benvenuto, into the main branch of the Department of Justice (DOJ) to continue the investigation into Schiff and around half a dozen other people, according to the Times.

In a statement to the Times, Schiff said former President Trump Donald TrumpFormer House Republican to challenge DeWine for Ohio gubernatorial nomination GOP senators press Justice Department to compare protest arrests to Capitol riot Overnight Defense: Austin directs classified initiatives to counter China | Biden emphasizes alliances in speech to troops | Lockdown lifted at Texas base after reported shooting MORE had used the DOJ as a “cudgel against his political opponents and members of the media.”

“It is increasingly apparent that those demands did not fall on deaf ears,” Schiff said. “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 president.”

Trump repeatedly demanded the DOJ go after his political enemies.

It's clear his demands didn't fall on deaf ears.

This baseless investigation, while now closed, is yet another example of Trump's corrupt weaponization of justice.

And how much he imperiled our democracy. — Adam Schiff (@RepAdamSchiff) June 11, 2021

The California congressman called for an independent inspector general to investigate the probe into committee members and any others who “suggest the weaponization of law enforcement.”

David Laufman, a former DOJ official who used to investigate leaks, told the Times, “notwithstanding whether there was sufficient predication for the leak investigation itself, including family members and minor children strikes me as extremely aggressive."

“In combination with former President Trump’s unmistakable vendetta against Congressman Schiff, it raises serious questions about whether the manner in which this investigation was conducted was influenced by political considerations rather than purely legal ones," Laufman added.

“Recently, it has become public that the Trump Administration sought account metadata of House Intelligence Committee Members and staff and their families," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi Nancy PelosiOvernight Health Care: US to donate 500 million Pfizer doses to other countries: reports | GOP's attacks on Fauci at center of pandemic message | Federal appeals court blocks Missouri abortion ban Meet the most powerful woman in Washington not named Pelosi or Harris The Hill's Morning Report - Presented by Facebook - Biden detours on infrastructure ahead of June vote MORE (D-Calif.) said in a statement. “The news about the politicization of the Trump Administration Justice Department is harrowing. These actions appear to be yet another egregious assault on our democracy waged by the former president.

"I support Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff’s call for an investigation into this situation and other acts of the weaponization of law enforcement by the former president," she added. "Transparency is essential.”

This report comes amid other reports that the DOJ under the Trump administration sought the phone and email records of various reporters from CNN, The New York Times and The Washington Post, among others, to find out where they were sourcing their information.

StrangeCharmVote on June 11st, 2021 at 03:39 UTC »

I think people are overlooking something obvious...

Even with all of this blatantly illegal spying republicans were doing on democrats, they didn't find anything damaging they could publish.

Seems like that says as much as you need to know when it comes to it.

Never let anyone tell you "they're all the same". It is a lie, and it is an excuse they use to justify voting republican.

Oleg101 on June 11st, 2021 at 02:03 UTC »

Even putting one’s politics completely aside, Bill Barr should be prosecuted and in jail ASAP

malarkeyfreezone on June 11st, 2021 at 01:56 UTC »

As the Justice Department investigated who was behind leaks of classified information early in the Trump administration, it took a highly unusual step: Prosecutors subpoenaed Apple for data from the accounts of at least two Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee, aides and family members. One was a minor.

All told, the records of at least a dozen people tied to the committee were seized in 2017 and early 2018, including those of Representative Adam B. Schiff of California, then the panel’s top Democrat and now its chairman, according to committee officials and two other people briefed on the inquiry.

Started in Trump's very first year.

Prosecutors, under the beleaguered attorney general, Jeff Sessions, were hunting for the sources behind news media reports about contacts between Trump associates and Russia. Ultimately, the data and other evidence did not tie the committee to the leaks, and investigators debated whether they had hit a dead end and some even discussed closing the inquiry.

But William P. Barr revived languishing leak investigations after he became attorney general a year later. He moved a trusted prosecutor from New Jersey with little relevant experience to the main Justice Department to work on the Schiff-related case and about a half-dozen others, according to three people with knowledge of his work who did not want to be identified discussing federal investigations.

The zeal in the Trump administration’s efforts to hunt leakers led to the extraordinary step of subpoenaing communications metadata from members of Congress — a nearly unheard-of move outside of corruption investigations. While Justice Department leak investigations are routine, current and former congressional officials familiar with the inquiry said they could not recall an instance in which the records of lawmakers had been seized as part of one.

Moreover, just as it did in investigating news organizations, the Justice Department secured a gag order on Apple that expired this year, according to a person familiar with the inquiry, so lawmakers did not know they were being investigated until Apple informed them last month. ...

“Notwithstanding whether there was sufficient predication for the leak investigation itself, including family members and minor children strikes me as extremely aggressive,” said David Laufman, a former Justice Department official who worked on leak investigations. “In combination with former President Trump’s unmistakable vendetta against Congressman Schiff, it raises serious questions about whether the manner in which this investigation was conducted was influenced by political considerations rather than purely legal ones.” ...

As the years wore on, some officials argued in meetings that charges were becoming less realistic, former Justice Department officials said: They lacked strong evidence, and a jury might not care about information reported years earlier.

The Trump administration also declassified some of the information, making it harder for prosecutors to argue that publishing it had harmed the United States. And the president’s attacks on Mr. Schiff and Mr. Comey would allow defense lawyers to argue that any charges were attempts to wield the power of law enforcement against Mr. Trump’s enemies. ...

Soon after Mr. Trump took office in 2017, press reports based on sensitive or classified intelligence threw the White House into chaos. They detailed conversations between the Russian ambassador to the United States at the time and Mr. Trump’s top aides, the president’s pressuring of the F.B.I. and other matters related to the Russia investigation.

The White House was adamant that the sources be found and prosecuted, and the Justice Department began a broad look at national security officials from the Obama administration, according to five people briefed on the inquiry.

It always goes back to Trump's corruption, conspiracy and treason with Russia.

Prosecutors also redoubled efforts to find out who had leaked material related to Michael T. Flynn, Mr. Trump’s first national security adviser. Details about conversations he had in late 2016 with the Russian ambassador at the time, Sergey I. Kislyak, appeared in news reports in early 2017 and eventually helped prompt both his ouster and federal charges against him. ... Separately, one of the prosecutors whom Mr. Barr had directed to re-examine the F.B.I.’s criminal case against Mr. Flynn interviewed at least one law enforcement official in the leak investigation after the transcripts were declassified, a move that a person familiar with the matter labeled politically fraught.

You'll recall Barr tried to drop charges against Flynn and Trump ultimately pardoned Flynn, in an openly corrupt display of support to Trump's criminal allies.