Throughout the 2016 campaign and the Trump presidency, leaks poured out of the FBI \u200band Department of Justice \u2062(DOJ) straight to\u200c The Washington Post, New York Times, CNN, and other left-wing\u2063 organizations<\/a>. Anonymous officials at these federal\u200c agencies ran an information operation<\/a> to falsely accuse President Donald Trump\u200b of colluding with Russia to steal the 2016 election.<\/p>\n

These leaks included revealing<\/a> \u200b that former FBI head\u200c James Comey briefed President Obama and \u200dPresident-elect Trump with false allegations, the criminal disclosure<\/a> of a \u2062phone call between Michael Flynn and his Russian counterpart\u200d to falsely portray him as \u200da\u200b traitor, and\u2062 numerous other leaks to create a false narrative.<\/p>\n

However, instead of investigating these leaks, including the criminal ones, the DOJ turned its investigative powers on the staff of Congress members who were looking into the Russia-collusion scam.<\/p>\n

This week, the nonpartisan whistleblower \u200dorganization Empower \u2063Oversight<\/a> \u200c revealed that the DOJ targeted \u2062and surveilled Jason Foster, a Senate \u200cstaffer leading the investigation into the \u2062Russia-collusion\u2062 hoax, along with other congressional staffers. The DOJ claimed that subpoenas of Foster and other\u200b staffers’ personal information were “in connection with recent investigations of alleged unauthorized \u2063disclosures of information to the media.”<\/p>\n

However, it is highly likely that the DOJ and FBI’s own staff were the actual leakers. Empower explained that if the DOJ \u200cdid \u200dnot also subpoena the personal phone and email records of every Executive Branch official \u2064who had access to \u200bthe same information, then “the entire exercise looks more like\u2064 a pretext to gather intelligence on those conducting oversight of the\u2064 Department rather \u2063than a \u200c legitimate classified \u200cleak inquiry<\/a>.”<\/p>\n

Foster, who is the\u200d founder of Empower, discovered that in September 2017, \u200bthe DOJ subpoenaed records \u2062from a Google Voice telephone number connected to his\u2063 family’s phones. At\u200d the time, Foster was Chief Investigative Counsel to U.S. Senate\u200c Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck \u200bGrassley,\u200c and\u2062 he was investigating the FBI’s role \u200din promoting \u200dthe debunked Russia-collusion hoax.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Google provided Foster with a \u2064copy of the subpoena, which also included requests for records\u2062 from\u2064 other redacted Google accounts. Empower Oversight \u200chas information indicating that these other accounts belonged to other staffers, both Republicans \u2062and Democrats, from U.S. House and Senate committees who were also involved in oversight investigations of the\u2062 Justice Department\u2063 at the time.<\/p>\n

Empower recounted in its \u2062FOIA\u2063 request that the subpoena compelled Google to release customer or subscriber information, as well as subscribers’\u2063 names, addresses, telephone \u2062connection \u2064records, text message logs<\/a>, and other details for the period from December 1, 2016, to May 1,\u200d 2017.<\/p>\n

Both \u2064congressional Republicans and Democrats have called for investigations into\u200c the DOJ’s subpoenaing of personal information on them, their staff, and even their families. Empower noted\u200c that\u200b the number the DOJ subpoenaed for Foster was actually used by his\u200c wife,\u2063 who had never communicated with the media using \u200cthat phone number\u2062 or any other. \u200dThe DOJ even sent<\/a> a \u200dsubpoena to Apple for the “communications data”\u2063 of a child.<\/p>\n

Empower\u2063 stated in its FOIA request that there seems to have been a widespread effort to\u2064 obtain the personal communications records of innocent\u2063 congressional staffers and\u200b their families without a legitimate reason. The organization is \u200cnow\u200d requesting all documents and communications related to the\u200b subpoena of Foster’s and other \u2064congressional staffers’\u200d information, as well as all \u200dgrand jury subpoenas in the \u200bcase.<\/p>\n

Empower is also seeking \u2064all\u2062 communications exchanged between members of the\u200c press and senior officials within the DOJ regarding various individuals\u2063 and investigations. Foster mentioned \u200dthat top officials \u200dlike Rod Rosenstein, Robert Hur, Edward O’Callaghan, Sarah Isgur, and Jessie Liu would have been involved in approving or overseeing the subpoena on\u2063 congressional staffers.<\/p>\n

Lastly, Empower requested all communications exchanged between the U.S. Attorney’s Office for\u200c the\u2063 District of Columbia, the National\u200b Security \u2063Division, the Deputy Attorney General’s\u2064 Office, and\/or the FBI and Verizon \u200bregarding obtaining communications data associated with devices serviced \u200cby Verizon for U.S. House Representatives or U.S. Senate.<\/p>\n

Foster explained that Empower \u200dsingled\u200d out\u2062 Verizon because all \u200dgovernment-provided work \u200cphones\u2063 on Capitol Hill use that provider.<\/p>\n

The Justice\u200d Department claims to be reviewing its use\u2064 of subpoenas and other \u200blegal authorities to obtain communication records of Members\u2063 of Congress, affiliated persons, and \u200bthe \u200dnews media in \u2063connection with investigations\u2063 of alleged unauthorized disclosures of information to the media.<\/p>\n

Empower’s FOIA request questions whether the DOJ was equally diligent in seeking the communication records of its own\u2062 employees who had\u200d access to\u2062 leaked information.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n

rnrn <\/p>\n

\u200d What implications \u2063does the \u2064targeting and surveillance of congressional\u200d staff members investigating the Russia-collusion hoax have on transparency and justice?<\/h2>\n
The Department of Justice (DOJ) has come \u200bunder scrutiny for targeting and surveilling congressional\u2062 staff members who \u2062were investigating\u2062 the\u2064 Russia-collusion hoax. In a \u200brecent revelation by the nonpartisan\u200b whistleblower organization \u2064Empower Oversight, \u2062it was disclosed that the DOJ had targeted Jason Foster, \u2063a Senate staffer\u2062 leading the investigation into the alleged collusion between President \u200dDonald Trump and Russia during the 2016 election.<\/p>\n
The DOJ\u2063 claimed that\u200c these subpoenas were in connection with\u2062 investigations\u2062 into \u200bunauthorized disclosures of \u200cinformation \u2064to the media. However, it is highly likely\u2064 that the DOJ and FBI’s \u2063own \u200bstaff were \u2063the actual leakers\u2062 of this information. Empower \u2063Oversight pointed out that if the DOJ did not also subpoena the personal phone and email\u200b records of every executive\u2062 branch official<\/a> who had access to the\u2063 same information, then this exercise appears more like a pretext\u2064 to gather intelligence \u200con those \u2064conducting oversight rather than \u2062a legitimate leak inquiry.<\/p>\n
Foster, who is the founder of Empower, discovered that\u200c in September 2017, the DOJ had\u2062 subpoenaed records from a\u200b Google Voice telephone number\u200c connected to his family’s phones. At the time, Foster was Chief \u200dInvestigative Counsel to U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee\u2064 Chairman Chuck\u200d Grassley, and he was\u2063 investigating the FBI’s\u200b role in promoting the debunked Russia-collusion hoax.<\/p>\n
Google provided Foster\u2063 with a copy \u200dof \u200dthe subpoena, \u200cwhich also included requests\u2064 for records from other redacted Google accounts. Empower Oversight has \u2062information indicating that these other accounts belonged \u200cto other congressional \u200cstaffers from both \u200bRepublican and Democratic committees who were also involved in oversight investigations \u200cof the Justice Department at the time.<\/p>\n
The subpoena \u200bcompelled \u2062Google to release \u2064customer or subscriber information, as well as \u2063subscribers’ names, addresses, telephone connection records, text message logs, and other \u200ddetails for the period from December 1, 2016, to May 1, 2017.<\/p>\n
Both \u200bcongressional Republicans and\u200c Democrats have called for investigations\u2062 into the DOJ’s subpoenaing \u200bof personal information on them, their staff, and even their\u200d families. Empower noted that the number the \u200dDOJ \u200dsubpoenaed\u200b for Foster was actually used by his wife, who had never communicated \u200cwith the media using that\u200b phone number or any other.\u200b The\u200c DOJ even sent a subpoena to Apple for the “communications data” of a child.<\/p>\n
This revelation raises serious concerns about the abuse \u200cof power by the DOJ and FBI during the Trump \u200bpresidency. Instead of investigating the leaks coming from their own ranks, they targeted and \u2062surveilled individuals who were trying to uncover the \u2063truth\u200b behind the Russia-collusion hoax. It is crucial that a thorough investigation is conducted to \u2064hold those responsible accountable and to uphold the principles of transparency and justice. The American\u200d people deserve to know the\u200c truth behind these actions and the extent of the<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Throughout the 2016 campaign and Trump’s presidency, FBI and DOJ leaks flowed to left-leaning outlets like The Washington Post, New York Times, and CNN. Anonymous officials from federal agencies orchestrated an information campaign, falsely accusing President Trump of stealing the 2016 election.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1623,"featured_media":2079072,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[546],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2079071","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-federalist"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2079071","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1623"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2079071"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2079071\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2079072"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2079071"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2079071"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2079071"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}