Inspector General Michael Horowitz announced on Friday his investigation of the Justice Department’s seizure of the data of Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee and of several reporters as part of wide-ranging leak investigations during the Trump years.
“The review will examine the Department’s compliance with applicable DOJ policies and procedures, and whether any such uses, or the investigations, were based upon improper considerations,” Horowitz said in a statement. “If circumstances warrant, the OIG will consider other issues that may arise during the review.”
The Horowitz probe comes after a series of revelations since Trump left office about how aggressively the Justice Department was investigating leaks that were politically damaging to the ex-president.
The New York Times reported on Thursday that under then-Attorneys General Jeff Sessions and Bill Barr, the Justice Department had issued subpoenas seeking out Apple metadata for Intelligence Committee Chair Adam Schiff (D-CA) and Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA), plus their families and staffers on the committee, in its hunt for leaks.
Previous reporting had revealed that the Justice Department had also seized communication records of reporters from the New York Times, the Washington Post, and CNN.
After the explosive Times report, Schiff and Swalwell called on the inspector general to open an investigation into the matter, as did Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Dick Durbin (D-IL) and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA).
“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,” Schiff said on Thursday. “Though we were informed by the Department in May that this investigation is closed, I believe more answers are needed, which is why I believe the Inspector General should investigate this and other cases that suggest the weaponization of law enforcement by a corrupt president.”
Schumer and Durbin stated on Friday that the Senate Judiciary Committee would “vigorously investigate this abuse of power” and demanded Barr, Sessions, and other top Trump DOJ officials to testify under oath.
It’s needed
Will it be heeded?
They should probe Barr until he limps.
(Unless…you know…he likes that sort of thing.)
Maybe VP Harris can come back as a guest inquisitor when Sessions appears. He broke out in a flop sweat and almost bolted for the door the last time he had to face that uppity negro lady. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mK_HmEFxCpI
Barr was no better… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ktdi_L0rYkk
I like the timing of these DOJ announcements. Biden said let’s get COVID-19 under control first and start to right the economy and repair international relations. That’s what we needed first. Now that things are settling there (relatively speaking), it’s time to clean shop and name names. If the DOJ had done this quickly in the spring it would have been seen as merely vindictive and hasty. If DOJ is saying what it’s saying now, the wheels have already been turning for awhile and the GOOPERS have only made things worse for themselves in the past few months, stepping in their own shit. I am smiling on this rainy, cicada-laden day.
Oh, well, thank god Horowitz is on the case…it’s not like he’s a totally useless cowardly turd or anything…