The Justice Department will make its policies for obtaining records of US lawmakers more rigorous after former President Donald Trump's administration secretly secured data on members of Congress, journalists and a former White House lawyer, the top US law enforcement official says.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Attorney-General Merrick Garland also says "political or other improper considerations must play no role in any investigative or prosecutorial decisions" and that anyone within the department who fails to live up to that principle "will be met with strict accountability".
Democratic congressional leaders on Sunday vowed to investigate the department's "rogue" actions under Trump, including its move to obtain the communications records of House of Representatives Democrats Adam Schiff and Eric Swalwell as part of a probe into leaks of classified information. Schiff and Swalwell both were critics of Trump, a Republican.
Garland said in a statement on Monday he has instructed Deputy Attorney-General Lisa Monaco "to evaluate and strengthen the department's existing policies and procedures for obtaining records of the legislative branch".
The department's internal watchdog, Inspector General Michael Horowitz, on Friday said his office was reviewing of the use of subpoenas during Trump's administration to obtain the records of lawmakers and journalists and whether "improper considerations" drove those decisions.
Garland said that if action related to Horowitz's investigation was warranted, "I will not hesitate to move swiftly".
Garland also on Monday met officials from the New York Times, Washington Post and CNN to discuss the Trump Justice Department's seizure of phone records for journalists from the three news organisations.
The Justice Department said Garland had "a productive conversation" with the media representatives and they "agreed on the need for strong, durable rules".
The House judiciary committee will also open an investigation, said panel's chairman, Democrat Jerrold Nadler.
Under former attorneys-general William Barr and Jeff Sessions, the department was accused by Democrats of putting Trump's personal and political interests ahead of the law.
The Times on Thursday reported that under Trump the department subpoenaed Apple for data on Schiff and Swalwell. Apple reportedly also told Donald McGahn, who served as White House counsel under Trump, that the department had subpoenaed information about him in 2018 and barred the company from telling him.
Australian Associated Press
