Judiciary Committee to Investigate DOJ for Alleged ‘Spying’ on Lawmakers
WASHINGTON — House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, continued his crusade this week to prove the Biden administration is “weaponized” against conservatives by announcing an investigation of the Justice Department.
As part of the investigation, he sent letters to the chief executives of major telecommunications companies asking them whether they gave information to the Justice Department about private communications of members of Congress and their staff.
Jordan claims the Justice Department is retaliating against members of Congress who oppose Biden administration policies and who exert oversight of U.S. attorneys.
“We now know that they spied on congressional staffers,” Jordan said in a television appearance on Fox Business, without offering any evidence. “We want to know, how far does it go? Were they spying on members? Were they spying on other staffers?”
Jordan sent the letters as a response to an Oct. 19 notification from Google to Jason Foster, a former Senate Judiciary Committee staff member. Google officials told him the Justice Department had subpoenaed the internet giant in 2017 seeking his personal phone records and emails.
When the Justice Department subpoenaed Google in 2017, the Senate Judiciary Committee was leading an investigation into the Steele dossier.
The Steele dossier, also known as the Trump-Russia dossier, is a 35-page political research report written by former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele, that compiles controversial information on the 2016 Donald Trump presidential campaign.
It contains allegations of misconduct and collusion between the Trump campaign and the government of Russia. Trump spoke favorably about Russian President Vladimir Putin but denies any foreign influence over his campaign or policies.
“Google’s notification to this staffer revealed the Justice Department likely also sought the personal records and communications of other congressional staffers — both Republicans and Democrats — who engaged in oversight of the department during the same period,” Jordan’s letter to the corporate executives says.
Jordan was one of Trump’s most loyal political allies.
He sent the letter to the chief executives of Alphabet, Apple, AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon as well as U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland. They have not yet publicly responded.
He made similar allegations in a letter this week to D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb, who he accuses of retaliation against Leonard Leo, a donor to conservative political causes. Schwalb is investigating Leo.
Jordan said Schwalb’s investigation is “politically motivated.”
“Leonard Leo was baselessly accused of receiving ‘excessive payments for consulting and other services from the several conservative nonprofit groups’ by the Campaign for Accountability with no evidence to substantiate the complaint,” Jordan said in a statement. “Now, he is being investigated by Attorney General Brian Schwalb even though he and the organizations with which he is affiliated are based outside of Washington, D.C.”
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