The US Congress will investigate why Trump confiscated data from members of Congress

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Pictured is US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. EFE / EPA / JIM LO SCALZO / Archive

Democratic leaders in the US Congress promised this Sunday to investigate the Justice Department’s seizure of metadata from progressive members of Congress. During the administration of former President Donald Trump (2017-2021).

Both House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Democratic Majority Leader Chuck Schumer have announced that they will try to get answers from Trump-era Justice Department officials, Jeff Sessions. William Barr.

Under President Trump, the Department of Justice has broken the rules in many waysPelosi said during an interview with the series CNN.

Pelosi was referring to revelations in various media outlets that the Trump Department of Justice requested and confiscated metadata of progressive representatives in Congress from Apple in order to investigate leaks to the press about Russia.

The congressional investigation will run parallel to another internal investigation initiated by the US Department of Justice’s Inspector General.and Michael Horowitz, to determine whether that agency — which should operate independently of the White House — has been alienated by partisan considerations.

Former US President Donald Trump.  EFE / EPA / Stefani Reynolds / POOL / Archive
Former US President Donald Trump. EFE / EPA / Stefani Reynolds / POOL / Archive

The Impact of Metadata Confiscation on Democratic House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff. Same-party congressman Eric Swalwell and relatives of lawmakers, including a minor.

In addition, as reported by the newspaper this Sunday New York timesAnd the In February 2018, the Department of Justice demanded that Apple provide them with account details of then-White House attorney Don McGahn., and his wife.

It’s not clear what the Justice Department was looking for in McGahn’s data, which it didn’t know about until Apple reported it last month, because the government prevented the company from disclosing those orders to White House lawyers.

It was on the same date, February 2018, when The Department of Justice, on orders from Jeff Sessions, requested Apple from the metadata of Democratic members of Congress through a secret order, which was renewed three times through the expiration of 2021..

Democrat Adam Schiff.  Riders / Paul via Reuters
Democrat Adam Schiff. Riders / Paul via Reuters

The goal of the Trump administration was to investigate where the copious media leaks about the then-president’s environment’s contacts with the Kremlin came from.

according to New York timesAnd the The mechanism used by the Trump administration to investigate the leaks has no known precedent affecting members of Congress.

As part of the same investigation, the administration led by Sessions also requested information from journalists to try to find out their sources, as was reported CNNAnd the New York times s Washington Post.

The House Intelligence Committee, headed by Schiff, was one of those that led investigations into Trump’s alleged ties to the Kremlin and later his contacts with Ukraine, leading to his first impeachment trial.

With information from EFE

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