by John Solomon and Steven Richards at Just the News
A whistleblower organization has initiated a court action to force the Department of Justice to disclose why it spied on congressional staff, setting up a landmark legal battle on an issue that has rankled both Republicans and Democrats.
Last fall, several current and former congressional oversight staff were belatedly informed that the Justice Department seized phone and email records in 2017 in an internal investigation, raising concerns about separation of powers between two branches of government.
Jason Foster, who is now the founder and chair of Empower Oversight, the group which sued in court this week to unseal the court documents in which the DOJ explained why it wanted the subpoenas kept secret, was one of the former Senate staffers whose phone and email records were seized by the DOJ.
At the time of the subpoena, Foster was the chief investigative counsel for Sen. Chuck Grassley, who served on the Senate Judiciary Committee. The Senator and his committee were probing the department over its handling of the Crossfire Hurricane investigation into President Trump’s campaign.
“Ever since the botched Crossfire Hurricane investigation came to light, the FBI and Justice Department have gone to great lengths to cover up and distract from their own malfeasance. Their actions only serve to underscore the importance of Congress’ constitutional oversight responsibility. This attack on congressional investigators will not deter us from that duty, and the department must answer for this abuse,” Senator Grassley told Just the News last October.
Though the initial DOJ subpoena dates from 2017,…
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