The Justice Department announced Monday that it plans to introduce stricter rules for obtaining records of U.S. lawmakers following news that the DOJ seized data of two House Democrats under the Trump administration.
The story: Attorney General Merrick Garland announced in a statement on Monday that he had instructed Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco to “evaluate and strengthen the department’s existing policies and procedures for obtaining records of the Legislative branch.”
Garland said she was “already working on surfacing potentially problematic matters deserving high-level review.”
“As I stated during my confirmation hearing, political or other improper considerations must play no role in any investigative or prosecutorial decisions,” Garland said. “These principles that have long been held as sacrosanct by the DOJ career workforce will be vigorously guarded on my watch, and any failure to live up to them will be met with strict accountability.”
“Consistent with our commitment to the rule of law, we must ensure that full weight is accorded to separation-of-powers concerns moving forward,” the attorney general added.
How we got here: The announcement comes after it was revealed that the Justice Department, under the Trump administration, seized data records from the Apple accounts of two members of the House Intelligence Committee in 2018 as part of an investigation into media leaks. The affected lawmakers are, according to reports, Reps. Adam Schiff (D-CA) and Eric Swalwell (D-CA).
The New York Times reported that prosecutors from the DOJ subpoenaed Apple for the data and obtained records of at least twelve people, including the lawmakers, their staff, and family members.
They also obtained a gag order against Apple, preventing the company from informing the targeted individuals.
Meanwhile, Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz said Friday he is launching an investigation to determine if the Trump administration improperly the seized records in question.
