A watchdog group called Empower Oversight Whistleblowers & Research has filed a motion with a federal court in Washington, D.C. to unseal documents related to the Justice Department’s subpoenas of personal phone and email records of members of Congress during the Trump-Russia investigation. The group believes this matter is of significant public interest and has raised concerns about the secrecy surrounding the DOJ’s actions, including non-disclosure orders imposed on Google to prevent users from being notified that their records were targeted. The founder of Empower Oversight, Jason Foster, received notice in October 2023 that his Google email address and two Google Voice telephone numbers were targeted in a subpoena issued by the Justice Department in 2017 while he was working as the chief investigative counsel for the Senate Judiciary Committee.
The DOJ’s subpoena to Google also targeted records of other individuals, including staffers for House and Senate committees who were engaged in oversight of the DOJ. Empower Oversight alleges that the DOJ withheld important context from Google and questions whether the agency also withheld information from the court. The group is concerned that the records obtained by the DOJ could potentially be used to identify confidential whistleblowers who had provided information to Congress about government misconduct. Empower Oversight is calling for the unsealing of records related to the investigation to shed light on the DOJ’s actions and ensure transparency in the process.
The filing by Empower Oversight reveals that the Justice Department obtained non-disclosure orders that prevented Google from notifying anyone about the existence of the subpoenas. This lack of transparency has raised further questions about the basis for these non-disclosure orders and the reasoning behind them. The subpoenas are believed to be related to the leak of confidential information that ultimately led to the prosecution and guilty plea of former Senate Intelligence Committee Security Director James Wolfe. Republican Senators Chuck Grassley, Ted Cruz, and Mike Lee have been investigating the subpoenas and the DOJ’s efforts to collect private phone and email records as part of their oversight responsibilities.
In 2018, then-Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein threatened to subpoena personal records belonging to staffers for the House Intelligence Committee during a confrontation over the Justice Department’s alleged failure to comply with the committee’s requests. This incident, along with the recent revelations about the DOJ’s subpoenas of congressional members’ records, has raised concerns about the potential misuse of government power and lack of transparency in these investigations. Google has reported an increase in non-disclosure orders issued by federal prosecutors, leading to concerns about users’ rights being compromised without proper notification and the opportunity to contest demands for their data. The Justice Department has declined to comment on the situation.
The investigation that prompted the subpoenas of congressional members’ records began during the Trump administration, and the actions taken by the DOJ have sparked concerns among lawmakers and watchdog groups about government overreach and the protection of individuals’ privacy rights. Empower Oversight’s motion to unseal documents related to the investigation is part of an effort to ensure accountability and transparency in government actions, particularly when it comes to targeting private communications of elected officials and staffers. The outcome of this legal battle could have wide-ranging implications for how government agencies conduct investigations and handle sensitive information related to national security and potential misconduct within the government.
