Two House Democrats were investigated by the Trump administration

The Department of Justice of the government of Trump quoted Apple in 2018 to obtain the metadata of at least two House Intelligence Committee Democrats, as well as their staff and family

Photo: Samuel Corum / Getty Images

On 2018, Trump’s Justice Department took the highly unusual step of subpoenaing Apple to obtain member metadata of the House Intelligence Committee, as well as his current and former staff , and even his family, including a minor, according to a committee official, reported NPR .

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, DN.Y., and Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin, D-Ill., Called for an investigation immediate action by the department’s control body and Congress, describing the actions denounced by the ad Trump administration as a “serious abuse of power.”

The Trump era citation, which The New York Times first reported , was part of an aggressive push by the Department of Justice to find the source of classified information leaks in the early years of the Trump administration. However, there is no indication that the subpoena material links the committee to the media leaks.

The Department of Justice also obtained a gag order for the case, preventing Apple from informing the committee about the investigation. The company was only able to inform the panel after the gag order was lifted in May, the committee official said on condition of anonymity, due to the sensitivity of the issue.

The House Intelligence Committee contacted the Biden Justice Department, which informed the panel that the investigation had been closed, said the official.

It is highly unusual for the Department of Justice to investigate members of Congress. If it happens, it is usually related to a corruption investigation.

But the investigation fits into the aggressive approach of Trump’s Justice Department to investigate media leaks.

That approach became clear recently when it became known that the department had Secretly sought to obtain phone and email records of The Times, The Washington Post and CNN reporters at 2020.

Schiff accused Trump of repeatedly demanding the Department of Justice that persecutes its political opponents and the media.

“It is increasingly evident that these demands did not fall on deaf ears,” Schiff said in a statement. “The politicization of the Department and attacks on the rule of law are among the most dangerous attacks on our democracy by the former president.”