by John Solomon
Several major whistleblower groups are challenging the Justice Department’s efforts in federal court to permanently cover up why it spied on congressional investigators several years ago by obtaining their phone records during a leak investigation.
The whistleblower group Empower Oversight, whose founder Jason Foster was one of the investigators whose phone records were stolen while he was still a senior Senate official, has asked a federal judge to unseal documents that allowed the Justice Department to access the records in 2017.
However, the government recently responded by saying the documents should be permanently sealed and not released to the public, according to a fresh filing by Empower Oversight.
“Rather than working with Empower Oversight to find a way for these records to be made available with appropriate redactions, the Justice Department’s response to Empower Oversight’s request was to insist that they remain (and remain) secret—nearly seven years after the events that gave rise to them,” the fresh document reads.
“The only possible purpose of this secrecy is to conceal key facts from Congress and the public, thereby undermining the typical presumption of good faith to which DOJ would otherwise be entitled,” it added. “Indeed, DOJ’s demand for total secrecy raises serious suspicions that DOJ defied Empower Oversight’s request simply to continue to conceal its prior disregard for the separation of powers and the whistleblower protection policy implications of subpoenas.”
Only news It was first reported last year that multiple congressional investigators, both Democrats and Republicans, were notified years after the fact that their phone records were seized under a subpoena in 2017.
The investigators included Kash Patel, the lead investigator for the House Intelligence Committee, and Foster (pictured above), the lead investigator for the Senate Judiciary Committee. Both investigated misconduct by the Justice Department and the FBI during the discredited Russia collusion investigation.
The disclosure outraged many members of Congress, who said the subpoenas violated the constitutional separation of powers between Congress and the executive branch. Several lawmakers demanded answers from the Justice Department, including Sen. Ted Cruz and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, both Republicans.
The Justice Department has not yet publicly explained why it subpoenaed Congress or the courts for the call records.
In a scarce move, several other whistleblower groups, including the Government Accountability Project, joined Empower Oversight in filing an amicus curiae brief demanding that the court unseal documents showing why prosecutors violated the privacy of congressional investigators.
“For many whistleblowers, whether they can communicate confidentially is key to whether they challenge abuses of power,” said GAP Legal Director Tom Devine. “Secret subpoenas of congressional offices pose a clear and present danger to both whistleblowers and Congress as a constitutional check and balance.
“If this decision stands, no congressional office will be able to honestly assure confidential whistleblowers that they have not become part of the Justice Department’s records.”
Joining GAP as part of an amicus brief Whistleblowers of America (WOA) and FBI whistleblower Michael the German – who since leaving the FBI has worked with “members of Congress and their staff to assist other FBI employees reporting wrongdoing and to create stronger protections for all national security whistleblowers.”
You can read the original May 2 Empower Oversight request for declassification Here.
Empower Oversight’s July 15 response is: Here.
The amicus curiae brief from other whistleblower groups is Here.
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John Solomon is an award-winning investigative journalist, author and digital media entrepreneur who serves as CEO and Editor-in-Chief of Just the News.
Photo “Jason Foster” by Strengthen supervision. Background of the photo “United States Capitol Building” by Thomas Lin.
