(PresidentialWire.com)- Last week, the New York Times reported that during the Trump Administration, while investigating the illegal leaks that ran rampant through Congress, the Justice Department “secretly” seized the personal phone and tech data of two Congressional Democrats.
Naturally, Democrat leaders on the Hill are outraged over the news.
On Sunday, Democrats demanded that John Demers, the head of the DOJ’s national security division, along with former attorneys general William Barr and Jeff Sessions, as well as former deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein all come before Congress and testify.
In addition to that news, the New York Times reported on Sunday that former White House counsel Doug McGahn was notified by Apple that the DOJ subpoenaed his phone records in February 2018 during the Mueller investigation.
However, the Times concedes that there are reasons to doubt that McGahn was the target of any investigation into illegal leaks.
Among those whose data the DOJ seized were two House Intelligence Committee Democrats Eric Swalwell (D-CA) and current committee chair Adam Schiff (D-CA).
According to the Times, the primary focus of the investigation into illegal leaks out of the House Intelligence Committee was former Intel Committee staffer Michael Bahar.
What is unclear is whether Bahar illegally leaked to the press on his own volition or whether he was leaking information at the behest of a sitting member. Whichever it was, the DOJ closed the case without bringing any charges against Bahar.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi blasted former President Trump on Sunday claiming what the Justice Department did went “even beyond Richard Nixon.” Pelosi is demanding Barr, Sessions and Rosenstein testify before Congress.
Likewise, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is also demanding hearings, claiming “the sins of the Trump administration keep piling up.”
However, as Pelosi, Schumer, and even Schiff loved to point out during the Trump years, “nobody is above the law.”
That includes any members of Congress or their staff who violate the law and illegally leak classified information to reporters.
On Monday morning, John Demers, the head of the Justice Department’s national security division, resigned. It is unclear whether his resignation was voluntary or if AG Merrick Garland forced him out.
If this news story goes the way most Trump-related news stories play out, it is unlikely to end the way Democrats think it will.
