The Department of Justice spied on two members of Congress and 43 congressional staffers, including Kash Patel, President-elect Donald Trump's pick to head up the FBI, according to a report by DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz released on Dec. 10, 2024.
Horowitz found that the DOJ initiated the operation to obtain the targeted individuals' phone records in an investigation of alleged leaks to the media of FBI classified information as part of the long-discredited Trump-Russia investigation.
The DOJ failed to reveal in court filings the fact that the DOJ's operation "related to requests for records of Members of Congress or congressional staffers," Horowitz noted.
Rod Rosenstein, the deputy attorney general from 2017 to 2019, shows up five times in Horowitz's report.
Rosenstein, who in 2018 suggested that he secretly record then-President Trump in their White House meetings, was one of several top DOJ and FBI officials Patel sued for allegedly unlawfully obtaining his data. FBI Director Christopher Wray was also named in Patel's suit.
[In a Dec. 9 letter to Wray, Iowa Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley detailed Wray's "failures" as FBI chief and called on him to step down. Wray resigned on Dec. 11. View Grassley's 11-page letter to Wray here.]
Former Trump White House adviser Garrett Ziegler noted: "Rod Rosenstein's role in the DOJ OIG report is not being talked about enough. He was the head of the snake. He is a serial lying snake and perhaps the worst person to ever serve in Trump Term 1"
Horowitz wrote: "Former Attorney General William Barr and former Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein declined our requests for voluntary interviews, and, because the OIG does not have the authority to subpoena testimony from former Department employees, we were unable to compel their interviews."
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Patel was a staffer for Rep. Devin Nunes when the California Republican headed the House Intelligence Committee. Patel was a key investigator in unraveling the Russiagate hoax.
Horowitz's report found that DOJ investigators issued a broad sweep based on who may have had access to the sensitive information that was leaked.
Seeking records based only on “the close proximity in time between access to classified information and subsequent publication of the information… risks chilling Congress’s ability to conduct oversight of the executive branch,” Horowitz wrote.
Such a move, Horowitz added, “exposes congressional officials to having their records reviewed by the Department solely for conducting Congress’ constitutional authorized oversight duties and creating, at a minimum, the appearance of inappropriate interference by the executive branch in legitimate oversight activity by the legislative branch.”
Former congressional staffer Jason Foster told Just the News that he confirmed that the government successfully asked a federal court to hide its spying on Congress for five consecutive years.
Foster is now the head of the Empower Oversight whistleblower center. In 2017 at the time of the secret surveillance, he was the chief investigative counsel for Grassley on the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Grassley on Tuesday claimed that the investigation was an example of the DOJ acting in "bad faith," and urged the incoming Trump administration to fix the problem.
“It’s plain to see DOJ overstepped its authority here," Grassley said in a statement. "The Justice Department ought to learn from its mistakes and accept accountability, because Congress won’t accept any less. The incoming Trump administration must take steps to ensure these problems ... are fixed."
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