A new Inspector General report shows that the U.S. Department of Justice reportedly spied on Kash Patel, who was recently selected as President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and other federal employees without notifying the courts.
According to Just the News, the Inspector General’s report, which was released on Tuesday, shows that the Department of Justice spied on two House members and 43 staff members and asked the courts to help hide the investigation. Tuesday’s report showed that the Department of Justice obtained the phone records of Patel, who worked as a staff member for the Republican-led House Intelligence Committee at the time of the investigation.
Just the News reported that the Justice Department launched the investigation into the two House members and 43 staff members following leaks of FBI classified information to the media regarding the Trump-Russia probe in 2017, which has since been discredited.
According to Just the News, Inspector General Michael Horowitz discovered that the Justice Department’s non-disclosure orders with the courts did not include “the fact that they related to requests for records of Members of Congress or congressional staffers.”
According to The Post Millennial, the Inspector General’s report shows that the Justice Department used the non-disclosure orders to “obtain records from a communications service provider” while preventing “the communication service provider from notifying anyone, including the individual whose records are being sought,” of the investigation.
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Just the News reported that Patel previously sued FBI Director Christopher Wray and other Justice Department officials for acting in violation of the Fourth Amendment right to protection from unreasonable searches and seizures after the Justice Department attempted to gain access to Patel’s private records.
Following the publication of the Inspector General’s report on Tuesday, Grassley described the Justice Department’s investigation into congressional staffers without properly notifying the courts as an example of the department acting in “bad faith.”
“It’s plain to see DOJ overstepped its authority here,” Grassley said in a statement obtained by Just the News. “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.”
