WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥� Federal prosecutors sidestepped some Justice Department rules when they seized the phone records of reporters as part of media leak investigations during the Trump administration, according to a new watchdog report being released as the aggressive practice of hunting for journalists鈥� sources could again be resurrected.
The report Tuesday from the Justice Department inspector general鈥檚 office also found that some congressional staffers had their records obtained by prosecutors by sheer virtue of the fact that they had accessed classified information despite that being part of their job responsibilities.
Though the report chronicles Justice Department actions from several years ago, the issue has new resonance as President-elect pick for FBI director, Kash Patel, has 鈥渨ho lied about American citizens" and his belief that the federal government should be rid of 鈥渃onspirators鈥� against Trump.
Those comments raise the possibility that the Justice Department under new leadership 鈥� to serve as his attorney general 鈥� could undo a that, with limited exceptions prohibits, prosecutors from secretly seizing reporters' phone records during investigations into leaks of sensitive information.
The action from Attorney General in 2021 followed an uproar over revelations that the Justice Department during the Trump administration had obtained records belonging to journalists at The Washington Post, CNN and The New York Times as into who had disclosed government secrets related to the investigation into Russian election interference and other national security matters.
The inspector general found that the Justice Department didn't follow certain department rules that had been implemented years earlier when seeking reporters' records in 2020, including having a News Media Review Committee review the request, according to the report. The committee is meant to ensure that officials other than prosecutors, including the head of the department's office of public affairs, are able to weigh in on such efforts.
Then-Attorney General , who authorized obtaining the records from CNN, The New York Times and the Washington Post, did not expressly sign off on the use of non-disclosure agreements that were sought 鈥� as was required under department policy, according to the report.
The Justice Department also seized data from the accounts of some Democratic over leaks related to the Russia investigation, and
The department went after records of two members of Congress and 43 congressional staffers, according to the report. The inspector general found no evidence of 鈥渞etaliatory or political motivation by the career prosecutors鈥� who initiated the requests. The staffers were considered suspects in most cases merely because of the close proximity between the time they accessed classified material as part of their job responsibilities and the publication of news articles containing secret information, according to the report.
Garland's new policy laid out several scenarios under which the Justice Department still could obtain reporters' records, including if the reporters are suspected of working for agents of a foreign power or terrorist organizations, if they are under investigation for unrelated activities or if they obtained their information through criminal methods like breaking and entering.
The Justice Department during both Democratic and Republican leadership has struggled with how to balance its determination to protect press freedom and its determination to safeguard national security secrets.
President first attorney general, , announced revised guidelines for leak investigations after an outcry over actions seen as aggressively intrusive into press freedom, including the secret seizure of phone records of Associated Press reporters and editors.
And , Trump鈥檚 first attorney general, announced in 2017 a leak crackdown following a series of disclosures during the investigation into Russian election interference.
Eric Tucker And Alanna Durkin Richer, The Associated Press
