Congress to probe 'rogue' actions of Trump's Justice Department

US Congress will probe “rogue” actions of the Department of Justice (DOJ) during former president Donald Trump's term, including its move to seize the communications records of Democratic lawmakers, according to two top Democratic lawmakers.

In 2017 and early 2018, the DOJ’s prosecutors seized data from Apple from two Democratic lawmakers on the House Intelligence Committee - Adam Schiff and Eric Swalwell - as well as that of their staff and family members, The New York Times reported Thursday.

That happened during the probe into whether Trump and his campaign utilized links with Russia during the 2016 election.

"It certainly appears that they were using the Justice Department to go after the president's political enemies. There's a lot we don't know, obviously," Schiff told MSNBC.

Also, Swalwell told CNN on Thursday, "I was notified... by Apple that they did seize my records. It's wrong."

Meanwhile, Jeff Sessions, Trump’s first pick as attorney general, his successor, William Barr, and the long-serving deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein have all claimed that they were not aware of the alleged attempts by their department to harvest information covertly from leading Democrats, according to CNN.

Federal judge says DOJ under Barr misled her, Congress over Russia probe

A US federal judge has accused the Justice Department under Attorney General William P. Barr of misleading her and Congress about whether former president Donald Trump had obstructed justice during the Russia investigation.

On Sunday, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, vowed to subpoena both Barr and Sessions.

"This was nothing less than a gross abuse of power, an assault on the separation of powers," Schumer told a news conference in New York. "They must testify, Sessions and Barr must testify under oath as part of a formal congressional investigation."

The probe will run parallel with the DOJ's own internal watchdog’s investigation into its moves to subpoena phone records of Schiff and Swalwell.

Meanwhile, House speaker Nancy Pelosi said on Sunday it was “beyond belief” that Sessions, Barr and Rosenstein had been unaware of secret subpoenas seeking private data from Trump’s political opponents.

"The Justice Department has been rogue under President Trump, understand that, in so many respects. This is just another manifestation of their rogue activity," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told CNN's "State of the Union."

Pelosi said the investigation by the department's inspector general, Michael Horowitz, would be significant but was not a substitute for congressional probe.

During a press conference at the Group of Seven leaders' summit in the UK, President Joe Biden could be seen holding a card with talking points on the matter.

"Trump abused power/Trump DOJ out of control. Now we have to clean it up," the card read, according to images captured by a US network pool camera. "I've made it clear this DOJ will reflect my values and principles and priorities -- not Donald Trump's."

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