Recent news reports revealed that the Trump Justice Department that was investigating the leak of classified government information about Trump associates contacts with Russia, subpoenaed the Apple company for phone data records of reporters working for the New York Times, Washington Post and CNN. The data sought spanned nearly four months in 2017. Reports later surfaced that the Trump DOJ had also taken the highly unusual step of subpoenaing phone data from the accounts of Democratic House Intelligence Committee Chair Adam Schiff, Rep. Eric Swalwell, as well as aides and family members. The Justice Department secured a gag order on the subpoenaed data, that expired this year.
Reacting to the disclosures, President Joe Biden’s Attorney General Merrick Garland announced that his Justice Department would no longer subpoena journalists phone records, a practice begun under President Obama. The Justice Department’s inspector general announced he would launch an investigation into the subpoenas. And Senate Democratic leaders demanded that former President Donald Trump’s two Attorneys General William Barr and Jeff Sessions testify about the seizure of phone records.
Between The Lines’ Scott Harris spoke with constitutional attorney John Bonifaz, co-founder and president of the group Free Speech For People. Here, he discusses the implications of the Trump Justice Department secret seizure of journalists’ and lawmakers’ phone records and his advocacy of a broad investigation into Trump administration lawbreaking.
JOHN BONIFAZ: Well, this was an incredible abuse of power that goes alongside the many other abuses of power committed by the Trump administration. This was a complete violation of the Fourth Amendment rights, constitutional right to privacy of those whose data was seized, as well as a separation of powers challenge directly to members of Congress who were of course charged with investigating and conducting oversight of the Trump administration, precisely because they were engaging in that conduct for which they’re responsible as part of the legislative branch. They were targeted by Donald Trump and his administration. And this really is very similar to what happened during the Nixon-Watergate era, where Richard Nixon and his Justice Department sought to target political enemies, misusing the powers of the government in doing so. So it’s a very, very serious offense. It deserves full-scale investigation and accountability for all those who were involved. I’m glad to see the House Judiciary Committee has announced that they will conduct their own formal investigation into this surveillance by the Department of Justice and members of Congress, journalists and others.
There’s an important line in that statement they’ve issued in which Jerry Nadler, the House Judiciary Committee chairman said that while he is happy with the goal that Attorney General Garland has set out to repair the damage done by his predecessors and return a sense of normal to the Department of Justice, he says, quote, “It is not, however, something we can accomplish by simply turning the page on the Trump era.”
And, I do have a serious concern, Scott, that there is at least an indication in terms of the actions of the Justice Department that is what they’re doing with many of these offenses. Now, Merrick Garland has said he’s going to have the independent inspector general investigate at the Justice Department this matter. But it could take months or years for that report to be issued. In the meantime, as we have highlighted for some months now to Attorney General Garland, there is a long list of potential crimes Donald Trump and his associates committed which deserves the establishment of the special task force to investigate those crimes. I would put this along that list now. And what needs to happen for the Department of Justice to show that it’s not just turning the page, but actually is engaging in holding Donald Trump and his associates accountable for any crimes they may have committed, to set up this task force and to make clear that it will coordinate all such investigations and that no one, not even a former president is above the law. That is critical for the state of our democracy, our Constitution, and the rule of law.
SCOTT HARRIS: When Barack Obama was president, his Justice Department actually did go after journalists trying to identify leaks of classified information.
JOHN BONIFAZ: Right.
SCOTT HARRIS: Obama at the time was widely criticized for doing that. And it was said that he would be setting a precedent for future occupants of the White House. Lo and behold, here’s Donald Trump apparently doing what Barack Obama actually set in motion here.
JOHN BONIFAZ: It was wrong when it happened under the Obama administration. It was wrong when it happened under the Trump administration. And that’s why Merrick Garland was under enormous pressure to say they were no longer going to engage in that same kind of behavior. We’ll see if that’s borne out and whether that new policy is actually implemented. But I think it was quite concerning, the kind of surveillance of journalists that occurred during the Obama administration. And I think it does lead to this further abuse of power that we’ve seen in the Trump administration.
I’ll say other thing related to this — we also know President Obama soon after he became president made a public remarks that we are looking forward, not backward when it came to the prior administration of George W. Bush with respect to the war crimes that were committed by the Bush administration, the torture in Guantanamo, the war crimes that were committed with respect to the Iraq War, as well as with respect to the financial crimes committed by major bankers all around the country that led to the financial crisis of 2008.
President Obama — newly-elected, newly-inaugurated — made clear we’re looking forward, not backward. He sent a clear signal that those crimes would not be accounted for, those who committed them would not be held accountable. And you can draw a straight line from that statement and that decision not to prosecute those who had committed those crimes in the prior administration to the Trump administration, and their decision that they could go even further and get away with even more. And, I think that’s what’s dangerous here. And this is why we must not repeat that mistake; we must not allow this idea “because this is a new administration.” There’s much work to be done to protect our democracy, to engage in building an economy that works for all. All of those things are critical. But so, too, must we uphold the rule of law and apply that to everyone equally. And that includes Donald Trump and his associates.
For more information on Free Speech for People, visit freespeechforpeople.org.
