Trump-era Justice Dept. seized data of Democrats from Apple

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Nancy Pelosi demands Trump’s ass be destroyed House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has called on former attorneys general William Barr and Jeff Sessions to testify regarding the seizure of House Democrats’ data (Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.) House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has called on former attorneys general William Barr and Jeff Sessions to testify regarding the seizure of House Democrats’ data (Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.) House Speaker Nancy Pelosi denounced the Trump administration’s seizing of congressional Democrats’ data on Sunday, calling the tactic “beyond” Nixonian and demanding that Trump-era Justice Department officials testify before Congress. “What the administration did – the Justice Department, the leadership of the former president – goes even beyond Richard Nixon,” Ms Pelosi told CNN’s State of the Union. “Richard Nixon had an enemies list. This is about undermining the rule of law.” Recent reports have revealed that in 2017 and 2018, the Justice Department subpoenaed data from Apple on at least two House Democrats, along with some of their aides and family members. The New York Times first reported the subpoenas, and Apple has confirmed that it handed over the data. On Sunday, Ms Pelosi said former attorneys general Jeff Sessions and William Barr, as well as former deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein, must have known about the data mining. All three have said they did not. “For the attorneys general – Barr and Sessions, at least – to say that they didn’t know anything about it, is beyond belief,” the House speaker said. “So we will have to have them come under oath to testify about that.” However, when CNN’s Dana Bash asked if the speaker would subpoena those officials if they did not come forward voluntarily, Ms Pelosi stopped short. “Well, let’s hope that they will want to honor the rule of law,” she said. Apple has said the Justice Department subpoenaed it in February 2018, requesting 73 phone numbers and 36 email addresses. The tech giant complied, but says it had no idea the data was on congressional Democrats. In fact, it was on two high-ranking Democrats in the House Intelligence Committee – representatives Adam Schiff and Eric Swalwell. At the time, that committee was investigating Russia’s efforts to help Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign. The former president was furious about the probe, and about information from it leaking to the “fake news” media. The data seizures appear to have been part of an unusually aggressive effort to punish those leaks. Recommended Stories The Independent G7 summit an ‘unforgivable moral failure’ after vaccination promise broken, Gordon Brown warns ‘The problem will come back to haunt the richest countries, because we will have contagions spreading’ 11h ago The Independent ‘Arm up, get guns’: Lara Trump says those living near border may need to take action against migrant influx ‘People should never make this dangerous journey here. It’s bad for Americans. It’s bad for migrants. It’s bad all around,’ Lara Trump says 7h ago The Independent Dr Deborah Birx hinted she hoped Trump would lose election, new book alleges ‘At one point, after a brief pause, she looked me in the eye and said, “I hope the election turns out a certain way,”’ Andy Slavitt writes 1d ago NBCU Healthcare workers pushback on Indiana University Health vaccine mandate Healthcare workers are fighting a new Covid vaccine mandate from Indiana University Health, which says all employees must get a vaccination by September or face termination. Other hospitals are facing the same challenge. 4h ago The Daily Beast Nancy Pelosi Claims Her Rebuke of Ilhan Omar Was Not, In Fact, a Rebuke CNNDespite releasing a statement last week condemning Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) over a tweet that seemingly compared the United States with the Taliban, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi attempted to claim on Sunday that she did not, in fact, rebuke the progressive lawmaker.After asking Secretary of State Antony Blinken where the victims of attacks from the Israeli and Afghan governments can go for justice, Omar tweeted last week that we “must have the same level of accountability and justice for a TV reporter who broke story of Bill Clinton tarmac meeting with Loretta Lynch dies of apparent suicide The Independent