Tipsheet

Jim Jordan Wants to Know Why DOJ Was Spying on Congress

Katie Pavlich
Katie Pavlich  |  November 02, 2023 2:00 PM

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan wants to know why the Department of Justice worked with big technology companies to surveil members of Congress and their staff. More specifically, investigative staff looking into wrongdoing at DOJ, the FBI and more.  

"On October 19, 2023, Google notified the former Chief Investigative Counsel to then-Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley that the Justice Department had subpoenaed Google in 2017 for the staffer’s personal phone records and emails during a period when Senator Grassley was conducting vigorous oversight of the Department’s handling of the so-called Steele dossier," Jordan wrote in a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland. 

"Google’s notification to this staffer revealed the Justice Department likely also sought the personal records and communications of other congressional staffers—both Republicans and Democrats—who engaged in oversight of the Department during the same period. Google’s notification further raises the question of whether the Justice Department also requested any official records or communications on these staffers’ government devices," the letter continues. "The Justice Department’s efforts to obtain the private communications of congressional staffers, including staffers conducting oversight of the Department, is wholly unacceptable and offends fundamental separation of powers principles as well as Congress’s constitutional authority to conduct oversight of the Justice Department." 

Jordan also sent letters to the CEOs of Apple, Alphabet,  T-Mobile, AT&T, and Verizon asking for detailed information about what DOJ may have requested from the companies.