Watchdog group challenges DOJ secrecy over spying on Congress
- The Justice Department collected communications from congressional staffers during a 2017 investigation related to classified information leaks.
- A watchdog group, Empower Oversight, is appealing for the unsealing of documents concerning nondisclosure orders that affected Google.
- The case raises significant questions about transparency, oversight, and the potential violation of constitutional rights.
In December 2024, the Justice Department's Office of Inspector General released a report criticizing the DOJ for failing to provide specific justifications for its nondisclosure orders affecting congressional staffers. These nondisclosure orders had been in place for six years and prevented Google from informing the staffers that their phone and email data was targeted by a subpoena amid a 2017 investigation into leaks of classified information. The investigation stemmed from allegations of Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, particularly regarding the Trump campaign's connections with Russian officials. Empower Oversight, a watchdog group led by Jason Foster, has filed an appeal in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, arguing that the nondisclosure orders are judicial records that should not remain secret, especially since the underlying investigation has concluded. In 2018, James Wolfe, a former Senate Intelligence Committee staffer, pled guilty to lying to the FBI about disclosing classified information, leading to the closure of the investigation. Foster asserts that the ongoing secrecy over the DOJ’s actions could have inadvertently exposed the identities of whistleblowers who reported misconduct within the DOJ while giving information to congressional overseers. The case raises critical concerns regarding congressional authority, the rights of government whistleblowers, and the balance between national security and transparency in investigations.