Whistleblower Groups Battle to Unseal DOJ’s Shocking Phone Record Investigation

A whistleblower group, led by Empower Oversight, is launching a vigorous legal battle against the Justice Department under President Joe Biden’s administration.

The confrontation stems from a contentious situation dating back to 2017, when the Justice Department seized phone records of congressional investigators during a leaks investigation.

The group and other similar organizations are determined to challenge the Justice Department’s ongoing efforts in federal court to permanently conceal the reasons behind their surveillance of congressional investigators.

The founder of Empower Oversight, Jason Foster, who was among the top Senate staffers whose phone records were seized in 2017, is leading the charge.

In a bold move, Foster petitioned a federal judge to unseal the records that granted the DOJ permission to obtain the phone records during the investigation four years ago.

In response to this request, a new filing obtained by Empower Oversight revealed that the government adamantly insisted on keeping the records sealed and inaccessible to the public.

Even when Foster and his group proposed potential compromises such as redacting sensitive information or implementing additional security measures, the government staunchly rebuffed any possibility of unsealing the records.

“Rather than cooperate with Empower Oversight to find a way that these records may be released with appropriate redactions, DOJ’s response to Empower Oversight’s motion was to insist on continued (and permanent) secrecy—nearly seven years after the underlying events,” the new filing said.

The group held nothing back in the new filing, blasting the government for the bizarre secrecy.

“The only conceivable purpose of this secrecy is to obscure key facts from Congress and the public, thereby undermining the typical presumption of good faith to which DOJ would otherwise be entitled,” the filing added.

“Indeed, DOJ’s demand for total secrecy raises serious suspicions that DOJ opposed Empower Oversight’s request merely to continue concealing its previous disregard for the separation of powers and for the whistleblower protection policy implications of its subpoenas.”

In 2017, several congressional investigators, including individuals such as Foster and Kash Patel, found themselves in a situation where their phone records were seized through a government subpoena.

Notably, Patel, who was a prominent investigator for the House Intelligence Committee, and Foster were actively looking into alleged abuses by the Justice Department and FBI during the controversial Russia collusion investigation.

This revelation comes from a report by JustTheNews.

What adds intrigue to this situation is the fact that the Department of Justice (DOJ) has chosen to remain silent on the matter, refusing to provide any comment or explanation regarding the covert acquisition of these phone records via subpoena.

This lack of transparency from the DOJ leaves room for speculation and invites individuals to form their own opinions about the motivations behind this action.

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