Justice Department official quits amid scandal over secret snooping on Democrats and reporters
The top federal prosecutor for national security issues is stepping down amid a growing scandal over a secret Trump-era probe of prominent congressional critics of the then-president.
John Demers’ resignation, which was revealed Monday, comes as prosecutors face rising questions about their unusual seizures of phone records from Democratic lawmakers and journalists for investigations into damaging leaks about Trump’s ties to Russia.
The departure of Demers, a Trump appointee who was asked to stay on after President Biden took office, had been planned. But the move takes on new significance in view of the explosive revelations about the targeting of Trump’s political enemies.
Attorney General Merrick Garland said he has asked the Department of Justice inspector general to investigate the matter.
“He will conduct a thorough and complete investigation,” said Garland, who also planned to brief top editors at news organizations that were targeted, including CNN, the New York Times and the Washington Post.
Democrats want former Trump Attorneys General Jeff Sessions and William Barr as well as Barr’s deputy Rod Rosenstein to testify under oath about the controversial probe, which was kept secret from lawmakers.
All three men have denied knowledge of the probe, even though normal Department of Justice procedure would require any investigation of federal lawmakers to get approval from the very top of the department.
Democrats have expressed skepticism about those claims, particularly since Barr has been accused fo fudging facts to protect himself and Trump in the past.
Demers took over his post around the time in February 2018 when the Justice Department secretly demanded Apple hand over data from Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee and Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Cal.), another prominent critic of Trump on the panel, in 2018.
The committee was investigating then-President Trump’s ties to Russia at the time, prompting Trump to angrily attack the Democratic lawmakers.
The records of at least 12 people connected to the House intelligence panel were eventually shared with the Justice Department by Apple after a judge approved the demand. The people included aides, former aides, relatives and even an underage child.
In all, the DOJ collected information from 73 phone numbers and 36 email addresses, Apple said. It also included a non-disclosure order that prohibited the company from notifying any of the people and was renewed three times.
No incriminating information was apparently uncovered and the probe was eventually closed without anyone being charged.
