Washington, DC — On Tuesday, the U.S. Justice Department’s Office of the Inspector General released a report showing that in 2020 the DOJ secretly compelled phone and tech companies to give up email and phone records from two members of Congress and 43 congressional staffers. Some of those staffers work for the House Intelligence Committee, which led the effort to expand warrantless surveillance powers and oppose reforms to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act earlier this year. Their efforts led to the most significant expansion of spying powers in recent history. Today, House Intelligence Committee Chair Rep. Mike Turner told CNN that the DOJ’s actions were “a grave constitutional violation” and said “this requires, I think, absolute court review and we’re going to make certain that there are statutes that go in place.”
The following is a statement from Demand Progress Policy Director Sean Vitka:
“The outrage and violation that Rep. Turner feels because his committee was spied on by the government is the same outrage and violation that Americans feel every single day. Warrantless surveillance is a threat to the core civil liberties of every American, no matter which party is in power.
Inspector General Horowitz’s damning report shows that the government’s hunger for and ability to obtain private information extends not only to everyday Americans but also to their overseers in Congress. These gross violations of our constitutional privacy rights call for bold and broad reform of surveillance laws, which Congress has the opportunity to secure as the next FISA reauthorization kicks off early next year. An overwhelming, bipartisan majority of Americans want Congress to rein in warrantless surveillance and stop the government from spying on us. Hopefully the Justice Department’s report will prompt the leaders of the House Intelligence Committee to get out of the way of real reform this time.”