Not It: Barr, Sessions, and Now Rosenstein All Deny Knowledge of Subpoena for House Dems’ Apple Data

Sarah RumpfJun 12th, 2021, 9:51 pm
 

Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images.

Last week, news broke that during former President Donald Trump’s administration, the Department of Justice had subpoenaed records from Apple for several Democratic members of the House Intelligence Committee, their staff, and family members — including at least one minor. Several key former DOJ officials have now denied any involvement.

The subpoena reportedly sought metadata related to 73 phone numbers and 36 email addresses, and was accompanied by a series gag orders that prohibited Apple from notifying the targets of the subpoenas that their records had been requested. Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) and Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) have confirmed their records were among those targeted.

DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz announced that his office would be investigating the subpoena. One key question is who approved this request targeting some of the former president’s most prominent political critics, and so far, former Attorney General Jeff Sessions, former Attorney General Bill Barr, and former Deputy AG Rod Rosenstein have all denied having any knowledge of the subpoena.

Sessions was AG at the time, but it makes sense he would have not been involved since he had been recused from anything related to the Russia probe. Rosenstein, as deputy AG at the time, would have had authority over the related leak investigation that was the reported reason for the subpoenas. However, a source “familiar with Rosenstein” told CNN on Saturday that he was unaware of this happening.

Barr took over as AG about a year after the Apple subpoena was issued and also denied any knowledge about it.

If Sessions and Rosenstein are both telling the truth, then that would imply that some of their subordinates at the DOJ were able to draft, approve, and issue a subpoena for private records of high-ranking House Democrats, their staff, and families, without their knowledge.

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Sarah Rumpf - Contributing Editor

Sarah Rumpf joined Mediaite in 2020 and is a Contributing Editor focusing on politics, law, and the media. A native Floridian, Sarah attended the University of Florida, graduating with a double major in Political Science and German, and earned her Juris Doctor, cum laude, from the UF College of Law. Sarah's writing has been featured at National Review, The Daily Beast, Reason, Law&Crime, Independent Journal Review, Texas Monthly, The Capitolist, Breitbart Texas, Townhall, RedState, The Orlando Sentinel, and the Austin-American Statesman, and her political commentary has led to appearances on television, radio, and podcast programs across the globe. Follow Sarah on Threads, Twitter, and Bluesky.