Chairman Jordan Subpoenas Attorney General Garland for Information on the DOJ's Attempts to Spy on Congress

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) subpoenaed Attorney General Merrick Garland for information on the Department of Justice's attempts to surveil Members of Congress and congressional staff. 

On October 19, 2023, Google notified the former Chief Investigative Counsel to then-Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles Grassley that the Justice Department had subpoenaed Google in 2017 for the staffer's personal phone records and emails during the period when Senator Grassley was conducting vigorous oversight of the Department's handling of the so-called Steele dossier. Google's notification to this staffer revealed the Justice Department likely also sought the personal records and communications of other congressional staffers—both Republicans and Democrats—who engaged in oversight of the Department during the same period.

Because the DOJ has not complied in full with the Committee's requests, it cannot independently determine whether the DOJ sought to alleviate the heightened separation-of-powers sensitivities involved or whether the DOJ first sought the information through other means before resorting to legal process. The Committee also has concerns that aspects of the DOJ's investigation may have been a pretext to justify piercing the Legislative Branch's deliberative process and improperly access data from Members and staff involved in conducting oversight of the Department. 

Read the full subpoena cover letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland here.