Trump DOJ acquired cellphone information from reporters for investigating Russia and 2016

Three Washington Post journalists, secretly investigating Russia’s role in the 2016 election, had their phone recordings obtained from the Trump DOJ.

The Washington Post reported:

Trump’s Justice Department secretly obtained the Washington Post journalists’ phone records and attempted to get their email records after reporting on Russia’s role in the 2016 election to the Trump administration in the early months. This is evident from government letters and officials.

In three separate letters dated May 3, addressed to Postal reporters Ellen Nakashima and Greg Miller, and former Postal reporter Adam Entous, the Justice Department stated that “they have been notified that the US Department of Justice is under a court case related to toll records received the following telephone numbers for the period from April 15, 2017 to July 31, 2017. ”The letters list work, private or mobile phone numbers that cover this three and a half month period.

The Trump administration targeted reporters investigating Russia’s role in the 2016 election. If, as the Trump campaign claimed, they did nothing wrong during the 2016 campaign, then why did they target journalists trying to investigate the relationship between Trump and the Russians during the 2016 election?

For anyone who might still believe that the Trump attack on the free press was just empty talk, think again. Trump used the power of the federal government’s executive branch to target journalists investigating his campaign.
With the Republican Party shedding any anti-Trump dissent in preparation for its possible run in 2024, it is valid to look at that behavior and understand that this is what the Republican Party has become and what America is offering.

The GOP has become an anti-democracy party ready to use the Justice Department to attack the free press. They pose a threat to American democracy and are not allowed to return to power.

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Mr. Easley is the Founder / Senior Editor, White House Press Pool, and a Congressional Correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a bachelor’s degree in political science. His thesis focused on public order with a specialization in social reform movements.

Awards and professional memberships

Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and the American Political Science Association