DOJ officials spied on Kash Patel, others in Congress, asked federal courts to help hide actions: report

Phone records were obtained by the DOJ for a total of 45 federal employees, per a recent DOJ Inspector General’s report. These employees included the two lawmakers as well as Patel, who was working on the GOP-led House Intelligence Committee at the time of the DOJ's probe, according to Just the News.

The DOJ started its investigation as a result of media leaks containing classified information from the FBI that was part of the debunked Trump-Russia probe in 2017. The DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz wrote in his report that when the DOJ filed what were called "non-disclosure order" with the courts, the department did not mention "the fact that they related to requests for records of Members of Congress or congressional staffers."

Non-disclosure orders (NDO) were used by the DOJ to prevent that information from getting publicized and are issued by the department to “obtain records from a communications service provider” and “that prohibits the communication service provider from notifying anyone, including the individual whose records are being sought” to be informed of the probe, per the report.

In 2020, the DOJ "issued compulsory process to obtain non-content communications records of reporters at CNN, The New York Times, and The Washington Post in an attempt to identify the sources of the leaked classified information," the IG report reads. Later, it added that the DOJ used what the report calls "non-disclosure orders" (NDO) in order to carry out these attempts. Biden announced in 2021 that "the practice of subpoenaing news media records to identify reporters’ sources was 'simply, simply wrong,' and he would not allow it."

Soon after Biden made the announcement, the DOJ announced it would cease the practice and the media then reported that the DOJ had also used other processes in order to obtain information about Congressional staffers, the report said. This led the IG to make the report, which has revealed that the staffers were spied on.

The step from the DOJ wades into murky territory when it comes to the Constitutional separation of powers between the executive branch agency as well as the legislative, the outlet reports. Patel has now been appointed by Trump to head the FBI and has previously taken legal action against DOJ officials as well as current FBI Director Christopher Wray because of alleged Fourth Amendment violations.

DOJ officials attempted to gain access to Patel's personal information as well as others, including Jason Foster, who previously said that the government was able to hide its spying on Congress for around five years, Just the News reported.

When President-elect Donald Trump announced Patel's appointment for FBI Director, he commended Patel for playing a "pivotal role in uncovering the Russia, Russia, Russia Hoax, standing as an advocate for truth, accountability, and the Constitution."

Patel has ruffled feathers among establishment officials and pundits in Washington DC; he has said in the past that he intends to clean house at the FBI headquarters.

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