Pelosi: Trump DOJ seizure of House Democrats’ data ‘ goes even beyond Richard Nixon’

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Sunday said the Trump administration’s subpoenas for data on accounts belonging to at least two House Democrats go “even beyond Richard Nixon.”

“In terms of the data mining, what the Republicans did, what the administration did, the Justice Department under the leadership of the former president, goes even beyond Richard Nixon,” Pelosi told host Dana Bash on CNN’s “State of the Union.”

Pelosi’s comments come after The New York Times reported that Trump administration officials subpoenaed Apple for data on accounts belonging to at least two Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee, congressional aides and their family members in an effort to uncover who was behind leaks of classified information.

Committee officials and sources with knowledge of the inquiry told the Times that the records of at least two dozen people, including House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), were seized in 2017 and 2018. The probe also obtained data belonging to family members, including at least one minor.

Pelosi added on Sunday that claims from former Attorneys General William Barr and Jeff Sessions that they did not know about the probe are “beyond belief” and that Congress will have to call them to testify under oath about the reported investigation.

“This is about undermining the rule of law,” Pelosi said. “Attorneys General Barr and Sessions, at least two, to say that they didn’t know anything about it is beyond belief. So we will have to have them come under oath to testify about that now,” Pelosi said.

When asked if she would subpoena Barr, Sessions and former Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein to testify before Congress if they are not willing to appear voluntarily, Pelosi said, “Let’s hope that they will want to honor the rule of law.”

Pelosi also said the Justice Department under Trump was “rogue,” adding that “this is just another manifestation of their rogue activity.”