Federal prosecutors have been found to have bypassed certain Justice Department rules when seizing the phone records of reporters as part of media leak investigations during the Trump administration, according to a new watchdog report. The report, released by the Justice Department inspector general's office, also revealed that some congressional staffers had their records obtained by prosecutors due to their access to classified information as part of their job responsibilities.
The report highlighted concerns as President-elect Donald Trump's pick for FBI director, Kash Patel, expressed intentions to target members of the media who allegedly spread false information about American citizens. This has raised speculation that the Justice Department, under new leadership, could potentially reverse a three-year-old policy that restricts prosecutors from secretly seizing reporters' phone records during leak investigations.
