Justice Department watchdog to probe subpoenas of Congress and media

Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz announced Friday that his office would review the department's use of subpoenas and other legal tools to obtain the communications data of some lawmakers, aides, family members and journalists in the course of its investigation into who was leaking information regarding aides to then-President Trump and their contacts with Russia.

During the Trump administration, federal prosecutors subpoenaed Apple in 2017 and 2018 for data from the accounts of two Democratic members of the House Intelligence Committee, a House Intelligence Committee official told CBS News. Two sources said that current Chairman Adam Schiff was one of targets, and Congressman Eric Swalwell on Thursday told CNN his records, too, had been seized. Horowitz said in a statement that the watchdog review would examine the department's compliance with "applicable DOJ policies and procedures." The inspector general is also looking into whether the use of any of these policies or procedures — as well as the investigations themselves — "were based on improper considerations."