Grassley: Politically-Motivated Probes Are a Serious Offense; So are Classified Leaks
Probes into Congress are not unusual; IG will determine whether subpoenas were properly predicated
WASHINGTON – Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), ranking member of the Senate
Judiciary Committee, today issued the following statement regarding the Justice
Department Inspector General’s review of investigative activity, including subpoenas,
targeting records of certain Members of Congress and congressional staff:
“Both classified
leaks and abuses of power are serious offenses that must be met with strict
consequences. We know that the Justice Department is capable of abusing its
power, as it did when it secretly spied on and ran intelligence operations against
the Trump campaign. We also know that classified information in congress’ possession
can leak to the press, as was the case with the classified Carter Page FISA –
the product of that abuse. We do not know whether the effort to investigate
such leaks was another example of an abuse of power by the Justice Department.
“Investigations
into Members
of Congress and staff
are nothing new, especially for classified leaks. The Justice Department has specific
procedures for such sensitive investigations, and the inspector general is already
working to determine if they were followed.”
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