Patel told Just the News the effort to spy on congressional investigators and who they were talking with smacked of a "Vengeance campaign in the form of government funded lawfare against myself and other senior congressional staffers" who uncovered wrongdoing by DOJ and the FBI. "They utilized surveillance powers to leverage information against our investigation, because we had exposed their corruption of lying to a federal caught and allowing a political party to buy the FBI's central command and attack a political opponent," he also said.
A source directly familiar with Horowitz's inquiry confirmed the investigation is ongoing but has been slowed by delays in DOJ's providing information to the watchdog.
"The DOJ OIG is reviewing the DOJ's use of subpoenas and other legal authorities to obtain communication records of Members of Congress and affiliated persons, and the news media in connection with recent investigations of alleged unauthorized disclosures of information to the media by government officials," the memo stated.
"The review will examine the Department's compliance with applicable DOJ policies and procedures, and whether any such uses, or the investigations, were based upon improper considerations," the memo also states.
"If circumstances warrant, the OIG will consider other issues that may arise during the review. The review will not substitute the OIG's judgment for the legal and investigative judgments made in the matters under OIG review." Horowitz's office has uncovered significant wrongdoing in recent years inside DOJ and FBI, ranging from the falsification of information submitted in a FISA warrant during the Russia probe to instances of sexual abuse and harassment inside the bureau.
In his lawsuit naming FBI Director Christopher Wray and former Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, Patel laid out the dangers of allowing FBI and DOJ officials to seize the records of congressional oversight committee staff, especially those who uncovered wrongdoing like the misconduct of FBI and DOJ personnel during the now-discredited Russia collusion probe.
File Patel v. DOJ, FBI officials 9.18.2023.pdf "The U.S. Government has been repeatedly exposed for spying on its own people, and the awesome and chilling power of our federal law enforcement agencies has been weaponized against the American people," Patel's lawsuit last month charged.
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