The Daily Fuckup

Public reporting on June 10, 2021, said the Justice Department under former President Donald Trump had secretly subpoenaed Apple for account data tied to at least two Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee. The reporting said the records requests reached beyond the lawmakers themselves and into the accounts of aides and family members. ([ksl.com](https://www.ksl.com/article/50184173?utm_source=openai))

The next day, the Justice Department’s inspector general said it was opening a review of DOJ’s use of subpoenas and other legal authorities to obtain communication records of members of Congress, affiliated persons and the news media in leak investigations. The watchdog’s notice did not name Apple, but it made clear the review covered whether the department followed its policies in obtaining those records. ([oig.justice.gov](https://oig.justice.gov/news/doj-oig-initiates-review-department-justices-use-subpoenas-and-other-legal-authorities-obtain?utm_source=openai))

Attorney General Merrick Garland then said on June 14, 2021, that there were important questions about DOJ’s effort to obtain records related to members of Congress and congressional staff. He said he had directed the deputy attorney general to evaluate and strengthen the department’s rules for getting legislative-branch records while the inspector general review was pending. ([justice.gov](https://www.justice.gov/archives/opa/pr/statement-attorney-general-merrick-b-garland?utm_source=openai))

The timeline matters. The underlying subpoenas were issued during the Trump administration, but the public disclosure came on June 10, the inspector general review was announced on June 11, and Garland’s formal response followed on June 14. That sequence turned a sealed leak probe into a broader internal look at how far the department had gone in pursuing communications data from lawmakers, staffers and others around them. ([ksl.com](https://www.ksl.com/article/50184173?utm_source=openai))