WTF Just Happened Today

Friday, June 11, 2021

Subscribe: Get the Daily Update in your inbox for free

1/ Attorney General Merrick Garland pledged to double the size of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division staff to protect every American’s right to vote. “There are plenty of things up for debate in America, but the right of all eligible Americans to vote is not one of them,” Garland said, calling the expansion of voting rights as a “central pillar” to American democracy. Garland added that the Justice Department will “do everything in its power to prevent election fraud, and if found to vigorously prosecute” but will also scrutinize “new laws that seek to curb voter access.” The additional trial attorneys will be hired over the next the next 30 days. (New York Times / Washington Post / Politico / NBC News / Axios)

2/ The Trump Justice Department secretly subpoenaed Apple for the metadata of at least two Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee, as well as their current and former staff, and family members, including a minor. The records of at least a dozen people tied to the committee were seized, including Rep. Adam B. Schiff, then the panel’s ranking Democrat and now its chairman, and Rep. Eric Swalwell. Trump administration prosecutors, looking for the sources behind news stories about contacts between Trump associates and Russia, subpoenaed Apple in 2017 and early 2018, which included a gag order, seeking the metadata for more than 100 accounts as part of the investigation to determine who was leaking classified information. The data obtained, however, did not tie the committee to the leaks of classified information about Russia. The gag order was renewed three times before it expired this year and Apple notified at least 12 people in May connected to the panel of subpoenas. (New York Times / Washington Post / CNN)

3/ The Justice Department’s inspector general opened an investigation into the Trump administration’s secret seizure of data from Apple belonging to at least two Democratic lawmakers, their staff, and family members. Michael Horowitz said 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.” Horowitz added that the investigation would also look into the use of subpoenas to obtain journalists’ phone records, as well as “other legal authorities [used] to obtain communication records […] in connection with recent investigations of alleged unauthorized disclosures of information to the media by government officials.” Separately, Senate Democratic leaders demanded that former attorneys general William Barr and Jeff Sessions testify under oath about the secret subpoenas of Rep. Adam B. Schiff and Rep. Eric Swalwell, calling it “a gross abuse of power and an assault on the...

Visit WTF Just Happened Today? for more news and headlines, brought to you by Matt Kiser. The WTFJHT Podcast is narrated and produced by Joe Amditis.