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Posted on 04/13/2021 8:48:51 AM PDT by jazusamo
(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch today released a transcript of the March 24 oral argument before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit challenging a lower court ruling upholding the secrecy of controversial secretly-issued congressional subpoenas for phone records by Rep. Adam Schiff, Chairman of the U.S. House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, relating to the impeachment of President Trump. The appeals court hearing came after a lower court ruling in the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit , Judicial Watch v. v Adam Schiff and U.S. House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (No. 1:19-03790)), requesting subpoenas issued by the Committee on or about September 30, 2019.
The Judicial Watch lawsuit sought the controversial impeachment-related subpoenas for phone records, including those of Rudy Giuliani, President Trump’s lawyer. Schiff and the Committee are being represented by the Office of General Counsel for the House of Representatives.
The phone records led to the publication of the private phone records of Giuliani, Congressman Devin Nunes, journalist John Solomon, Trump attorney Jay Sekulow, attorney Victoria Toensing, and other American citizens.
Schiff and the Committee claim “sovereign immunity;” “Speech or Debate Clause” privilege; immunity from FOIA and transparency law; that the records are secret; and that Judicial Watch and public do not need to see them. Judicial Watch is appealing a lower court decision suggested that Schiff and the House have “absolute” immunity from inquiries about the subpoenas.
Judicial Watch senior attorney James Peterson argued to the three-judge panel:
This case is about shedding light on unprecedented and illegitimate congressional subpoenas. The extraordinary subpoenas at issue represent a supposedly unlimited government surveillance power and an unlimited ability by Congress to, at their whim, to invade the privacy of any American.
***
Congressman Schiff secretly subpoenaed the phone records of a number of private citizens from telephone companies. He did not provide notice to these individuals in advance that their phone records were being sought. He did not subpoena the phone records directly from the citizens. Instead, he subpoenaed the phone companies for the records, preventing any opportunity for the private citizens to seek court review, as would happen in any other case in where the government is seeking this kind of information about any citizen.
In response to a House attorney’s argument that the materials be kept secret to protect the privacy of the targets of the subpoenas, one of the appellate judges remarked:
Well, I do think it’s, if not ironic, noteworthy that one of the interests you’ve just put forward is the invasion of privacy when the whole claim of Judicial Watch is that this Committee invaded the privacy of private citizens in the first place.
“The Pelosi/Schiff House asserts it has an unlimited government surveillance power and an unlimited ability to invade the privacy of any American with zero accountability and transparency,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. “The courts should reject Adam Schiff and Nancy Pelosi’s corrupt cover-up of the unconstitutional subpoenas that abused the civil rights of then-President Trump, Rudy Giuliani, journalists and other American citizens.”
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Off the Wall Ping!
Contact to be added.
How very......communist of them.
I used to work in Law Enforcement Relations in a major cell phone company. Any law enforcement agency can subpoena phone records with a subpoena signed by a judge. It’s standard procedure and has been for decades.
The word “secret” is implied in all of these subpoenas. That is, they don’t broadcast that they are getting one. However, to get a subpoena you usually have to convince a judge it is justiied, and it is for particular data. i.e. phone records for a certain number and a certain time period with beginning and ending date and time.
Especially if they are orange and bad or have ever voted for anybody orange and bad
Another reason they want troops, fences, and concertina wire.
Congress is not law enforcement, nor are they the judiciary. They have no need to access this information. At All.
If there is a need to obtain this info is should go through Justice or have justice appoint a special prosecutor, and the Judiciary should be used to approve. There are checks and balances for a reason.
This is purely an abuse of power.
A new Trump endorsed organization that will start fighting on dem/soc/com terms. They will pursue lawsuits/injunctions like the left has done for years. Check them out: aflegal.org
Whew....where did those two get that authority? /sarc
Exactly!!
Someone please post or guide me to the Constitution or US Code that addresses the terms in quotations above. Thank you.
If they can do it to some citizens occasionally they can do it all citizens frequently. Like every month. Feed the data into a program and constantly monitor where every citizen goes and who they talk to.
I expect as much from the two vicious aliens from somewhere in outer space.
Congress no longer answers to the People.
Democrats can rig the elections, with the help of their corporate friends and foreign allies, via funding, mis-information, lies, and possibly illegal ballots, why do they need our opinion or approval? The Republic died with the last election, and so with it the Constitution. They are just making it obvious.
Except that "law enforcement" is an Executive Branch action.
Congress is not a law enforcement body. They only make law, and then oversee the Executive Branch's enforcement of that law. If they subpoena anyone, it must related to oversight of the execution of the law, not infractions of the law by ordinary citizens. That latter responsibility belongs to the Department of Justice.
-PJ
“If they can do it to some citizens occasionally they can do it all citizens frequently. Like every month. Feed the data into a program and constantly monitor where every citizen goes and who they talk to.”
Exactly!!! “Just send us everything, each day.”
That is 100% correct. Shift needs to meet a lamp post.
Pelosi said: “We make up the rules as we go”.
The Rule of Law is Dead.
Secret government secret police secret surveillance secret warrants secret prisons - no bail. Stasi got nothing as good as the secret junta behind concertina wire iron curtain.
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