WASHINGTON — Federal prosecutors sidestepped some Justice Department rules when they seized the phone records of reporters as part of media leak investigations during the Trump administration, according to a new watchdog report being released as the aggressive practice of hunting for journalists’ sources could again be resurrected.
The report Tuesday from the Justice Department inspector general’s office also found that some congressional staffers had their records obtained by prosecutors by sheer virtue of the fact that they had accessed classified information despite that being part of their job responsibilities.
ProPublica: “There have been internal concerns that Trump Media could be misleading investors… But with its largest shareholder about to be president, experts doubt the SEC is up to the job of investigating Truth Social’s parent company.”
Key Democratic senators are demanding answers from Mehmet Oz on his “previous advocacy for Medicare privatization,” referring to his call in 2020 for putting all seniors into private insurance plans under Medicare Advantage, NBC News reports.
“Alaska will keep ranked choice voting and open primaries,” Alaska Public Media reports.
“The repeal effort failed by 743 votes, or about a quarter of one percentage point, according to the Division of Elections. That’s almost exactly the margin reflected in official results certified late last month, which showed the measure failing by 737 out of more than 300,000 votes.”
“If the Chicago mayor doesn’t want to help, step aside. But if he impedes us, harbors or conceals illegal aliens, I will prosecute him.”
— Incoming “border czar” Tom Homan, quoted by WLS, on his mass deportation plans.
Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers (D) “has pushed back on President-elect Donald Trump’s pledge for mass deportations, casting doubt on whether the plans will be carried out,” the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports.
Said Evers: “Everybody knows that, in Wisconsin, undocumented folks are a really important part of our economy, whether it’s dairy, whether it’s agriculture.