The New York Times reports that Andy Weissman, Mueller’s Russiagate Lieutenant, and Robert Mueller sought Apple data on Trump’s attorney Don McGahn. It’s the exact same thing Democrats are accusing Bill Barr, Jeff Sessions, and Donald Trump of doing to Democrats.
The difference is that the New York Times is soft-pedaling this story. They write an article revealing the truth while whitewashing what it reveals. In fact, they are blaming Trump for it.
The title of the article is, ‘Apple Is Said to Have Turned Over Data on Trump’s White House Counsel in 2018.’ The subtitle is: ‘The company notified Donald F. McGahn II last month that it had been subpoenaed for his account information three years ago.’
The title is misleading.
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The truth is Weissmann and Mueller were spying on Don McGahn and his family while he served as Donald Trump’s attorney.
The DoJ secretly subpoenaed the data.
They made it seem as if Trump ordered the subpoena against his own attorney by stating the subpoena came from the Trump DoJ.
It actually came from Mueller and his top investigator via Rosenstein, no friend to Donald Trump.
Rosenstein, the Acting AG, was letting Mueller’s team do anything they wanted and he helped them do it.
Much of the media and social media are dutifully repeating the deception. The media is incredibly corrupt. It’s so much more than hatred of Trump. It’s hatred of the agenda. They seek power — all of it.
The Times is behind a paywall so here is a section from the deceptive, sleazy reporting:
WASHINGTON — The Justice Department subpoenaed Apple for information in February 2018 about an account that belonged to Donald F. McGahn II, President Donald J. Trump’s White House counsel at the time, and barred the company from telling him about it, according to two people briefed on the matter.
Apple told Mr. McGahn about the subpoena last month, said one of the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the matter. Mr. McGahn’s wife also received a similar notice from Apple, the person said.
It is not clear what F.B.I. agents were investigating, whether Mr. McGahn was their specific focus or whether he was swept up in a larger net because he had communicated with someone who was under scrutiny. As the top lawyer for the 2016 Trump campaign and then the White House counsel, Mr. McGahn was in contact with numerous people who may have drawn attention either as part of the Russia investigation or a later leak inquiry.
Still, the disclosure that agents had collected data of a sitting White House counsel, which they kept secret for years, is extraordinary.
And it comes amid a political backlash after revelations that the Trump administration secretly seized the personal data of reporters and Democrats in Congress from phone and tech companies while investigating leaks.
Democratic leaders on Capitol Hill on Sunday ratcheted up pressure on the Justice Department and former officials to provide a fuller accounting of events. They called on the head of the Justice Department’s national security division, John C. Demers, and the former deputy attorney general, Rod J. Rosenstein, to testify before Congress along with the former attorneys general Jeff Sessions and William P. Barr.
Apple told Mr. McGahn that it had complied with the subpoena in a timely fashion but declined to tell him what it had provided the government, according to a person briefed on the matter. Under Justice Department policy, gag orders for subpoenas may be renewed for up to a year at a time, suggesting that prosecutors went to court several times to prevent Apple from notifying the McGahns earlier.
In investigations, agents sometimes compile a large list of phone numbers and email addresses that were in contact with a subject, and seek to identify all those people by using subpoenas to communications companies for any account information like names, computer addresses and credit card numbers associated with them.
A Justice Department spokesman declined to comment, as did a lawyer for Mr. McGahn. An Apple representative did not respond to a request for comment.
Apple told the McGahns that it had received the subpoena on Feb. 23, 2018, according to a person briefed on the matter. The other person familiar with the matter said the subpoena had been issued by a grand jury in the Eastern District of Virginia.
It is not clear why prosecutors obtained the subpoena. But several notable developments were unfolding around that time.
The federal court in the Eastern District of Virginia was the center of one part of the Russia inquiry led by the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, that focused on Paul Manafort, a former chairman of the 2016 Trump presidential campaign.
Because Mr. McGahn had been the top lawyer for the Trump campaign in 2016, it is possible that at some earlier point he had been among those in contact with someone whose account the Mueller team was scrutinizing in early 2018.
As usual, the NYT is getting ahead of something with a misleading article.
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