During the House impeachment proceedings, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) released a report which included the phone records that included calls made or received by Rep. Devin Nunes(R-CA), journalist John Solomon, Rudy Giuliani, and others. The records in the report didnât contain the content of the conversations but included who called who and how long the call lasted.
The belief was that the records were obtained through subpoenas to the phone companies of records related to Giuliani and Lev Parnas, with the obvious purpose meant to try to impugn the people whose records were included without reason or cause.
What made it especially troubling was Schiff wouldnât explain who was subpoenaed or how, and if it was a Congressional subpoena straight to the companies, it was a troubling abuse of power.
Now, as Kim Strassel at the Wall Street Journal is reporting, the FCC Commissioner, Brendan Carr, is calling Schiff out over what he believes are abuses of his subpoena power and Carr wants answers. Strassel called it an âincredible abuseâ with Schiff publishing call records of his political rivals including Nunes, even the Presidentâs attorney, Rudy Giuliani. Schiff even smeared Nunes during a press conference with the records, trying to suggest that Nunes was somehow âcomplicit.â
While Carr acknowledged that there might be instances in which Schiff could subpoena call records, Carr said the problem was that Schiff did this in secret, without giving the people whose records were grabbed the opportunity to respond or fight the request.
If thatâs allowed, thatâs a tremendous abuse of power if members of Congress can just demand phone records from the phone company about any American without any court and without any check.
Chairman Schiff has been collecting Americansâ private call records through a secret & partisan process.
He even published some of them in the Impeachment Report.
These sensitive records are protected by federal law.
His conduct raises serious concerns & Iâve asked for answers https://t.co/WrdGf1n1P2
â Brendan Carr (@BrendanCarrFCC) March 12, 2020
Carr sent Schiffâs House Intel Committee a formal letter not only calling out their prior actions, but indicating that Schiff/the Committee may still be getting peopleâs records.
2. By proceeding in secret, Schiff deprived Americans â from private citizens to his political opponents to a journalist â of their legal right to go to court and seek to maintain the confidentiality of their sensitive call records.
Here is my letter.: pic.twitter.com/aXPGVlwWIi
â Brendan Carr (@BrendanCarrFCC) March 12, 2020
3. As a country, are we comfortable with one political party in Congress having the unilateral & unchecked power to secretly obtain & publicize the confidential call records of any private citizen, journalist, or government official?
Chairman Schiff has been doing exactly that.
â Brendan Carr (@BrendanCarrFCC) March 13, 2020
Carr points out in his letter that Schiff isnât allowed to get the records from the phone company without consent from the citizen or in accordance with the law â that there has to be judicial review. Nor did they establish any legitimate legislative purpose in subpoenaing the records.
Moreover, as Carr notes, the recent decision involving the subpoena to former White House Counsel Don McGahn has now established that the subpoena power of the Congress as to such things might be questionable, without a court check on possible abuse of power.
FCCâs Carr calls on Congress to address Schiffâs snooping as part of its surveillance debate, and also holds out possibility of FCC action.
â Kimberley Strassel (@KimStrassel) March 12, 2020
Yes, please. Itâs about time. Carr mentions substantial fines in his letter but there may be further action that could be taken.
Yeah, and I got a Bridge to sell you too! If this gets any traction at all, it will surely die in the long dragged out investigation process, and in 5-10 years he still will not be indicted! Our Government is a corrupt evil swamp, and the american people will never get Justice with the same people who are in congress now! Nothing but Press Material to make us think that finally something is being done! JOKE!
I would truly appreciate all action taken against all the democrats that broke laws to be investigated and incarcerated if found guilty! I am tired of their witch hunts and wasted taxpayers dolllarstrying to find our president guilty of something just because we elected him!
Sincerely Karen Betty
“FCC Commissioner Calls Out Adam Schiff Over His Secret Subpoenas, May Take Action”
But they never do . . . . .
I remember watching some old movies called faces of death and they use to make me feel sick but now if I seen a film with Schiff in it with his head blown apart and the little brain matter he had splattered all over I think I would really enjoy it!!!!