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Apple on Friday revealed additional detail about subpoenas it received from the Trump administration's Department of Justice seeking data about members of the House Intelligence Committee.
Apple told TechCrunch reporter Zack Whittaker the DOJ's subpoenas sought metadata about 73 phone numbers and 36 email addresses, but that it only disclosed "account subscriber information and did not provide any content such as emails or pictures."
Apple also told TechCrunch the subpoena was issued by a federal grand jury, included a gag order signed by a federal magistrate judge, and "provided no information on the nature of the investigation," making it "virtually impossible for Apple to understand the intent of the desired information without digging through users' accounts."
"We regularly challenge warrants, subpoenas and nondisclosure orders and have made it our policy to inform affected customers of governmental requests about them as soon as possible," Apple added, implying the gag order prevented it from informing lawmakers targeted by the subpoenas until recently.
The highly unusual subpoenas issued by the Trump-era DOJ sought data from Apple on at least two Democratic members of the House Intelligence Committee, as well as aides, family members, and even one minor, with the goal of hunting down sources behind news reports about connections between Trump associates and Russia, The New York Times reported this week.
This story is developing. Check back for updates.
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See Also:
- Michael Cohen says DOJ acted like 'mafia' under the 'corrupt arm of the Trump administration' after the revelation it secretly obtained data from Democratic lawmakers
- DOJ's watchdog opens investigation into the Trump-era seizure of Democrats' phone data
- Trump's Justice Department targeted Democrats in Congress in search for source of leaks related to the Russia investigation, New York Times reports
