DOJ Secretly Spied on Journalists’ and Security Detail’s Apple and Google Accounts; Project Veritas Files Motion Demanding Return of Property
Key Points
Apple and Google have come forward to disclose that between November 2020 and March 2021, the Department of Justice issued nine secret subpoenas and warrants to them for the private information of Project Veritas journalists.
In addition to using Apple and Google to surveil the data of Project Veritas’ journalists, the DOJ also spied on journalists’ security detail, accessing private information about them, as well.
Documents show the Department of Justice compelled Apple and Google not to disclose that they were providing the individual’s private data to the government.
In the case of Google, the DOJ accessed individuals’ payment information, MAC address and browsing history, in addition to other personal information.
Project Veritas’ attorneys filed a motion outlining how the DOJ’s seizures violated the Privacy Protection Act and the Fourth Amendment, in addition to the First Amendment and Common Law Reporter’s Privilege.
[NEW YORK – Apr. 13, 2022] Project Veritas announced today that Apple and Google came forward and provided documents showing that President Biden’s Department of Justice issued nine secret subpoenas to them for multiple Project Veritas journalists’ private information.
The subpoenas and warrants even extended to the journalists’ security detail.
In addition to compelling Apple and Google not to disclose that the constitutionally-protected information of journalists was being surveilled by the highest levels of our government, the Department of Justice sought payment information, MAC addresses, browsing history and other personal information from multiple employees of Project Veritas.
The shocking revelation from Apple and Google comes on the heels of last month’s news. Microsoft Corporation was similarly compelled by the Department of Justice which filed a series of secret warrants, orders, and a subpoena to surreptitiously collect privileged and constitutionally-protected communications and contacts of eight Project Veritas journalists.
In a statement, the ACLU said they were “deeply troubled” by the “secret electronic surveillance” conducted by the Department of Justice.
Paul Calli, an attorney for Project Veritas, pointed out that the actions from the government were disproportionate, in addition to arguing the DOJ violated the Privacy Protection Act, the First and Fourth Amendments, and Common Law Reporter’s Privilege.
“By no reasonable measure can the wholesale seizure of newsgathering materials, attorney-client privileged communications, and irrelevant personal information be considered a proportional response to an alleged low-grade larceny, much less to a non-crime,” said Calli in Project Veritas’ motion filed in response to the disclosures from Microsoft.
The DOJ’s spying campaign represents the latest example of governmental misconduct in, what appears to be, a politically motivated investigation. President Biden’s Department of Justice has placed its crosshairs squarely on Project Veritas’ newsgathering activities pertaining to apparent allegations against then-candidate, Joe Biden, which were made by his daughter, Ashley Biden, in her diary.
"The government knows the truth: Project Veritas engaged in journalism protected by the First Amendment," said Project Veritas founder and CEO, James O’Keefe, echoing a line from Veritas’ most recent court filing.
“As the Reporters Committee has requested of Federal Judge Analisa Torres, it is time for the DOJ’s affidavits, by which they obtained these unjustified subpoenas, be unsealed,” O’Keefe added.
About Project Veritas
Project Veritas is a non-profit investigative news organization conducting undercover reporting. Project Veritas investigates and exposes corruption, dishonesty, self-dealing, waste, fraud, and other misconduct in both public and private institutions to achieve a more ethical and transparent society. Project Veritas is a registered 501(c)(3) organization.