Former President Donald Trump's time in the White House was marked by an aggressive opposition to journalists and the media for correcting his lies.
Trump frequently described the press as "the enemy of the people" and berated individual journalists whose questions he didn't like. All four of Trump's White House press secretaries followed suit throughout their tenures, with Sarah Huckabee Sanders insulting their intelligence and Kayleigh McEnany calling them activists.
But new reporting reveals just how far the Trump administration went to undermine journalists while violating their privacy, including using the Justice Department to seize journalists' phone records and email correspondence.
CNN reported this week:
"The Justice Department informed CNN Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr, in a May 13 letter, that prosecutors had obtained her phone and email records covering two months, between June 1, 2017 to July 31, 2017. The letter listed phone numbers for Starr's Pentagon extension, the CNN Pentagon booth phone number and her home and cell phones, as well as Starr's work and personal email accounts."
Starr was not the subject of any investigation, and it's unclear under which of Trump's Attorneys General the surveillance was ordered. This is the third time this month that the Trump administration is found to have spied on journalists in an effort to plug leaks within the White House.
CNN President Jeff Zucker said:
"CNN strongly condemns the secret collection of any aspect of a journalist's correspondence, which is clearly protected by the First Amendment. We are asking for an immediate meeting with the Justice Department for an explanation."
Starr insisted she wouldn't be threatened.
Tomorrow. All of CNN will do what we do everyday around the world. The Pentagon Press Corps will do the same. We are not leaving, not stopping. We are ALL staying and reporting the news. If you need any reminder read the #FirstAmendmenthttps://twitter.com/barbarastarrcnn/status/1395506392904183808\u00a0\u2026— Barbara Starr (@Barbara Starr) 1621553104
Starr's colleagues praised her adamance.
All respect for the great @barbarastarrcnn— Elie Honig (@Elie Honig) 1621555043
We are all proud to work with @barbarastarrcnn #FirstAmendment— Jamie Gangel (@Jamie Gangel) 1621555887
https://twitter.com/barbarastarrcnn/status/1395520983155478530\u00a0\u2026— amy koehler\u270c\ud83c\udffd\ud83d\udc9c\ud83d\ude37 (@amy koehler\u270c\ud83c\udffd\ud83d\udc9c\ud83d\ude37) 1621638018
Others were disturbed by the reporting.
@TheJusticeDept needs to weed out the Bill Bar employees from hell! We have not seen court cases yet for the insurrectionist We need to do this now before they laugh at USA and do it againhttps://twitter.com/mkraju/status/1395506411883352065\u00a0\u2026— Babsplace (@Babsplace) 1621782181
Should be painfully obvious to the entire world that this was an aspiring dictator (still is, honestly) and absolutely ignored the entirety of the constitution (that the moron doesn\u2019t even know or understand).https://twitter.com/mkraju/status/1395506411883352065\u00a0\u2026— Brandon Milligan (@Brandon Milligan) 1621571323
This is how we'd lose our freedoms. Someone needs to be chargged.https://twitter.com/mkraju/status/1395506411883352065\u00a0\u2026— Olivia Anne (@Olivia Anne) 1621566735
Others speculated Trump did the same to Republican lawmakers to demand their loyalty.
Now knowing all of that, try & convince me that he didn't do the same thing and gather info on all those republicans who did a complete back flip and are now singing his graces https://twitter.com/mkraju/status/1395506411883352065\u00a0\u2026— Truescorpio (@Truescorpio) 1621552047
We just know Trump did this to many of his "enemies" especially his sudden so devoted fans like McConnell, Cruz, and Lindsey... How much blackmail did he collect?https://twitter.com/mkraju/status/1395506411883352065\u00a0\u2026— Mark (@Mark) 1621552209
I wouldn't be surprised to find out that Trump DOJ and Bill Barr did the same thing to members of congress and other high profile people.https://twitter.com/mkraju/status/1395506411883352065\u00a0\u2026— \u2130\ud835\udc5f\ud835\udc56\ud835\udc5b \ud83e\udddc\u200d\u2640\ufe0f (@\u2130\ud835\udc5f\ud835\udc56\ud835\udc5b \ud83e\udddc\u200d\u2640\ufe0f) 1621605441
When asked about the development, President Joe Biden vowed never to use the Justice Department to spy on journalists.
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