The US Justice Department was in a District of Columbia court (District Court) to defend its decision of keeping some details to the counter-intelligence Russian probe a secret. The Russian probe is a joint venture by the Justice Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) to determine Russia’s involvement in meddling with the American 2016 elections. The panel has recently concluded that Russia meddled in American elections and also plans to interfere with the upcoming midterms. The investigations are still ongoing to determine whether Trump’s campaign team colluded with Russia.
Donald Trump earlier this month declassified a Republican memo which alleged that the FBI and the Justice Department used the dossier to misuse their surveillance tools and implicate the President. The team used the dossier as justification to mount surveillance against Trump’s former campaign advisor.
Justice Department’s Argument in Court
The Justice Department was in court to fight back a subpoena it was served by Buzzfeed, a news agency which wishes to know the time frame the Justice Department acquired the dossier. Buzzfeed is also in court for charges against defamation following an article it made on the dossier mentioning a top Russian businessman. The Russian businessman moved to court to accuse the news agency of defamation of character. Buzzfeed requires the information on the dossier’s time frame to use in its case.
While in court a Justice Department lawyer informed the judge in an oral argument that the government cannot reveal the date when it received the dossier crafted by a former British Intelligence officer. The Lawyer went on to state that the information Buzzfeed seeks might reveal sensitive facts about the ongoing Russian probe.
Buzzfeed informed the court that it only needed the time frame the government received the document as other information they sought was received when the Republican memo was declassified.
The Courts Opinion on Justice Department’s Defence
The court case at Colombia’s District Court was being presided over by Judge Amit Mehta. He responded to the Justice Department’s defense by saying that the mere fact Trump had declassified the Republican memo, means that the entire investigation had been declassified. He also suggested to the department that they consider submitting a one-sentence page revealing the information Buzzfeed seeks.
When the dossier came into the light it prompted reactions from the Republicans who accused the FBI of using the information in the dossier without verifying it to warrant surveillance. The Republicans concluded that the FBI was after the President.
