In February 2018, Donald Trump’s Department of Justice subpoenaed the phone records of Trump’s White House Counsel Don McGahn and his wife from Apple and barred the company from telling McGahn about the seizure, the New York Time reports. Apple advised McGahn of the disclosure last month.
The revelation that the Trump administration obtained the phone records of one of the most senior members of the White House staff while he was in a sensitive position comes after disclosures that it also sought records from Apple for Democrats Adam Schiff and Eric Swalwell, members of the House Intelligence Committee, their staff and their families, including a minor; and from journalists working for CNN, the New York Times and the Washington Post.
Although the reason for the records seizure is not clear, the Trump Administration at the time was frantically trying to crack down on leaks to the media regarding investigations into the 2016 Trump campaign’s contacts and possible cooperation with Russian government agents to interfere in the 2016 presidential election.
As with the other subpoenas, McGahn’s phone number and email addresses were obscured in a large group of numbers and addresses the Justice Department sought metadata on, which in and of itself is questionable given that there was no justification for seizing private phone records in large quantities.
The seizure also seems to run contrary to Trump administration claims that McGahn was protected from Justice Department investigations due to claims of Executive Privilege, the reason McGahn was precluded from testifying during the Mueller investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election and Trump’s efforts to obstruct that investigation. While one division of the Justice Department was blocked from obtaining testimony and records related to McGahn, another obtained a court order to review his personal contacts.
McGahn, in his position as White House Counsel, would be the contact person in the White House for the Justice Department regarding investigations. The fact that the DOJ obtained his phone records without his knowledge or consent, also demonstrates a level of paranoia within the White House, which was assisted by members of the Justice Department.