WASHINGTON (TNND) — Explosive allegations that the FBI spied on eight Republican senators are renewing scrutiny around claims of Justice Department weaponization.
Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, declassified documents that allegedly show former President Joe Biden’s FBI spied on eight of his Republican Senate colleagues.
Federal criminal defense attorney Ron Chapman, who argued cases before the Supreme Court, told The National News Desk he is “suspicious” of how the FBI was able to receive those phone records.
But the reality is that there’s absolutely no evidence that these lawmakers did anything improper. And in order to get the cell phone records under the Stored Communications Act of an individual, regardless of whether they’re a congressman or senator, you need to have some probable cause and you need to have it through a warrant. They didn’t do that. What they did was circumvent the grand jury process to get these,” Chapman said.
At the same time, former FBI director James Comey was arraigned earlier this week. His trial date was tentatively set for Jan. 5 and he faces up to five years in prison if convicted.
Chapman described the case as “open and shut.”
Comey was indicted last month and allegedly making a false statement to the Senate Judiciary Committee in 2020. Comey denied that he allowed an associate to serve as an anonymous source to the news media and that he obstructed a congressional proceeding.
Usually, we don’t have the evidence of it on video. And before Congress and right after somebody raises their right hand. And certainly, we don’t usually have a senator who’s the one offering the questions. I mean, it seems pretty clear, that when Comey made his statements that those statements were, in fact, inaccurate given the larger context,” Chapman said.
Claims that President Donald Trump is using the Justice Department to go after Comey are falling short, Chapman said. Trump was accused of weaponizing the DOJ to prosecute his political enemies. This was also argued because Comey testified before Congress five years ago.
The reality is, is that it appears he made a statement that wasn’t true. And that’s all that’s needed for these types of offenses,” Chapman said.
Comey responded to the indictment in a video on Instagram, claiming that he’s “innocent.” He added his actions were the “costs” of standing up to Trump.
