Federal prosecutors ignored some Justice Department rules when they seized journalists' phone records as part of media leak investigations beginning in 2020, according to a report released Tuesday by the Justice Department inspector general's office.
The investigation found that the Justice Department during the Trump administration did not fully comply with the internal guidelines in place at the time that restricted the department's use of investigative tools to seize journalists' records.
The investigation was launched in 2021 after it was revealed that the Justice Department had sought records the previous year from reporters at The New York Times, The Washington Post and CNN.
Press freedom experts find the report's revelations troublesome.
"It's very concerning to see this kind of government overreach and inappropriate use of government power to access journalists' source material," Katherine Jacobsen, the U.S., Canada and Caribbean program coordinator at the Committee to Protect Journalists, told VOA.
"Using journalists as a conduit to find leakers within the federal government is an incredibly concerning practice," Jacobsen added.
The report found that the Justice Department in 2020 did not follow existing department rules that governed searches for reporters' records, including failing to convene the News Media Review Committee to consider the requests.
Then-Attorney General William Barr, who authorized obtaining records from news outlets, also did not expressly sign off on the use of non-disclosure agreements that were sought, which was in conflict with department policy, the report said.
Press freedom experts say the report's findings underscore the need for Congress to pass a proposed federal shield law known as the PRESS Act.
Shield laws protect journalists from being forced by the government to disclose information such as the identities of sources. Nearly every U.S. state and the District of Columbia has either a shield law or court recognition of qualified privilege for sources, but no federal law is in place.
The House of Representatives passed the PRESS Act in January. An attempt to pass the PRESS Act via unanimous consent in the Senate failed on Tuesday.
"This investigation highlights the need for a reasonable, common-sense law to protect reporters and their sources," Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press Executive Director Bruce Brown said in a statement. "It's time for Congress to pass the PRESS Act, which has overwhelming bipartisan support, to prevent government interference with the free flow of information to the public."
Although the report details years-old rules-dodging, its contents are particularly relevant since former President Donald Trump will return to the White House in just over one month.
The president-elect has pledged to jail journalists who do not name confidential sources on stories he believes to have national security implications, and he has suggested that the threat of prison rape would make them talk.
And Trump's pick for FBI director, Kash Patel, has said he wants to "come after" journalists "who lied about American citizens." He has also said that the federal government should be rid of "conspirators" against Trump.
"Using the Justice Department as a way to find leakers in the federal government is of great concern, and it's something that we should be aware of as he comes into office again," CPJ's Jacobsen said.
The Trump administration isn't the only one that has gone after government leakers. The Obama administration engaged in what CPJ described as an "aggressive war on leaks."
Using journalists to target leakers is an issue that has spanned both political parties, according to Jacobsen. But it's also "an issue that both parties can ultimately fix together," Jacobsen said, including with the PRESS Act.
The department also went after the records of two members of Congress and 43 congressional staffers, according to the report.
The congressional staffers were targeted because they had accessed classified information, even though doing so was part of their job responsibilities, the report said.
