Apple told former Trump administration White House counsel Don McGahn last month that the Department of Justice subpoenaed information about accounts of his in 2018, the New York Times first reported Sunday.
Why it matters: Although it's unclear why the DOJ took the action, such a move against a senior lawyer representing the presidency is highly unusual.
- "The pursuit was under a nondisclosure order until May, indicating the Justice Department went to a judge multiple times to keep it secret throughout former President Donald Trump's years in office," CNN notes.
Driving the news: Accounts belonging to McGahn's wife were also targeted in the action, according to AP and other news outlets.
- The reports come after DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz announced Friday an internal probe into the department's Trump-era secret subpoenas against Apple for data belonging to House Democrats and its seizure of phone records of journalists working for major media companies.
- AP notes that the other subpoenas were related to a crackdown on media leaks related to possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia.
Of note: Apple said Friday it has tightened rules regarding legal requests following reports that the DOJ requested metadata on 73 phone numbers and 36 email addresses in a subpoena to tech giant, as part of a February 2018 investigation into lawmakers, staffers and their families.
- House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Sunday that former Attorneys General William Barr and Jeff Sessions should testify before Congress on the use of subpoenas to access data records.
- Representatives for the DOJ and Apple did not immediately respond to Axios' request for comment.
