An award-winning investigative journalist at The Washington Post, Carol Leonnig, broke the story about what can be described as a Secret Service “plot” to leak confidential documents in an attempt to embarrass Congressman Jason Chaffetz, an outspoken critic of the Service.  Over a dozen officials at the Secret Service knew about the plot but failed to report this illegal activity. Instead of focusing on the unlawful leak intended to humiliate Chaffetz, government officials issued judge-less warrants for the telephone records of the “good cop” who spoke with Leonnig when his colleagues failed to follow the law. WaPo reporter Jerry Markon writes about this episode (“Here’s a way the government can easily get your phone records without even asking a judge”) with some keen observations about “administrative subpoenas,” these judge-less warrants issued by bureaucrat agencies.  Markon writes, “Though they are not...(Read Full Post)