Democrats have erupted in outrage over news that Donald Trump's Justice Department secretly surveilled politicians probing possible collusion with Russia, reaping the phone records of top political foes in what they called an unprecedented abuse of power.
The secret surveillance took place as Mr Trump faced investigations by special counsel Robert Mueller and by the House Intelligence Committee - where Mr Schiff was then the top Democrat - into whether his campaign colluded with Russian election meddling and whether Mr Trump tried to obstruct those investigations.
But he repeatedly accused Mr Schiff of leaks, tweeting some 350 times about the senior Democrat, who became chairman of the Intelligence Committee in 2019 and led Mr Trump's first impeachment trial in January 2020 - which ultimately saw the president acquitted by the Republican-led Senate. Surveilling members of Congress - particularly rivals of the president's Republican party - is an extreme case that would demand strong justification and top-level approval in the department.
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