Watchdog group sues for records on spying targeting Trump associate Michael Caputo

Published August 28, 2025 1:10pm ET



A right-leaning watchdog group announced Thursday that it has filed lawsuits against the Department of Justice and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence after it said the agencies “failed to respond adequately” to its Freedom of Information Act requests for records related to email surveillance of former Trump campaign adviser Michael Caputo.

Caputo, a longtime adviser to President Donald Trump, was subject to what the group, Judicial Watch, described as a “secret search warrant” of his Gmail account in 2023, shortly after he joined Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign. Judicial Watch sought the subpoenas issued to Google demanding access to Caputo’s account, copies of communications between federal officials regarding Caputo, and records of investigative documents produced by the agencies in question that mention Caputo. After Judicial Watch failed to receive a response that satisfied its concerns, the organization began to speculate that the surveillance of Caputo was carried out in bad faith.

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