>> it looks like a patent abuse of the department, yet another example of the president politicizing, using the department of justice to go after his enemies. >> reporter: the records were sought when jeff sessions was attorney general with the white house reeling from leaks. >> these leaks hurt our country. >> reporter: a former doj official says sessions never approved anything so sweeping and that only a single staffer was under investigation. congressional officials say they don't know what am turned over, only that it was metadata, not calls, context or emails. >> reporter: the inspector general says he'll look into the subpoenas asking whether they were based on improper considerations. >> that was nbc's pete williams reporting. let's bring in nbc legal contributor. we have the doj's watchdog stepping in. walk me through how this is legal that they even sought data