The Justice Department announced Monday that it will be tightening its policies and procedures for obtaining records of U.S. lawmakers, after it emerged that the department under the Trump administration obtained records from Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee. “As I stated during my confirmation hearing, political or other improper considerations must play no role in any investigative or prosecutorial decisions,”Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement. “These principles that have long been held as sacrosanct by the DOJ career workforce will be vigorously guarded on my watch, and any failure to live up to them will be met with strict accountability.” “Consistent with our commitment to the rule of law, we must ensure that full weight is accorded to separation-of-powers concerns moving forward,” Garland added. Garland’s statement comes as the department faces backlash, after The New York Times first reported on June 10 that prosecutors in the DOJ under …