DOJ Secretly Obtains Months Of AP Records; AP Condemns 'Unprecedented Intrusion'

[OzmO]

This is par for the course.  The reason I'm not big on all the TSA crap.  If they kind hide behind the National Security moniker for minutiae, then they can hide behind it for this.  And then nothing ever has to be explained.  It's always gonna be, you just have to 'trust' us.

In many aspects of NS, that's fine, but they need to give a much better justification and explanation as to how the American people were in such jeopardy.

ain't that the truth.

[Soul Crusher]

AP CEO calls government seizure of phone records unconstitutional, says chill already felt
By Associated Press, Updated: Sunday, May 19, 7:02 PM
WASHINGTON — The president and chief executive officer of The Associated Press on Sunday called the government’s secret seizure of two months of reporters’ phone records “unconstitutional” and said the news cooperative had not ruled out legal action against the Justice Department.

Gary Pruitt, in his first television interviews since it was revealed the Justice Department subpoenaed phone records of AP reporters and editors, said the move already has had a chilling effect on journalism. Pruitt said the seizure has made sources less willing to talk to AP journalists and, in the long term, could limit Americans’ information from all news outlets.

Pruitt told CBS’ ”Face the Nation” that the government has no business monitoring the AP’s newsgathering activities.

“And if they restrict that apparatus ... the people of the United States will only know what the government wants them to know and that’s not what the framers of the Constitution had in mind when they wrote the First Amendment,” he said.

In a separate interview with the AP, Pruitt said the news cooperative had not decided its next move but had not ruled out legal action against the government. He said the Justice Department’s investigation is out of control and President Barack Obama should rein it in.

“It’s too early to know if we’ll take legal action but I can tell you we are positively displeased and we do feel that our constitutional rights have been violated,” Pruitt said.

“They’ve been secretive, they’ve been overbroad and abusive — so much so that taken together, they are unconstitutional because they violate our First Amendment rights,” he added.

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky said the government needs to stop leaks by whatever means necessary.

“This is an investigation that needs to happen because national security leaks, of course, can get our agents overseas killed,” he said.

Republican Sen. John Cornyn, a member of the Judiciary Committee, said the government should focus on those who leak sensitive national security matters and not on journalists who report on them. The Texas Republican said his committee should hold hearings on how the Justice Department obtained phone records from AP reporters and editors.

“What confuses me is the focus on the press, who have a constitutional right here and we depend on the press to get to the bottom of so many issues that we, as individuals, cannot,” Cornyn said.

Cornyn said the Justice Department’s actions were part of a pattern for Obama’s administration to quiet its critics.

“It’s a culture of cover-ups and intimidation that is giving the administration so much trouble,” Cornyn said.

He also renewed his call for Attorney General Eric Holder to resign, citing the contempt citation the House of Representatives voted against him last year for refusing to turn over documents in a failed government gun smuggling sting.

White House senior adviser Dan Pfeiffer said the president “has complete faith in Attorney General Holder.” He also insisted the White House was not involved in the decision to seek AP phone records.

“A cardinal rule is we don’t get involved in independent investigations. And this is one of those,” Pfeiffer said.

Although the Justice Department has not explained why it sought phone records from the AP, Pruitt pointed to a May 7, 2012, story that disclosed details of a successful CIA operation in Yemen to stop an airliner bomb plot around the one-year anniversary of the May 2, 2011, killing of Osama bin Laden.

The AP delayed publication of that story at the request of government officials who said it would jeopardize national security.

“We respected that, we acted responsibly, we held the story,” Pruitt said.

Pruitt said that only after officials from two government entities said the threat had passed did the AP publish the story. He said the administration still asked that the story be held until an official announcement the next day, a request the AP rejected.

The news service viewed the story as important because White House and Department of Homeland Security officials were saying publicly there was no credible evidence of a terrorist threat to the U.S. around the one-year anniversary of bin Laden’s death.

“So that was misleading to the American public. We felt the American public needed to know this story,” Pruitt said.

The AP has seen an effect on its newsgathering since the disclosure of the Justice Department’s subpoena, he said.

“Officials that would normally talk to us and people we talk to in the normal course of newsgathering are already saying to us that they’re a little reluctant to talk to us,” Pruitt said. “They fear that they will be monitored by the government.”

The Justice Department secretly obtained two months of personal and work telephone records for several reporters and editors, as well as general AP office numbers in New York, Washington and Hartford, Conn., and for the main number for the AP in the House of Representatives press gallery.

“It was sweeping and broad and beyond what they needed to do,” Pruitt said.

He objected to the “Justice Department acting on its own being the judge, jury and executioner in secret,” saying the AP would not back down.

“We’re not going to be intimidated by the abusive tactics of the Justice Department,” he said.

McConnell and Pfeiffer were interviewed on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” Cornyn appeared on “Face the Nation.”

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


© The Washington Post Company

[Soul Crusher]

CBS' Sharyl Attkisson: My Computers Were Compromised, 'Could Be Some Relationship' To DOJ Scandals


The Huffington Post  |  By Jack Mirkinson Posted: 05/21/2013 11:30 am EDT  |  Updated: 05/21/2013 12:25 pm EDT










 
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Video , Sharyl Attkisson , Audio , Justice Department Media , Sharyl Attkisson Benghazi , Sharyl Attkisson Computer Allegations , Sharyl Attkisson Computers , Sharyl Attkisson Computers Compromised , Media News
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CBS News reporter Sharyl Attkisson said on Tuesday that her personal and work computers have been "compromised" for over two years.

Attkisson told a local Philadelphia radio station that she has been working with investigators to discover the source of the activity.

"There has been an issue in my house and there has been an issue with my computers that's gone on for quite a long time that we're looking into," she said.

Attkisson has long been a thorn in the side of the White House, and a hero to conservatives, for her aggressive reporting on the incident in Benghazi and on the "Fast and Furious" controversy.

In 2011, she made waves when she claimed that a White House official had screamed and cursed at her for her reporting on "Fast and Furious."

Host Chris Stigall asked if Attkisson thought that she had been the victim of a government operation, as the Associated Press and Fox News' James Rosen were. Attkisson was careful not to make any specific allegations about who had been targeting her, but she said it was possible there was a connection.

"I think there could be some relationship between these types of things and what happened to me," she said, adding that something suspicious had been happening since "at least February of 2011 and I think probably a significant period of time before that."




(h/t Politico; audio via Hot Air)




If she can prove Commiebama tapped her computer - send him to gitmo

[Soul Crusher]

[Dos Equis]

Spot on.  Chilling. 

[Soul Crusher]

Committee To Protect Journalists Condemns Obama Administration's Media Investigations


The Huffington Post  |  By Jack Mirkinson Posted: 05/21/2013 4:13 pm EDT  |  Updated: 05/21/2013 4:40 pm EDT



AP Scandal , Committee To Protect Journalists , Committee To Protect Journalists Ap , Committee To Protect Journalists Holder Letter , Cpj , Cpj Justice Department , Eric Holder Ap , Justice Department Media , Media News


The Committee to Protect Journalists condemned the Obama administration's media investigations on two fronts on Tuesday.

The CPJ board sent a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder and Deputy Attorney General James Cole protesting the Justice Department's secret probe into the Associated Press. The board--whose members include Christiane Amanpour, Lara Logan, Tom Brokaw, Victor Navasky, Michael Massing and the Huffington Post Media Group's editor-in-chief, Arianna Huffington--said that it was doing something rare:

Our board of directors rarely has seen the need to raise its collective voice against U.S. government actions that threaten newsgathering. Today, however, we do see that need: We write you to vigorously protest the secret seizing of phone records of The Associated Press. The overly broad scope of the secret subpoena and the lack of notification to the AP by the Justice Department represent a damaging setback for press freedom in the United States.

The CPJ added that the Justice Department had "set a terrible example for the rest of the world, where governments routinely justify intervention in the media by citing national security." The letter also demanded, as the AP has, that any materials obtained in the DOJ probe be returned immediately to the AP. (Read the full letter here.)

In a separate release, the CPJ said it was "alarmed" at the Justice Department's secret investigation into Fox News reporter James Rosen.

"U.S. government efforts to prosecute leakers by obtaining information from journalists has a chilling effect domestically and sends a terrible message to journalists around the world who are fighting to resist government intrusion," CPJ head Joel Simon said in a statement.

(h/t Johnny Dollar)

[Soul Crusher]

The Obama Administration Has Managed To Unite Fox News And The New York Times
 


Brett LoGiurato|14 minutes ago|328|
 


The New York Times editorial board defended Fox News and blasted the Obama administration in the leak investigation involving Fox News reporter James Rosen.
 
In an editorial entitled, "Another Chilling Leak Investigation," the Times editorial board wrote that the Obama administration's overreach in the case was nearly unprecedented.
 
Here are the key paragraphs:
 
With the decision to label a Fox News television reporter a possible “co-conspirator” in a criminal investigation of a news leak, the Obama administration has moved beyond protecting government secrets to threatening fundamental freedoms of the press to gather news. [...]
 
Obama administration officials often talk about the balance between protecting secrets and protecting the constitutional rights of a free press. Accusing a reporter of being a “co-conspirator,” on top of other zealous and secretive investigations, shows a heavy tilt toward secrecy and insufficient concern about a free press.
 
On Monday, the 2009 case involving Rosen earned renewed scrutiny and almost universal condemnation from members of the press.

In the case, federal prosecutors sought a search warrant to examine Rosen's personal emails and other communications with Stephen Kim, a former State Department official who had disclosed information to Rosen. In an application for a search warrant, Reyes wrote that Rosen was an "aider and abettor and/or co-conspirator" in the case.


Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/nyt-fox-news-leak-investigation-obama-administration-2013-5#ixzz2U1mHhiBE

[dario73]

Newly uncovered court documents show the Justice Department seized phone records associated with several Fox News lines as part of a leak investigation -- a revelation that comes as the White House Correspondents' Association spoke out against the administration's monitoring of reporters.

Documents filed in October 2011 appear to show exchanges that match the specific locations of Fox News' White House, Pentagon, State Department and other operations. The last four digits of each of the phone numbers listed are redacted in the government filing so it is impossible to know the full numbers. The seizure was ordered in addition to a court-approved search warrant for Fox News correspondent James Rosen's personal emails.

Among the numbers listed were several that start with the area code and exchange, 202-824 -- which is an area code and exchange for the Fox News Washington bureau. The phone number for Rosen's parents also falls within one of the exchanges listed in the document, though other numbers could fall within that exchange.

The phone information was included in a long list of numbers, email addresses and other details that prosecutors shared with defense attorneys shortly after the alleged leaker was indicted. The document said the government had already obtained a trove of material from the defendant, Stephen Jin-Woo Kim, including his passport applications, State Department badge records, emails, computer and hard drive.

Asked about the documents, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney told Fox News he "can't comment on an ongoing criminal investigation."

Click to read the documents.

The case is being prosecuted by U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Ronald Machen Jr.

Meanwhile, the Correspondents' Association spoke out on incidents involving two news organizations. The Justice Department secretly obtained two months of phone records from the Associated Press and obtained a search warrant for the personal emails of Fox News' James Rosen. The information about the phone records was uncovered Tuesday.

In the latter case, an FBI agent also claimed in an affidavit that Rosen was possibly a criminal &quotco-conspirator.&quot

Though no charges were brought against Rosen, the White House Correspondents' Association said no journalist should even face that threat for doing their job.



Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/05/21/correspondents-association-concerned-government-too-aggressive-in-tracking/?test=latestnews#ixzz2U25OC0eD

[Soul Crusher]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/22/nytimes-obama-white-house-doj-investigations_n_3318748.html#comments

Full meltdown 

[Soul Crusher]

http://openchannel.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/05/23/18451142-holder-okd-search-warrant-for-fox-news-reporters-private-emails-official-says?lite


Disgraceful. 

FUEH!!!

[Soul Crusher]

Obama Orders DOJ Review of Leak Investigations
Jonathan Karl
 By Jonathan Karl
@jonkarl
Follow on Twitter
   
May 23, 2013 5:12pm

President Obama is a little uneasy with the way journalists have been dragged into the Justice Department’s aggressive pursuit of national security leak investigations. In fact, he has ordered Attorney General Eric Holder to conduct a 45-day review of the department’s guidelines on the issue.

That bit of news was buried in the middle of the president’s hourlong speech today at National Defense University.

“Journalists should not be at legal risk for doing their jobs,” President Obama said. “Our focus must be on those who break the law.”

And then the news: “I have raised these issues with the attorney general, who shares my concern. So he has agreed to review existing Department of Justice guidelines governing investigations that involve reporters, and will convene a group of media organizations to hear their concerns as part of that review. And I have directed the attorney general to report back to me by July 12th.”

[Soul Crusher]

http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/newsdesk/2013/05/how-justice-fought-to-keep-rosens-warrant-secret.html



FNG insane

Like communist russia

[Dos Equis]

http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/newsdesk/2013/05/how-justice-fought-to-keep-rosens-warrant-secret.html



FNG insane

Like communist russia

Unreal.  Just an absolute abuse of power. 

And talk about the appearance of misconduct.  They go to war with Fox News, then spy on a Fox News reporter, claiming (in secret) that he might be egnaged in espionage. 

Will be interesting to see where the buck stops on this one. 

[Soul Crusher]

..

Eric Holder signed off on a Fox News search warrant: Finally, a smoking gun?
By Jon Terbush | The Week – 9 hrs ago..

 
The attorney general distanced himself from one controversial media snooping case. But according to NBC, he's deeply tied to another one.
 

The growing furor over the Obama administration's secret investigation of journalists took a sharp turn Thursday with the revelation that Attorney General Eric Holder had personally authorized a controversial search warrant targeting a Fox News reporter.
 
Holder signed off on the search warrant for James Rosen, Fox's chief Washington correspondent, that alleged Rosen had possibly committed espionage "either as an aider, abettor, and/or co-conspirator," according to NBC. Rosen has never been charged with any crime, and that warrant has been universally condemned by journalists of all political stripes.
 
"This heavy-handed business isn't chilling, it's just plain cold," declared the Washington Post's Eugene Robinson.
 
Rosen's case stems from a 2009 story he wrote about North Korea's nuclear program, in which he cited confidential government intelligence. The Obama administration, which has made a habit of fiercely pursuing internal leaks, quickly fingered a State Department contractor, Jin-Woo Kim, who has since been charged with violating the Espionage Act.
 
To build the case against Kim, the administration pulled Rosen's phone records, tracked his movement in and out of the State Department using his government-issued ID, and ultimately sought that search warrant for his emails by saying there was "probable cause" to believe that he too had broken the law.
 
The news of Holder's involvement comes on the heels of another unflattering story about the White House secretly obtaining phone records for Associated Press reporters. Holder has tried to remain above that fray by saying he recused himself from the decision and has virtually no insider knowledge of it.
 
The new Rosen revelation also came on the same day that Obama, in a sweeping speech redefining the nation's counterterror efforts, specifically said he was "troubled" by the DOJ's leak investigations because they could have a chilling effect on journalists and their sources.
 
"Journalists should not be at legal risk for doing their jobs," the president said. "Our focus must be on those who break the law."
 
Obama, who has used the AP scandal to press for a federal shield law that would protect journalists, said he'd asked Holder to review the DOJ's guidelines for investigating reporters, and to meet with media groups before reporting back in mid-July. As some have pointed out though, that means Holder will essentially be reviewing himself.
 
And now, with the disclosure that Holder himself signed off on the DOJ's most controversial probe yet, calls for his resignation are growing louder.
 
Huh, the Huffington Post says Eric Holder should go... twitter.com/RyanLizza/stat…
 
— Ryan Lizza (@RyanLizza) May 24, 2013
 
The National Republican Congressional Committee, likewise, suggested Holder should go, launching on Friday a petition to that end.
 
The DOJ defended Holder's involvement in the review process, issuing this statement to NBC:
 
This review is consistent with Attorney General Holder's long-standing belief that freedom of the press is essential to our democracy. At the same time, the attorney general believes that leaks of classified information damage our national security and must be investigated using appropriate law enforcement tools. We remain steadfast in our commitment to following all laws and regulations intended to safeguard national security as well as the First Amendment interests of the press in reporting the news and the public in receiving it. [NBC]      

[Soul Crusher]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/24/eric-holder-search-warrant_n_3333540.html


and obama never knew of this despite going on TV calling Fox news not legit?


LMFAO

[Soul Crusher]

AP CEO Says DOJ Seized Records For 'Thousands And Thousands' Of Phone Calls: Staffer


Posted: 05/29/2013 2:28 pm EDT



NEW YORK -- Associated Press president and chief executive Gary Pruitt told staff at a Wednesday town hall meeting that the phone records obtained by the government included "thousands and thousands" of calls in and out of the news organization, according to a staffer who attended.

The AP revealed on May 13 that the Justice Department had seized records for 20 separate phone lines over a two-month period as part of a leak investigation, but has not mentioned how many calls may have been affected.

Pruitt said Wednesday that the Obama administration acted as "judge, jury and executioner" in secretly obtaining the news organization's records, a criticism he also leveled in a recent appearance on CBS' "Face the Nation."
 

During the town hall, Pruitt reiterated that the AP did not report on a CIA-thwarted terrorist plot in May 2012 out of national security concerns until sources indicated the Obama administration was going to announce it publicly.

[240 is Back]

www.usdebtclock.orgasm

[Soul Crusher]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/erik-wemple/wp/2014/10/27/usa-todays-susan-page-obama-administration-most-dangerous-to-media-in-history/