Holder involved in decision to ask for search warrant for reporter's private emails
Washington (CNN) - Attorney General Eric Holder was involved in the Justice Department's decision to seek a search warrant for Fox News reporter James Rosen's private e-mails, a Justice official told CNN.
The decision to apply for the search warrant was vetted at the department's highest levels, including Holder, the official said, although the decision to issue a warrant was made by a federal magistrate judge.
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The Obama administration's aggressive posture against leaks to reporters on national security matters has come under scrutiny recently as probes of Rosen and Associated Press reporters have come to light.
It prompted Obama to announce on Thursday he has directed Holder to review federal guidelines for investigating leaks and reporters. That review will include assembling a panel of media representatives.
Justice Department officials dug into the phone records of AP reporters, including work, cell, and home lines, the news agency said earlier this month. It said investigators were looking into its account of a foiled plot to bomb a U.S. airliner in May 2012.
AP reporters were never labeled as suspected criminals, but an FBI affidavit used to obtain the warrant for Rosen's e-mails described him as potentially being an "aider and abettor and/or co-conspirator" to the crime of disclosing government secrets.
That case centers on a 2009 Fox News report on classified intelligence about North Korea.
No charges have been brought against Rosen or Fox News.
Obama said Thursday he was "troubled by the possibility that leak investigations may chill the investigative journalism that holds government accountable."
- CNN's Kevin Liptak and Gregory Wallace contributed to this report
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I voted for Obama in both elections. But now seeing all these outright attacks he and his administration are making on our freedoms and the arrogance which he acts, never again. Oh, and my friends and I thought President Bush was guilty of similar actions but there was absolutely no hard evidence that he did anything illegal. If there was, we surely would have gone after him. But we looked and looked and could not prove anything and that is why President Bush is not guilty. But there is evidence that President Obama and his administration, including Hillary are guilty and should be held accountable for their actions
When is he going to be indicted for the Fast and Furious debacle?
Which judge signed this warrant? I thought judges were supposed to protect the rights of the individual. I guess judges now rubber-stamp anything the DOJ puts in front of them (although most of them probably have always),
Replace Holder with an AG that will focus on more white collar criminals that he deems to big to prosecute.
No one has the right to violate classified info... reporter or not. And if one does one takes chances. Obviously the system worked as Mr. Rosen was not arrested but Mr. Holder correct to check and obtain warrant.
Funny, on May 15th, before the Rosen story broke, Holder gave testimony to Congress that he has never been involved in any pursuit against a journalist, that he wouldn't support such a pursuit, and that he doesn't think it would be good policy to begin with. Not that the media will actually connect these two dots of lying in front of Congress.
"may chill investigative journalism"? That's exactly what these creeps want!
Holder has the honor of investigating himself. That's transparency.
Erik Holder is running the Treasury Dept like he would a back alley cräp game.
What a great president we have, he has no clue from anyone even his AG
Promising to be the most transparent and proactive admin ever, nothing gets attention til Obummer sees on MSNBC.
How great, just pretend you don't know anything about anything
What a liar
Fits well with most libs, they crucified Bush, but now all is well with the only president who kills American citizens without trial
Yeah, that's a lot better than water boarding them and let them live.
What a loser
Lyn Morse.... We may have the right to check and obtain a warrant; however, he does not have the right to lie to Congress and the American people about his involvement
As in the USSR, nobody is permitted to make comments critical of the commie regime. Stands to reason that that our current regime would operate under the same tactics which force the people to remain silent.
Looks like news agencies need to use encryption for all their communications.
The Obama Administration is using coercion against opponents. Do I now live in Russia or China? Why is the US news media allowing this? The IRS, the DOJ, the EPA, Health and Human Services .... America is being threaten by the corrupt Chicago Politician!
Are we really surprised by this?
Interesting that all the conservatives here puffing their feathers like banty roosters don't mention the actual details of why Rosen was being looked at in the first place.
Go ahead. Explain to us why DOJ was looking into Rosen. Explain what Rosen was doing. Then, using logical and cogent arguments, explain why Holder was wrong to investigate Rosen's actions.
chirp, chirp chirp.
Third world government tactics leads to third world revolutions............................
Fire Holder. Hire Nancy Grace!!
There were laws enacted after Watergate to protect reporters from administrative witch hunts.
Holder chose to ignore those laws.
The similarities between the Obama administration and the Nixon administration are growing daily.
Investigate all leaks even the ones that the Obama administration put out their and then it wouldn't look like it was a scandal.
What you people don't get is the media is trying to run a story of a C.I.A. ongoing investigation against a possible terrorist attack .It's the media you should be upset with.The DOJ asked them to not run the story and they said no. I guess some of the fools on here don't remember the N.Y.POST running a front page picture of "The F.B.I. is looking for these "Bagmen". It was a photo of two high school kids that ran track and were at the Boston Marathon.They were of Middle-eastern descent and were innocent. This "Sensationalism" that the media tries to pawn off as a story are often incorrect and will get someone killed if it hasn't already.
Rick McDaniel – The everything is against the JEWS Blah, Blah, Blah is wearing sort of thin...
An undercover agent of ours was OUTED while working in an al Qaeda group, and stopping an airplane bomber attack. The press OUTED this guy, and put his life in danger, plus destroyed a very valuable asset in the process. It is almost impossible to get an asset into al Qaeda!
The Republicans have been screaming for years that President Obama do something about all the leaks; now, when he does, it is so, so, bad...
You just can't have it both ways!
I think that if President Obama came out in favor of sunshine and fresh air, the TP/GOP would immediately come out against it...
Lyn Morse: per the Supreme Court, reporters are not criminals for reporting. The crime, if one was committed, is by the leaker, not the reporter. At least not until Obama became President. And how about the prospect of Holder investigating his own actions. Can't you just see his final report, "After my own impartial and thoroush investigation into my actions, I have concluded that I have done nothing wrong and therefore should not go to jail. Case closed. Old news." And the President, of course, would first hear of this via MSNBC. Yes folks, that's the new reality with these guys in power. Welcome to Chicago-stule politics. Laws exist only to limit and punish the "bad guys", and since Obama and Holder see themselves as "good guys", none of our laws apply to them.
Holder has been ordered to investigate himself by Obama. Finally – some transparency, not.
Rock
The Obama administration, as a whole, is incredibly arrogant and heavy-handed (which the last few weeks should have taught even the stupidest amongst us). The fact that Holder is still in office is beyond amazing. Either he's a complete idiot and complete failure as a leader because he lets his people run rampant and do all manner of illegal things; or he's a "big brother" maniac who feels he can do anything he wants to further the President's agenda. Take your pick, but he should have been fired long ago either way.