The fact that the prosecutor is violating DOJ guidelines is legally irrelevant - whether to initiate action is discretionary with the prosecutor.
What is going on here IMHO is typical government overreaching. It's SOP with prosecutors that if they can't prove the crime they're investigating, they'll make a consolation prize out of a perjury trap - a crime that never would have occurred if the needless investigation hadn't been started in the first place.
Look, I'm LMAO as much as anybody that the media commenced firing in this circular firing squad and are now taking hits, but I've never liked this tactic regardless of who the target is.
but the flipside is also true - if the prosecutors needed testimony from members of the media as part of "proving the crime", and they can't get it because some new right is asserted by the reporter witnesses - what are they supposed to do?