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Posted on 05/13/2013 1:49:29 PM PDT by CWW
Edited on 05/13/2013 1:56:19 PM PDT by Admin Moderator. [history]
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department secretly obtained two months of telephone records of reporters and editors for The Associated Press in what the news cooperative's top executive called a "massive and unprecedented intrusion" into how news organizations gather the news.
The records obtained by the Justice Department listed incoming and outgoing calls, and the duration of each call, for the work and personal phone numbers of individual reporters, general AP office numbers in New York, Washington and Hartford, Conn., and the main number for AP reporters in the House of Representatives press gallery, according to attorneys for the AP.
In all, the government seized those records for more than 20 separate telephone lines assigned to AP and its journalists in April and May of 2012. The exact number of journalists who used the phone lines during that period is unknown but more than 100 journalists work in the offices whose phone records were targeted on a wide array of stories about government and other matters.
In a letter of protest sent to Attorney General Eric Holder on Monday, AP President and Chief Executive Officer Gary Pruitt said the government sought and obtained information far beyond anything that could be justified by any specific investigation. He demanded the return of the phone records and destruction of all copies.
"There can be no possible justification for such an overbroad collection of the telephone communications of The Associated Press and its reporters. These records potentially reveal communications with confidential sources across all of the newsgathering activities undertaken by the AP during a two-month period, provide a road map to AP's newsgathering operations, and disclose information about AP's activities and operations that the government has no conceivable right to know," Pruitt said.
The government would not say why it sought the records. U.S. officials have previously said in public testimony that the U.S. attorney in Washington is conducting a criminal investigation into who may have leaked information contained in a May 7, 2012, AP story about a foiled terror plot. The story disclosed details of a CIA operation in Yemen that stopped an al-Qaida plot in the spring of 2012 to detonate a bomb on an airplane bound for the United States.
That slack jawed faggot is going to get what he deserves.
The article says that DoJ rules say the Attorney General must have approved it. But, it isn’t clear the rule was followed.
Obama just doesn't like the First Amendment, does he? Wouldn't surprise me if he did the same to the Catholic bishops and other groups who have been vocal against First Amendment violations such as the HHS mandate.
Let's pray some of it sticks.
Boston Marathon bombing. The Russians warned them and the FBI dropped the ball.
Actually the President DID call it terrorism. Yeah, uh....he DID.
YOU CAN TRUST ME, SURE.
“It does not appear that this includes tapping the phones”
Until you remember that all phone calls and texts are captured for by the NSA for government access.
This was all that was being done to tract terrorist cells as well and the MSM screamed bloody murder...
Remember, fear of tyranny is a mental illness.
- B. H. Obama
Impeachment File on Benghazi Coward B. Hussein Obama, aka Barry Soetoro, a legal citizen of the sovereign Nation of Indonesia.
Probably looking for phone calls to groups with “Tea Party” or “Patriot” in their names, to see if any of the reporters were tipping off those evil organizations about the IRS.
Well, maybe not, we’re talking about the AP here.
You know what I think? I think when they got a Kenyen illgal alien elected they thought they could do anything.
All these scandals remind me of Barry’s birth certificate. The document he released was so flawed, and so many people found so many things wrong with it, it all started to sound like white noise to the sheeple.
Same here - its a different revelation every day...almost like Barry planned to release IRS-Gate and AP-Gate precisely when Benghazi was heating up....so it just seems like a bunch of scandal hungry republicans throwing stuff against the wall to see what will stick.
I wonder if the media will go along, or grow a spine.
Biting the hand that feeds you is never a good thing.
AP: It’s OK because we don’t have anything to hide.
Don’t forget gov ineptness in the Boston Bombers case.
Not so fast ya’ll, one of evil’s greatest works is to flaunt its lawlessness before the hapless masses that allowed it to take power. I believe his next move to accumulate or ensconce power will be to emotionally wear down opposition with this kind of stuff, because he knows it takes way too long to prosecute this stuff in congress or the courts... plus, much of the MSM is not only in his camp, but active members...I’m only sayin, watch out, he can only get nastier... like the dragon being cast out, whipping his tail as he goes to destroy all that he can as he falls.
"It is unknown whether a judge or a grand jury signed off on the subpoenas."
I don't think it's a subpoena unless it is signed off by the controlling authority. Before then it's just a request.
I scanned the article quickly, that was the only thing I found that mentioned subpoena so to me it's unclear whether the records where obtained via subpoena.
Next, Holy Cow! If this is yet another leak from the Whitehouse to obfuscate Benghazi then there must be something much much more nefarious than the pretexting we've been put through (not including the deaths). Look like the 'sale' or 'giving' away weapons is the probable problem -- and now they're not only concerned about Congress and the American people, it looks pretty bad internationally too.
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