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Posted on 05/13/2013 5:24:46 PM PDT by Nachum
Edited on 05/13/2013 5:40:13 PM PDT by Admin Moderator. [history]
May 13, 2013
Attorney General Eric Holder
Department of Justice Washington, D . C .
Dear General Holder :
I am writing to object in the strongest possible terms to a massive and unprecedented intrusion by the Department of Justice into the newsgathering activities of The Associated Press.
Last Friday afternoon, AP General Counsel Laura Malone received a letter from the office of United States Attorney Ronald C. Machen Jr. advisin g that, at some unidentified time earlier this year, the Department obtained telephone toll records for more than 20 separate telephone lines assigned to the AP and its journalists. The records that were secretly obtained cover a full two month period in early 2012 and, at least as described in Mr. Machen’s letter, include all such records for, among other phone lines, an AP general phone number in New York City as well as AP bureaus in New York City, Washington, D.C., Hartford, Connecticut, and at the House of Representatives. This action was taken without advance notice to AP or to any of the affected journalists, and even after the fact no notice has been sent to individual journalists whose home phones and cell phone records were seized by the Department.
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.
That the Department underto ok this unprecedented step without providing any notice to the AP, and without taking any steps to narrow the scope of its subpoenas to matters actually relevant to an ongoing investigation, is particularly troubling.
The sheer volume of records obtained, most of which can have no plausible connection to any ongoing investigation, indicates, at a minimum, that this effort did not comply with 28 C.F.R. §50.10 and should therefore never have been undertaken in the first place. The regulations require that, i n all cases and without exception, a subpoena for a reporter’s telephone toll records must be “as narrowly drawn as possible.’’ This plainly did not happen.
We regard this action by the Department of Justice as a serious interference with AP’s constitutional rights to gather and report the news. While we evaluate our options we urgently request that you immediately return to the AP the telephone toll records that the Department subpoenaed and destroy all copies. At a minimum, we request that you take steps to segregate these records and prohibit any reference to them pending further discussion and, if it proves necessary, guidance from appropriate judicial authorities. We also ask for an immediate explanation as to why this extraordinary action w as taken, and a description of the steps the Department will take to mitigate its impact on AP and its reporters.
Given the gravity of this situation, I look forward to your prompt response.
Sincerely,
Gary Pruitt
Hey, you rat bastard liberal media AP partisan hacks! What do you think of your messiah 0dumb0 (piss be upon him) & Eric Holder now that the shoe is on the other foot. Hope you realize that in any totalitarian takeover by 0dumb0, you media will be the first ones to be marched into mass graves and shot. Fun huh?
I have a question: Has anyone else determined WHY the letter to the AP announcing this wiretapping took place was sent to the AP??? I figured that question was easily answered; I must be missing something in reports...
Obama has bitten the hand that feeds him. What is going on inside that little head of his?
Anyone remember when the press Corp were asked to use whitehouse supplied computers and phones to write their stories while they were there? It was a while back and didn’t last long
A total purge of bad news for Obama, so that the media can't keep it's head on straight on WHAT to report.
Perhaps to get ahead of the curve so that by the time investigations are in progress they can claim "old news".
Oh, and republicans fault too, because they don't want to get America back to work creating jobs and all.
Most importantly, Obama is NOT to blame for anything.
If the AP is truly upset, you’ll suddenly start seeing articles about Obama’s birth certificate, and how suddenly it is discovered that its been photoshopped...
Revolt is coming.
This is what the pre presser was about last Friday you betcha and it’s why the tone changed.
There’s got to be some butts a puckerin’ at 1700 Penn. tonight.
Over at King & Spaulding, LLP?
http://www.kslaw.com/offices/washington-dc
I am writing to object, blah, blah, blah.
If you really care, do a series of stories on IRS abuse cases. Do an endless stream of stories until Americans force Congress to clean house at the IRS. If you’re not willing to do the right thing, shut up and go back to your corner.
Aside from this temporary separation, have his lips been re-clamped to holder’s orifice this morning?
Hey Nanny’s, get off Nachum’s back. Be glad we have someone to keep up with all this crap.
Anyone think the AP scandal coming out at the SAME time as the IRS scandal is a coincidence.
the media is using the AP scandal as a smoke screen to cover the IRS scandal
See Americans could see the IRS as threat and the socialists don’t wan that.
Just saw the Miami FOX station “report” on this story. I had to re-check...and there was NOT ONE MENTION of Eric Holder....the AP letter was quoted, but the person to whom it was addressed was NOT IDENTIFIED.
EVEN the local news does its best to cover the Clown.
Yes Holder is recusing himself from the AP....Fox now reporting on this....
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