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. Machens 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 APs newsgathering operations, and disclose information about APs 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 reporters 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 APs 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
If you wanted this stuff why didn't you just ask?
It’s all fine and well when they diss gun owners for fighting for 2nd Amendment rights and call it overreaction......until their ox gets gored.
AWAKE NOW, MEDIA?????
Translation:
“We did our damndest to help you people. We hate conservatives, Christians, and capitalism, and the Constitution JUST as much as you do...so why are you spying on US? If ONLY you would have come to me personally, I would have helped ferret out any traitors in my organization.
But now you have embarrassed me publicly.
What did I do wrong, and how do I submit to your will to make this not happen again?”
Love and devotion,
The AP
Wasn't he in a show called
Run For Your Life?
How appropriate!
That's "Generalissimo" to you.. Peasant.
Dear Gary, you forgot the all-important PS:
PS Mr Holder, we are re-examining our editorial policy vis-a-vis the Obama administration. Your prompt reply will help guide our deliberations.
“Arrest and Trial” works too!
AP must have never heard the fable about the scorpion and the frog...anyone else remember when the AP didn't give a damn about the Black Panther voter intimidation story??
Oooh. A strongly worded letter. What’s next, the comfy chair?
(Bonus points and a virtual beer to whoever gets the reference)
You vote for them! What the hell did you expect?
I've done so.......its not hard.
Do you think this finally got THEIR attention as to the scope of dishonesty and criminal activity this administration has condoned and practiced?
We’ll see.....
Has Holder blamed the CIA yet?
I'll bet that Fox News has been and is being so monitored.
I mean, if they'd do it to their own supporters, you gotta conclude they've done it to Fox.
I have no sympathy for these media pukes. They’ve aided and abetted the enemy, enabled Clinton, Obama, and the rest of their minions to violate the rights of law-abiding citizens. Now that they feel their rights have been violated, they’re crying the blues. How does it feel a-holes?
“Never pick a fight with a man that buys ink by the barrel” - Sam Clemens.
/johnny
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