Govt obtains wide AP phone records in probe

[Rheo]

AP:

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.

[pollyannaish]

Ruh roh. Spying on your own minions? That may not go over well especially right at this moment.

[Rheo]

Brian Wilson ‏@BrianWilsonDC 2m

DOJ gets AP phone records for reporter's work AND personal phones -- AND for their Hill phones which technically belong to Congress. Wow!

[Rheo]

Can I hope that the low information voters will even be concerned at this point?

[Casino67]

I haven't seen any libtards racing to defend either party in this. Bet a few people at AP are checking the Yellow pages for attorneys.

[Valin]

As the Evil Glenn Reynolds put it....

THEY TOLD ME IF I VOTED FOR MITT ROMNEY, THE GOVERNMENT WOULD BE SPYING ON JOURNALISTS. AND THEY WERE RIGHT

[Valin]

It will be fasinating to see how this is blamed on George Bush.

[Valin]

I am a very very very bad person

 

[Rheo]

Jamie Dupree ‏@jamiedupree 2m

White House: "We are not involved in decisions made in connection with criminal investigations"

 

Jamie Dupree Jamie Dupree ‏@jamiedupree 2m

White House: "we have no knowledge of any attempt by the Justice Department to seek phone records of the AP

 

---

Vee know nothing!

[clearvision]

[Geee]

Well, let's see. Dozens of rights of different groups have been violated over the last 4+ years and the press could care less. NOW we'll see if they care.

[Valin]

Well, let's see. Dozens of rights of different groups have been violated over the last 4+ years and the press could care less. NOW we'll see if they care.

 

Every administration has problems in their 2nd term going from (not too bad) Ronald Reagan to (BOHICA) Dick Nixon..Bill Clinton. This 2nd term is I believe is going to be very very bad. I say this because (IMO) Barack Obama just isn't a very good President. LBJ...Dick Nixon...Bill Clinton, whether you approve of their politics/policies or not knew how to be President. This guy doesn't, I think its because he's never faced defeat before in his life.

[Valin]

Government They Love Gores Media’s Ox

Jonathan S. Tobin

5/13/13

 

Many in the liberal mainstream press have long regarded complaints about the growth of government power to be the preserve of wacky right-wingers who fear being seized by federal agents in black helicopters. But today many of the same journalists who expressed indifference if not scorn about conservative complaints about the seemingly insatiable demand for power on the part of the Obama administration are screaming bloody murder about the news that the Department of Justice had secretly seized two months of telephone records belong to editors and reporters at the Associated Press.

 

The story about the AP has special resonance because it comes on the heels of the IRS scandal in which officials of the tax agency singled out conservative groups for selective scrutiny because of their criticism of the administration. But while as far as we know now that outrageous instance of abuse of power can only be traced back to Obama’s philosophy rather than directly to orders issued by senior figures in the White House, the infringement of the rights of the AP staff is of sufficient magnitude that it is almost impossible to imagine that it happened without the specific endorsement of Attorney General Eric Holder and possibly with the knowledge of the president. In other words, our chattering classes are getting a taste of the treatment that had heretofore only be meted out to people that were unofficial members of the administration’s unwritten enemies list.

 

If some of the hysteria breaking out on the Twitter feeds of liberal journalists over this story may be a bit overblown, I share the concerns expressed by the AP about an infringement of their First Amendment rights that they rightly say information has been seized “the government has no conceivable right to know.” But rather than merely talking about protecting the rights of the press, what we all ought to be discussing tonight and in the days and weeks that will follow is whether this is just one more symptom of an administration that seems to think there are no legal limits to its power.

 

(Snip)

[Rheo]

Holder has recused himself from the investigation. News conference (lie fest) within the hour.

[Casino67]

Holder has recused himself from the investigation. News conference (lie fest) within the hour.

 

Seems to be a growing view that Holder is history, sooner than he may have wanted.

[clearvision]

So on this and IRS whitehouse basically says we have to wait for those groups to investigate themselves and give us a report before we do anything....

 

Bullshit.

[clearvision]

Holder holds press conference. Says he knows nothing.

[Rheo]

Does this play into the story?

----

 

Internal emails among U.S. military officers indicate that no American sailors watched Osama bin Laden's burial at sea from the USS Carl Vinson, and traditional Islamic procedures were followed during the secret ceremony.

 

The emails, obtained by The Associated Press through the Freedom of Information Act, are heavily blacked out, but are the first public disclosure of government information about the al-Qaida leader's death. The emails were released Wednesday by the Defense Department.

 

Internal emails among U.S. military officers indicate that no American sailors watched Osama bin Laden's burial at sea from the USS Carl Vinson, and traditional Islamic procedures were followed during the secret ceremony.

 

The emails, obtained by The Associated Press through the Freedom of Information Act, are heavily blacked out, but are the first public disclosure of government information about the al-Qaida leader's death. The emails were released Wednesday by the Defense Department.

 

19:17 EST, 21 November 2012

http://www.dailymail...burial-sea.html

[Valin]

Does this play into the story?

----

 

 

I'd say only on the periphery.

[Rheo]

Does this play into the story?

----

 

 

I'd say only on the periphery.

Ok, just curious if this is what it really was about and not some BIG National Security concern they had.

[Valin]

Does this play into the story?

----

 

 

I'd say only on the periphery.

Ok, just curious if this is what it really was about and not some BIG National Security concern they had.

 

It's part of the Benghazi story in that it speaks to "Official" Washington being so sensitive to what some Muslims might think....Say CAIR. That's all I mean by peripherally.

 

[Valin]

White House asks Schumer to reintroduce media shield law

Justin Sink

05/15/13

 

The White House on Wednesday asked Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) to reintroduce a media shield law amid criticism of the Department of Justice’s subpoena of Associated Press phone records.

Schumer’s bill would allow media organizations to challenge subpoenas of phone records and offer legal protections for protecting confidential sources.

 

(Snip)

 

Obama and the Department of Justice have come under criticism for Justice’s decision to investigate national security leaks by subpoenaing more than 20 work and personal phone lines belonging to reporters from the AP.

 

(Snip)

 

Asked if the president's renewed push for the media shield bill was a response to the AP subpoena, Carney emphasized that the White House was not involved in the Justice Department investigation. But, Carney said, the president “thinks it's an appropriate time” to push again for the shield law.

 

“The president's support for this kind of media shield law is well documented and long standing, and he does think it is important to resubmit it,” Carney said.

 

 

Translation...The Obama Administration seeks to mend fences with "The MSM".