Govt obtains wide AP phone records in probe

[ba1614]

You see nothing wrong with this?

I sure do, and I think he needs to step up and get some committees in place to find out what the hell is going on with all these invasions of privacy by these assholes. He seems to be scared shitless to take any action.

He commented on it. Said "They'd better have a damned good reason". I hope that's an indication he will pursue it.

I do too, we'll see.

 

[Polk]

No, you cocksucking shithead. They didn't "investigate" a leak. They grabbed 2 months of confidential information possibly without a warrant. Did you miss the 4th Amendment in school?

AP's own whiny story about it admits that's what it was about.

The government would not say why it sought the records. Officials have previously said in public testimony that the U.S. attorney in Washington is conducting a criminal investigation into who may have provided 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.

In testimony in February, CIA Director John Brennan noted that the FBI had questioned him about whether he was AP's source, which he denied. He called the release of the information to the media about the terror plot an "unauthorized and dangerous disclosure of classified information."

Gov't obtains wide AP phone records in probe

You'll also note that the government had said that there had been no terrorists threats during that time. Why did they say that if it wasn't true? How do you justify tapping phone of people other that the reporters involved in the story.
Sorry, but this "most transparent administration in history" has a lot of 'splainin' to do.

You say that because you don't want to compromise intel assets. Same reason undercover police officers don't walk around wearing a badge.

 

[Polk]

More from the story:


So this looks like we are starting to understand Benghazi. An administration wedded to the idea that al Qaeda and Islamic terrorism are not threats will do anything to keep the reality from becoming known.

Paging George Orwell.

Next question: When will the first calls for impeachment/resignation come from the media?

This is rich.
DOJ under Obama is in the wrong for investigating the leak of classified information.
DOJ under Bush was totally in the clear when they were doing the same thing routinely just because they could.

Neither is acceptable and it needs to be stopped and this Patriot Act needs to end. Neither side can take the high ground, wrong is wrong.

That's a much better point, but I'm only addressing the selective outrage in this thread.

 

[The Rabbi]

Outrage! This has never been done before! Outrage!!!!

Shut up, troll.

Well, he's right. It has been done before. Nixon did it. ANd was forced to resign ahead of impeachment.

 

[Claudette]

Here is the latest. The plot is starting to thicken.....


The Associated Press reported Monday that the Department of Justice had secretly seized two months worth of telephone records from reporters and editors working for the global news organization.

Needless to say, news that the DOJ had secretly obtained AP phone records has rocked the media. As it turns out, people really, really don’t like being spied on or having the feds snoop around their personal information.

This is going to take some explaining.

And it looks like it’ll take a lot more than a “low-level employee” to get U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder out of this tight spot.

See, as the Washington Examiner’s Phillip Klein notes, “it will be harder for President Obama to pin the DOJ’s action on lower level bureaucrats … because requests to subpoena news organization records require the approval of Attorney General Eric Holder.”

From the DOJ’s U.S. Attorneys’ Manual:

The Attorney General’s authorization is normally required before the issuance of any subpoena to a member of the news media or for the telephone toll records of a member of the news media. However, in those cases where the media member or his or her representative agrees to provide the material sought and that material has been published or broadcast, the United States Attorney or the responsible Assistant Attorney General may authorize issuance of the subpoena, thereafter submitting a report to the Office of Public Affairs detailing the circumstances surrounding the issuance of the subpoena….

The probe was secret, as Klein notes, therefore the second condition wasn’t met. This means that the DOJ needed Holder’s signature to go forward with obtaining the AP phone records.

The manual continues:

Department attorneys seeking the Attorney General’s authorization to issue a subpoena to a member of the news media, or for telephone toll records of a media member, must submit a written request summarizing the facts of the prosecution or investigation, explaining the essentiality of the information sought to the investigation or prosecution, describing attempts to obtain the voluntary cooperation of the news media through negotiation and explaining how the proposed subpoena will be fashioned as narrowly as possible to obtain the necessary information in a manner as minimally intrusive and burdensome as possible.
Obviously, this puts Holder and the entire DOJ in an interesting position.

“[E]ither attorneys’ ignored procedure in obtaining phone records without proper approval, or Holder directly approved an operation that involved obtaining journalists’ work and personal phone records,” Klein writes.

Perhaps we’ll learn more when Holder testifies before the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday for an oversight hearing.



Someone's goose is starting to get very, VERY hot.......

Holder need have no fear. EP will be in play just like with Fast and Furious.

 

[TakeAStepBack]

Bush made them do it. Im sure of it!


Looking at all the news of the last week is like watching the bath water circle the drain.

Had to have been Bush. Without any doubt.

 

[kwc57]

It will be interesting to see how AG Holder spins THIS one.

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.

Reporters have a right to confidential sources? Since when? Who does this AP leader think he is? What special rights does he think he has?

Conservtive outrage on this is so phony.

I'll file all the faux right wing outrage about this in the "It would be okay if a Republican did it" case history. Maybe in between the socialist Medicare D of Bush and the Illegal Immigrant Amnesty of "Regeanus Maximus".

Another low information voter/Obama supporter. Please tell us that you haven't bred.

 

[Katzndogz]

It wasn't obama, Eric Holder did it.

White House responds to Justice Dept. secretly obtaining AP phone records: "We are not involved" ? Erin Burnett OutFront - - CNN.com Blogs

Simple, fire Eric Holder. Hold him accountable.

 

[TakeAStepBack]

It wasn't obama, Eric Holder did it.

White House responds to Justice Dept. secretly obtaining AP phone records: "We are not involved" ? Erin Burnett OutFront - - CNN.com Blogs

Simple, fire Eric Holder. Hold him accountable.

"Wasn't us! It was either Bush or the republican controlled house!"

 

[KissMy]

Every administration hates leaks & certain media coverage, but most don't destroy the first amendment to silence them. The Obama administration has seriously overstepped here. I hope the media turns on his ass & makes him pay for that.

 

[Papageorgio]

Outrage! This has never been done before! Outrage!!!!

Yeah, what the hell do we care about our fuckin rights! Let's just let it continue, right?

I have never seen so many dumbshits in my life, the Patriot Act needs to be repealed and never to see the light of day again.

And dumbshits like you need to keep spewing your stupidity.

 

[Uncensored2008]

Friendly to their side? That's a laugh.

Up to this point, the press has essentially been part of the Obama administration. They were crucial as a campaign mechanism to reelect Obama. CNN, ABNBCBS, Chicago Tribune, NY Times, Washington Post all openly campaigned for Obama and were very careful to spike any story that would harm him, whilst hyping stories about the opposition to absurd extremes.

MSNBC and the Los Angeles Times sucked Obama's cock openly while declaring him to be god.

The press hasn't been "friendly" to Obama, the press is part of "Team Obama."

That the fool spied on his faithful servants displays what a fucking moron he is. Obama is so corrupt that he couldn't help himself. Corruption is in his blood. But going after his fawning press was stupid beyond belief.

Benghazi was spiked last year. The IRS would have been spiked last year - now even the Washington Post is reporting on both.

Obama is toast - not for the right reasons, but because he crossed the press, and they won't cover-up his corruption from this point forward.

 

[Uncensored2008]

 

[Uncensored2008]

And there you have it. The beginning of the end of freedom of speech and press. Thanks Obama!!!

At the end of the day, Obama is a mobster. Everything his administration does follows Chicago gangland rules. Up to this point, the press has run cover for the corrupt Obama regime - but his attack on the press itself changes that. The main thing that gangland depends on is secrecy. Up to this point, the press has covered for the Obama mob; but now that changes.

Obama is toast.

 

[Spoonman]

Outrage! This has never been done before! Outrage!!!!

Yeah, what the hell do we care about our fuckin rights! Let's just let it continue, right?

I have never seen so many dumbshits in my life, the Patriot Act needs to be repealed and never to see the light of day again.

And dumbshits like you need to keep spewing your stupidity.

it seems to me personal rights and freedoms are not respected at all by this administration

 

[Spoonman]

Boehner needs to nut up and get his head out of his ass.

we need to get obama and the democrats out of our ass

 

[RandallFlagg]

And there you have it. The beginning of the end of freedom of speech and press. Thanks Obama!!!

At the end of the day, Obama is a mobster. Everything his administration does follows Chicago gangland rules. Up to this point, the press has run cover for the corrupt Obama regime - but his attack on the press itself changes that. The main thing that gangland depends on is secrecy. Up to this point, the press has covered for the Obama mob; but now that changes.

Obama is toast.

You're right. Obama is a gangster, brought up in the "Chicago way" of politics.

Obama is, indeed, in deep doo-doo. And here's why: He has had the "press" in his pocket from day one. They would fall on their collective swords for this "man". So, what does he do? He screws them over royally.

BIG mistake. The curtain has now been pulled back to reveal that guess what!?!? The "Great and Powerful Oz" is nothing more than a thug!! The self-righteous "press" who has beaten the drum for this guy from day one has now experienced a "punch in the gut" from their anointed savior.

This is NOT going to end well for Barry.............

 

[Ernie S.]

Government secretly obtains phone records from journalists - latimes.com


Now if you people have any integrity at all this is a real POSSIBLE SCANDLE instead of the lie rifddled crap you usually tout as some major Impeachment path.


I came here this morning ready with this article to discuss it.


I cant be here when I not here

You not here again? WTF? You better have the meds adjusted.

 

[Ernie S.]

AP's own whiny story about it admits that's what it was about.

You'll also note that the government had said that there had been no terrorists threats during that time. Why did they say that if it wasn't true? How do you justify tapping phone of people other that the reporters involved in the story.
Sorry, but this "most transparent administration in history" has a lot of 'splainin' to do.

You say that because you don't want to compromise intel assets. Same reason undercover police officers don't walk around wearing a badge.

In this case though, the truth didn't fit the rhetoric, so it must be hidden, at least until 11/7.

 

[Ernie S.]

Here is the latest. The plot is starting to thicken.....


The Associated Press reported Monday that the Department of Justice had secretly seized two months worth of telephone records from reporters and editors working for the global news organization.

Needless to say, news that the DOJ had secretly obtained AP phone records has rocked the media. As it turns out, people really, really don’t like being spied on or having the feds snoop around their personal information.

This is going to take some explaining.

And it looks like it’ll take a lot more than a “low-level employee” to get U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder out of this tight spot.

See, as the Washington Examiner’s Phillip Klein notes, “it will be harder for President Obama to pin the DOJ’s action on lower level bureaucrats … because requests to subpoena news organization records require the approval of Attorney General Eric Holder.”

From the DOJ’s U.S. Attorneys’ Manual:

The Attorney General’s authorization is normally required before the issuance of any subpoena to a member of the news media or for the telephone toll records of a member of the news media. However, in those cases where the media member or his or her representative agrees to provide the material sought and that material has been published or broadcast, the United States Attorney or the responsible Assistant Attorney General may authorize issuance of the subpoena, thereafter submitting a report to the Office of Public Affairs detailing the circumstances surrounding the issuance of the subpoena….

The probe was secret, as Klein notes, therefore the second condition wasn’t met. This means that the DOJ needed Holder’s signature to go forward with obtaining the AP phone records.

The manual continues:

Department attorneys seeking the Attorney General’s authorization to issue a subpoena to a member of the news media, or for telephone toll records of a media member, must submit a written request summarizing the facts of the prosecution or investigation, explaining the essentiality of the information sought to the investigation or prosecution, describing attempts to obtain the voluntary cooperation of the news media through negotiation and explaining how the proposed subpoena will be fashioned as narrowly as possible to obtain the necessary information in a manner as minimally intrusive and burdensome as possible.
Obviously, this puts Holder and the entire DOJ in an interesting position.

“[E]ither attorneys’ ignored procedure in obtaining phone records without proper approval, or Holder directly approved an operation that involved obtaining journalists’ work and personal phone records,” Klein writes.

Perhaps we’ll learn more when Holder testifies before the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday for an oversight hearing.



Someone's goose is starting to get very, VERY hot.......

Holder need have no fear. EP will be in play just like with Fast and Furious.

This is getting too big. Between this, Bengazi and the IRS wiretaps, some head, somewhere will have to roll. My guess is that the head of the IRS will resign amid reports emphasizing that he was a Bush appointee.

The IRS involved in wrong doing WILL cause the story to grow long legs, since corruption there affects everyone.
Wiretaps of Media, not so much, though the thought of "Big Brother" does give some promise that this too may grow legs.

I really don't see obama asserting EP for Holder. If it gets to the point where Holder is central to the discussion, expect to see him resign "for health reasons", perhaps a stomach virus or exhaustion, a concussion or a blood clot on the brain. (sound familiar?)