US Justice Dept seizes 2 months phone records from Associated Press

[Kondor3]

Justice Department secretly obtained AP phone records

Published May 13, 2013 - Associated Press - via Fox News

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 outgoing calls for the work and personal phone numbers of individual reporters, for general AP office numbers in New York, Washington and Hartford, Conn., and for the main number for the AP in the House of Representatives press gallery, according to attorneys for the AP. It was not clear if the records also included incoming calls or the duration of the calls.

In all, the government seized the 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 where 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. 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.

...

Read the rest of the article here...

Justice Department secretly obtained AP phone records | Fox News

 

[whitehall]

Fast/Furious wasn't enough? Somebody needs to go to jail/

 

[Jackson]

The Justice Department lays out strict rules for efforts to get phone records from news organizations. A subpoena can be considered only after "all reasonable attempts" have been made to get the same information from other sources, the rules say. It was unclear what other steps, in total, the Justice Department might have taken to get information in the case.

A subpoena to the media must be "as narrowly drawn as possible" and "should be directed at relevant information regarding a limited subject matter and should cover a reasonably limited time period," according to the rules.

News organizations normally are notified in advance that the government wants phone records and then they enter into negotiations over the desired information. In this case, however, the government, in its letter to the AP, cited an exemption to those rules that holds that prior notification can be waived if such notice, in the exemption's wording, might "pose a substantial threat to the integrity of the investigation."

It is unknown whether a judge or a grand jury signed off on the subpoenas.


Read more: Justice Department secretly obtained AP phone records | Fox News


Same ol’ Justice Department. Making its own rules.

 

[Rozman]

There is some crazy shit going on with this administration...

 

[TruthSeeker56]

Hey, it's all good.

This is the infallible, unflappable, and above-the-law Obama administration we are talking about here!

So WHERE are all of the Obama-zombies at? They should be in here defending their Messiah and his pet weasel Attorney General.

 

[asaratis]

Justice Department secretly obtained AP phone records

Published May 13, 2013 - Associated Press - via Fox News

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 outgoing calls for the work and personal phone numbers of individual reporters, for general AP office numbers in New York, Washington and Hartford, Conn., and for the main number for the AP in the House of Representatives press gallery, according to attorneys for the AP. It was not clear if the records also included incoming calls or the duration of the calls.

In all, the government seized the 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 where 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. 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.

...

Read the rest of the article here...

Justice Department secretly obtained AP phone records | Fox News

Add this to the IRS hassling of Obama's enemies and you got yo self a nargument. (sic)

Hey, it's all good.

This is the infallible, unflappable, and above-the-law Obama administration we are talking about here!

So WHERE are all of the Obama-zombies at? They should be in here defending their Messiah and his pet weasel Attorney General.

That, my friend...cannot be done. There is no defense for treachery.

 

[depotoo]

interesting bit from the AP website regarding this -

The May 7, 2012, AP story that disclosed details of the CIA operation in Yemen to stop an airliner bomb plot occurred around the one-year anniversary of the May 2, 2011, killing of Osama bin Laden.


The plot was significant because the White House had told the public it had "no credible information that terrorist organizations, including al-Qaida, are plotting attacks in the U.S. to coincide with the (May 2) anniversary of bin Laden's death."


The AP delayed reporting the story at the request of government officials who said it would jeopardize national security. Once government officials said those concerns were allayed, the AP disclosed the plot because officials said it no longer endangered national security. The Obama administration, however, continued to request that the story be held until the administration could make an official announcement.
The May 7 story was written by reporters Matt Apuzzo and Adam Goldman with contributions from reporters Kimberly Dozier, Eileen Sullivan and Alan Fram. They and their editor, Ted Bridis, were among the journalists whose April-May 2012 phone records were seized by the government.

so, since the gov't. had asked them to hold off reporting it, they seemed to know they had the info, which they initially did, suddenly, a year later, it is being investigated? Something doesn't add up.

Govt-obtains-wide-AP-phone-records-in-probe

 

[Kondor3]

I am torn between wanting to blame the Bush-II Administration for forcing-open the metaphorical door that makes it possible to undertake such activities (the Patriot Act, et al) and blaming the Obama Administration for not purging (repealing) such things off-the-books and for continuing to make use of them and to expand upon such things, despite pre-election criticisms and promises to set things right again. It's almost as if... if... if... neither side is particularly trustworthy in this regard.

 

[TruthSeeker56]

I am torn between wanting to blame the Bush-II Administration for forcing-open the metaphorical door that makes it possible to undertake such activities (the Patriot Act, et al) and blaming the Obama Administration for not purging (repealing) such things off-the-books and for continuing to make use of them and to expand upon such things, despite pre-election criticisms and promises to set things right again. It's almost as if... if... if... neither side is particularly trustworthy in this regard.

On October 23, 2001, the U.S. Senate voted 98-1 in FAVOR of the Patriot Act.

On October 24, 2001, the U.S. House voted 357-66 in FAVOR of the Patriot Act.

Looks to me like the Patriot Act was an overwhelmingly BIPARTISAN piece of legislation.

But, the Obama-zombies are still playing the "blame Bush" game, almost 12 YEARS after the Patriot Act became law.