As Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. faced questions Wednesday afternoon on Capitol Hill, the White House began pushing for a federal media shield law in the wake of the revelation that the Justice Department secretly obtained journalists’ phone records.
Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) introduced the media-protecting legislation at the request of the White House, according to a White House official. The Free Flow of Information Act would protect journalists from being compelled to testify about their confidential sources, unless all other avenues are exhausted and exposure is in the public interest.
Video
The Justice Department collected phone logs for 20 telephone lines used by more than 100 reporters and editors in an investigation aimed at finding who inside the government leaked classified information to reporters at the Associated Press.
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Holder is expected to be grilled by lawmakers about his department’s decision to obtain phone records from Associated Press journalists as part of a leak investigation. He is also expected to be peppered with questions about the Internal Revenue Service’s targeting of conservative groups for extra scrutiny.
The hearing before the House Judiciary Committee marks the first attempt by Congress to seek some accountability for the two controversies, both of which have thrust Holder back into the public spotlight. Throughout his tenure, Holder has been a consistent target of conservative criticism, and Republicans have renewed their assault this week.
The Associated Press revealed Monday that the Justice Department had secretly obtained telephone records of some of its journalists, as part of an investigation into the leak of classified information about a failed al-Qaeda plot.
The move was roundly criticized by the AP as well as some members of both political parties. More than four dozen news organizations, including The Washington Post, wrote the Justice Department on Tuesday urging that the records be promptly returned to the AP, and complaining that the department appeared to run afoul of subpoena guidelines.
On Tuesday, Holder strongly defended the subpoenas for the AP’s phone records, telling reporters at a news conference that the leak “put the American people at risk. And that is not hyperbole.” His statement seemed to contradict reassurances from the White House a year ago that the plot exposed in the AP article at the center of the probe did not pose a threat.
On May 8, 2012, the day after the AP story about a successful CIA operation to thwart a Yemen-based terror plot was published, John O. Brennan, then President Obama’s top counterterrorism adviser, appeared on ABC’s “Good Morning America” and provided assurances that there was no danger from the foiled al-Qaeda plot. He said U.S. intelligence had had the bomb, which he described as an improvised explosive device, or IED, under control for at least 10 days.
“We had confidence that we had control, that that IED was not a threat, it was not an active threat at that time,” said Brennan, now CIA director. “So we were – were confident that that did not pose a threat.”
The AP said Tuesday that publication of the article was withheld “until the government assured us that the national security concerns had passed. Indeed, the White House was preparing to publicly announce that the bomb plot had been foiled.”
Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) introduced the media-protecting legislation at the request of the White House, according to a White House official. The Free Flow of Information Act would protect journalists from being compelled to testify about their confidential sources, unless all other avenues are exhausted and exposure is in the public interest.
Video
The Justice Department collected phone logs for 20 telephone lines used by more than 100 reporters and editors in an investigation aimed at finding who inside the government leaked classified information to reporters at the Associated Press.
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Holder is expected to be grilled by lawmakers about his department’s decision to obtain phone records from Associated Press journalists as part of a leak investigation. He is also expected to be peppered with questions about the Internal Revenue Service’s targeting of conservative groups for extra scrutiny.
The hearing before the House Judiciary Committee marks the first attempt by Congress to seek some accountability for the two controversies, both of which have thrust Holder back into the public spotlight. Throughout his tenure, Holder has been a consistent target of conservative criticism, and Republicans have renewed their assault this week.
The Associated Press revealed Monday that the Justice Department had secretly obtained telephone records of some of its journalists, as part of an investigation into the leak of classified information about a failed al-Qaeda plot.
The move was roundly criticized by the AP as well as some members of both political parties. More than four dozen news organizations, including The Washington Post, wrote the Justice Department on Tuesday urging that the records be promptly returned to the AP, and complaining that the department appeared to run afoul of subpoena guidelines.
On Tuesday, Holder strongly defended the subpoenas for the AP’s phone records, telling reporters at a news conference that the leak “put the American people at risk. And that is not hyperbole.” His statement seemed to contradict reassurances from the White House a year ago that the plot exposed in the AP article at the center of the probe did not pose a threat.
On May 8, 2012, the day after the AP story about a successful CIA operation to thwart a Yemen-based terror plot was published, John O. Brennan, then President Obama’s top counterterrorism adviser, appeared on ABC’s “Good Morning America” and provided assurances that there was no danger from the foiled al-Qaeda plot. He said U.S. intelligence had had the bomb, which he described as an improvised explosive device, or IED, under control for at least 10 days.
“We had confidence that we had control, that that IED was not a threat, it was not an active threat at that time,” said Brennan, now CIA director. “So we were – were confident that that did not pose a threat.”
The AP said Tuesday that publication of the article was withheld “until the government assured us that the national security concerns had passed. Indeed, the White House was preparing to publicly announce that the bomb plot had been foiled.”