Have You Noticed?
In Response To: Obama just sent
a message to the corporate media; "WE ARE WATCHING YOU!"
(Watchman)
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---------------------- Virtually every word coming from the Obama/Holder white house CF is CYA rhetoric. They are in panic mode. Their twisted, self serving, unlawful shenanigans are all coming home to roost. It was only a matter of time. "Oh, what twisted webs we weave , when first we practice to deceive". From Benghazi to Fast and Furious to La Raza to dirty anywhere and everywhere they slither - the real Obama administration is shining through - and it is one corrupt, ugly beast. A mutated piranha out of water gasping for air while gnashing its' teeth. Now they are even attacking their only friend on the planet - AP. When you reach a point where it becomes necessary to steal the records of your own PR agency (AP) in order to keep them from talking - you have issues - big issues. Lion ------------------- : Federal prosecutors secretly obtained two months' worth of : telephone records of Associated Press journalists in what : the news agency described Monday as a “massive and : unprecedented intrusion.” : The Justice Department notified the AP on Friday that it had : subpoenaed the records, which included more than 20 office, : cellphone and home phone lines. The lines include the : general AP office numbers in New York, Washington and : Hartford, Conn., and the number for AP reporters in the : House of Representatives press gallery. : The records included outgoing call numbers, the AP said, but : it is unclear whether prosecutors also obtained incoming : call numbers or the duration of calls. The news : organization said it had no reason to think that the : government listened in to the content of the calls. : The government did not reveal why it seized the records, but : the AP noted that federal officials have previously said : they were investigating who had leaked information to the : news service about a foiled terror plot in 2012. An AP : story in May 2012 included details about a CIA operation in : Yemen targeting al Qaeda operatives. : AP President and CEO Gary Pruitt called the action “a serious : interference with AP’s constitutional rights to gather and : report the news.” : Republicans were quick to criticize the Department of Justice : (DOJ), saying that the invasion of privacy of a news outlet : was just the latest example of an administration rife with : problems. News of the AP probe broke as the White House is : already fending off criticism of its handling of last : year's attacks on the embassy in Benghazi, Libya, and the : revelation that the Internal Revenue Service had targeted : conservative and Tea Party groups. : House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman : Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) called the DOJ subpoena “very : disturbing” and said he expected to team up with House : Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) to probe : the issue further. : “If this question went to the Attorney General then he’s : responsible and he should be held accountable for what I : think is wrong,” Issa said on CNN. “On the other hand, if : it didn’t go to him, the question is: when is the Justice : Department going to take responsibility for what it does? : “There are serious problems at DOJ, this is just the latest : one.” : Department policy requires that the attorney general sign off : on all requests for reporter phone records. It is unclear : whether Attorney General Eric Holder signed off in this : case. : Rep. Frank Wolf (R-Va.), the chairman of the Appropriations : subcommittee that oversees the Justice budget, said the : department’s move was reminiscent of the wiretapping : authorized by former President Nixon’s administration. : “It’s unbelievable,” said Wolf in an interview with The Hill : after news of the story broke. “It kind of reminds you of : the mid-70s.” : “It is the arrogance of power and paranoia. I think it’s : shocking. It reminds me of the Nixon days. If they can do : it to the AP, they can do to any news service in the : country.” : Criticism also came from the left. : “The media’s purpose is to keep the public informed and it : should be free to do so without the threat of unwarranted : surveillance," Laura Murphy, director of the ACLU's : Washington Office, said in a statement. "The Attorney : General must explain the Justice Department’s actions to : the public so that we can make sure this kind of press : intimidation does not happen again.” : The AP's Pruitt sent a letter on Monday to Holder protesting : the seizure of records, demanding that the government : return the call records to the AP and destroy ior: #000099;">: “Those regulations require us to make every reasonable effort : to obtain information through alternative means before even : considering a subpoena fions of The : Associated Press and its reporters,” Pruitt said. : “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.” : Federal regulations require that subpoenas for a reporter's : phone records be as “narrowly drawn as possible.” : White House press secretary Jay Carney referred questions : about the probe to the Justice Department. : In a statement, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of : Columbia said it takes its legal obligations and department : policies seriously when subpoenaing media phone records. : “Those regulations require us to make every reasonable effort : to obtain information through alternative means before even : considering a subpoena for the phone records of a member of : the media,” the office said. “We must notify the media : organization in advance unless doing so would pose a : substantial threat to the integrity of the investigation. : “Because we value the freedom of the press, we are always : careful and deliberative in seeking to strike the right : balance between the public interest in the free flow of : information and the public interest in the fair and : effective administration of our criminal laws,” it said. : The FBI revealed in 2008 that it had subpoenaed the phone : records of New York Times and Washington Post reporters in : Indonesia as part of a terrorism investigation. The agency : apologized for the incident, saying it failed to follow : department policies. : Goodlatte said he planned to ask Holder “pointed questions” : about the AP records on Wednesday when the attorney general : is slated to testify during a general Judiciary oversight : hearing. : “Any abridgement of the First Amendment right to the freedom : of the press is very concerning,” said Goodlatte in a : statement. : “The House Judiciary Committee will thoroughly investigate : this issue and will also ask Attorney General Eric Holder : pointed questions about it at Wednesday’s oversight : hearing,” he said. : Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) also : said he would be probing the issue further and looking into : whether the government may have overstepped its bounds. : "The burden is always on the government when they go : after private information – especially information : regarding the press or its confidential sources," said : Leahy in a statement. "I want to know more about this : case, but on the face of it, I am concerned that the : government may not have met that burden. I am very troubled : by these allegations and want to hear the government’s : explanation.” : Read more: : http://thehill.com/blogs/hillicon-valley/technology/299403-feds-seize-reporters-phone-records http://www.rumormillnews.com/cgi-bin/forum.cgi?read=276784 |
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