Is the Obama DOJ 'out-George Bushing' George Bush?
News Corp. vs. Fox News?
Posted by Ryan Lizza, The New Yorker
The case of James Rosen took an odd turn over the weekend. Rosen is a reporter for Fox News who had his e-mail searched and phone records subpoenaed in the course of a Department of Justice investigation into who provided him with classified information about North Korea in 2009.
The search warrant for Rosen’s e-mail account is the most troubling aspect of the case. Many of the facts surrounding the warrant became known when court filings were recently unsealed. In the government’s application for the warrant, prosecutors alleged that there was probable cause to believe that Rosen violated the Espionage Act of 1917. In another filing, prosecutors argued they should be allowed to keep the warrant secret from Rosen because they might need to monitor his e-mail account indefinitely. While the Nixon and George W. Bush Administrations talked about the possibility of holding journalists criminally liable for reporting classified information, Obama’s is the first Administration to make the argument in federal court. While the Justice Department didn’t indict Rosen, it carefully laid out the legal case for charging him as spy, a dangerous precedent that will undoubtedly tempt future prosecutors.
Separately, prosecutors in the case issued subpoenas—as opposed to search warrants—for records pertaining to over thirty telephone numbers, including five numbers belonging to Fox News. According to Justice Department guidelines, D.O.J. is required to inform a news organization when its phone records are subpoenaed—generally beforehand, but at least afterward. (That’s why the Associated Press finally learned that the records for several A.P. phone lines had been seized in another leak case; though it was too late for them to go to court and try to quash the subpoena.)
One of the mysteries of the Rosen case has been why Rosen and Fox News were not informed of D.O.J.’s seizure of their phone records. When I first learned that Fox’s phone records had been subpoenaed, a spokesperson told me the network had no knowledge of it. Last week, Fox News anchors, reporters, and guests repeatedly criticized the Obama Justice Department—rightfully so, in my opinion—for this lack of disclosure.
(More here.)
Posted by Ryan Lizza, The New Yorker
The case of James Rosen took an odd turn over the weekend. Rosen is a reporter for Fox News who had his e-mail searched and phone records subpoenaed in the course of a Department of Justice investigation into who provided him with classified information about North Korea in 2009.
The search warrant for Rosen’s e-mail account is the most troubling aspect of the case. Many of the facts surrounding the warrant became known when court filings were recently unsealed. In the government’s application for the warrant, prosecutors alleged that there was probable cause to believe that Rosen violated the Espionage Act of 1917. In another filing, prosecutors argued they should be allowed to keep the warrant secret from Rosen because they might need to monitor his e-mail account indefinitely. While the Nixon and George W. Bush Administrations talked about the possibility of holding journalists criminally liable for reporting classified information, Obama’s is the first Administration to make the argument in federal court. While the Justice Department didn’t indict Rosen, it carefully laid out the legal case for charging him as spy, a dangerous precedent that will undoubtedly tempt future prosecutors.
Separately, prosecutors in the case issued subpoenas—as opposed to search warrants—for records pertaining to over thirty telephone numbers, including five numbers belonging to Fox News. According to Justice Department guidelines, D.O.J. is required to inform a news organization when its phone records are subpoenaed—generally beforehand, but at least afterward. (That’s why the Associated Press finally learned that the records for several A.P. phone lines had been seized in another leak case; though it was too late for them to go to court and try to quash the subpoena.)
One of the mysteries of the Rosen case has been why Rosen and Fox News were not informed of D.O.J.’s seizure of their phone records. When I first learned that Fox’s phone records had been subpoenaed, a spokesperson told me the network had no knowledge of it. Last week, Fox News anchors, reporters, and guests repeatedly criticized the Obama Justice Department—rightfully so, in my opinion—for this lack of disclosure.
(More here.)
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