James Rosen was not the only Fox reporter tracked by the Obama/Holder Department of Justice. Fox reporter William LaJeunesse and producer Mike Levine were reportedly also subjected to serious invasions of their privacy.
William LaJeunesse identified as other @foxnews reporter who was monitored.
— Brian Faughnan (@BrianFaughnan) May 20, 2013
Producer Mike Levine (sp?) 3rd Fox news person monitored.
— Brian Faughnan (@BrianFaughnan) May 20, 2013
In order to obtain the information that the DOJ sought, it had to accuse the media workers of engaging in criminal conspiracy. In the affidavit accusing Rosen, the FBI accuses him of using “flattery” and persuasion to obtain information from his source, and of using pseudonyms and a special communications method to meet and to pass on information.
Every reporter who has ever written an exclusive based on unnamed sources has done what Rosen is accused of doing. It is not criminal activity, it is reporting. In Rosen’s case, he was working on obtaining classified information. Again, though, many reporters who have worked on national security issues have tried to obtain classified information from sources. The government routinely classifies information that has no business being classified. The First Amendment protects reporters’ freedom to try to obtain whatever information they can in pursuit of stories. Accusing them of criminal activity is extremely rare.
Meanwhile, the DOJ that targeted the AP and Fox for leaking, also leaked documents to smear a Fast and Furious whistleblower.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) Inspector General published a new report Monday that confirms former U.S. Attorney for Arizona Dennis Burke leaked a document intended to smear Operation Fast and Furious scandal whistleblower John Dodson.
The DOJ IG said it found “Burke’s conduct in disclosing the Dodson memorandum to be inappropriate for a Department employee and wholly unbefitting a U.S. Attorney.”
“We are referring to OPR our finding that Burke violated Department policy in disclosing the Dodson memorandum to a member of the media for a determination of whether Burke’s conduct violated the Rules of Professional Conduct for the state bars in which Burke is a member,” the IG wrote.
Under questioning, AG Eric Holder will probably claim that he knew nothing of any of this. He’s lying. After the AP story broke, he claimed that the leak in that story was one of the most serious he had ever seen. Will that be his excuse in this case, too?
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