McConnell Bugger Afforded More Rights Than Fox News' James Rosen

So, it seems the left-wing activist who bugged Sen. McConnell’s campaign strategy meeting, is being afforded more rights that Fox News’ James Rosen.  Here’s a quick recap.

The activist, Curtiss Morrison, has already admitted his own guilt in a rambling essay in Salon last month.  At the time he was working for Progress Kentucky, a group with close ties to the Democratic Party both in the Bluegrass state and in Washington. Shawn Reilly, the executive director of the group, was also arrested for his role in the illegal taping.  He visited the White House days before the group’s Twitter account began actively attacking Leader McConnell, according to White House visitors logs.

Reilly also has ties to Alison Lundergan Grimes, Kentucky’s Secretary of State, who is mulling a challenge to McConnell.  Yet, Grimes also has to balance the fact that a senate run would break her promise of serving a full-term as Kentucky’s Secretary of State.  If you can’t trust Grimes to follow through at the state-level, what makes you think she could in Washington?  But what about this business with Morrison having more rights than Rosen?

 Manu Raju and John Bresnahan report in Politico on June 21 that:

Justice Department prosecutors in Washington are now part of a high-profile criminal investigation into the secret taping at Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s campaign headquarters in Louisville.

[…]

At the same time, any attempts to subpoena evidence from Curtis Morrison — a liberal activist who surreptitiously taped McConnell and his aides at a campaign meeting in February — would most likely need the personal approval of Attorney General Eric Holder, according to federal regulations, which require Holder to approve subpoenas for journalists. Morrison was previously a paid freelancer for a Louisville-based, online news outlet, even though he was engaged in political activities with the goal to defeat McConnell.

[…]

While reporters may not break the law to gather news, an indictment of Morrison would also be fraught with potential legal land mines because of his status as a journalist. In order to subpoena him prior to an indictment by a federal grand jury, Holder would have to personally approve the action. Holder has recently been grilled by lawmakers in both parties over the AP and Rosen cases, making any potential action against Morrison — despite his own admission of guilt — a potential headache.

Brad Dayspring, the NRSC’s Communications Director, had this to say.

Wait… Hold on just a second! In other words, apparently the Obama Administration and Eric Holder have granted a liberal activist who has admitted he secretly recorded Leader McConnell (a violation of federal criminal eavesdropping law), a status they refused to afford either Fox News’ James Rosen or the Associated Press.

That’s rich! Appearances are important, and this sure makes it look like it’s easier to get journalist protections from the Obama/Holder DOJ if the coverage is beneficial for the Democratic Party.  The Obama Administration may want to rethink this one.