DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Everything Else... Gov't obtains wide AP phone records in probe.

I think I did miss that point, but more than just Fox have been targeted, so is Fox claiming that aside from the regular phone record snooping all media has been experiencing they're receiving double secret probation snooping?

Correct. Aside from the snooping the DoJ did on the AP (not all media), they are saying that the DoJ also snooped on Fox.

Well the AP is a whole lot of our media, radio, newspaper and TV. All of its members are joining in condemning this.

The Fox investigation sounds pretty specific about a North Korean investigation and not necessarily targeting for being conservatives, which is how it seems to be presented.

Yes, the AP is a collection of reporters, but it still isn't ALL media. It is a subset.

As for Fox, the subject matter shouldn't matter... they were targeted the same as the AP. I don't think anyone ever said that they were targeted for being conservative, though... that's the IRS

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Are they claiming to be the only news source since they're obviously conservative and conservatives are the only ones being targeted in this?

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They are writing a specific story about a couple specific people who were specifically targeted by DoJ... I'm sure it's just a major coincidence that the guy who broke so much of the Fast and Furious information which should have landed a number of DoJ people in jail is the guy who is then targeted by the DoJ...

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What about npr's concern? I mean they're the worst of the worst aren't they when it comes to liberal bias?

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I've done a number of google searches looking for NPR's folks being tapped and/or surveilled or investigated and can't find anything... if you have information that NPR's folks were targeted please let me know.

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If conservatives would just relax and DO THEIR JOBS!

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Exposing dangerous, illicit, probably illegal activity by the DoJ and the IRS is their job... and what is their reward for it? They get to be the subject of DoJ surveillance and investigation.

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nearly every politician at one point or another will cook their own goose.

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This administrations goose has been shot, cooked, warmed up, reheated, eaten, and flushed... unfortunately nobody knows anything... Eric Holder doesn't know anything about a guns program or a probe into reporters phone records, the head of the IRS doesn't know anything about who is being targeted in audits, and Obama.. well he doesn't know anything about anything.. this administration has taken plausible deniability to whole new levels.. hope and change brother, hope and change.

When there is the threat of persecution by the Government against the People for keeping an eye on the Government, THAT is tyranny.

Holder OK'd search warrant for Fox News reporter's private emails, official says

Attorney General Eric Holder agreed to a review of Justice Department guidelines for investigations involving journalists, President Barack Obama said Thursday
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By Michael Isikoff
National Investigative Correspondent, NBC News

Attorney General Eric Holder signed off on a controversial search warrant that identified Fox News reporter James Rosen as a “possible co-conspirator” in violations of the Espionage Act and authorized seizure of his private emails, a law enforcement official told NBC News on Thursday.

The disclosure of the attorney general’s role came as President Barack Obama, in a major speech on his counterterrorism policy, said Holder had agreed to review Justice Department guidelines governing investigations that involve journalists.

"I am troubled by the possibility that leak investigations may chill the investigative journalism that holds government accountable," Obama said. "Journalists should not be at legal risk for doing their jobs."

Rosen, who has not been charged in the case, was nonetheless the target of a search warrant that enabled Justice Department investigators to secretly seize his private emails after an FBI agent said he had "asked, solicited and encouraged … (a source) to disclose sensitive United States internal documents and intelligence information."

Obama's comments follow a firestorm of criticism that has erupted over disclosures that in separate investigations of leaks of classified information, the Justice Department had obtained private emails that Rosen exchanged with a source and the phone records of Associated Press reporters.

Holder previously said he recused himself from the AP subpoena because he had been questioned as a witness in the underlying investigation into a leak about a foiled bomb plot in Yemen. His role in personally approving the Rosen search warrant had not been previously reported.

A Justice Department spokeswoman did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Department of Justice later issued a statement about the review of media guidelines: “This review is consistent with Attorney General Holder's long-standing belief that freedom of the press is essential to our democracy," it said. "At the same time, the attorney general believes that leaks of classified information damage our national security and must be investigated using appropriate law enforcement tools. We remain steadfast in our commitment to following all laws and regulations intended to safeguard national security as well as the First Amendment interests of the press in reporting the news and the public in receiving it."

The law enforcement official said Holder's approval of the Rosen search, in the spring of 2010, came after senior Justice officials concluded there was "probable cause" that Rosen's communications with his source, identified as intelligence analyst Stephen Kim, met the legal burden for such searches. "It was approved at the highest levels-- and I mean the highest," said the law enforcement official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. He said that explicitly included Holder.

Kim has since been indicted on charges that he leaked classified information to Rosen about how North Korea would respond to a United Nations resolution condemning the country's nuclear program. He has denied the charges.

In an affidavit in support of a search warrant to Google for Rosen's emails, an FBI agent wrote that the Fox News journalist -- identified only as "the Reporter" -- had "asked, solicited and encouraged Mr. Kim to disclose sensitive United States internal documents and intelligence information."

"The Reporter did so by employing flattery and playing to Mr. Kim's vanity and ego,” it continued. “Much like an intelligence officer would run a clandestine intelligence source, the Reporter instructed Mr. Kim on a covert communications plan that involved" emails from his gmail account.

The affidavit states that FBI agents had tracked Rosen’s entrances and exits of the State Department in order to show that they had coincided with Kim’s movements. Based on that and other findings, the affidavit by FBI Agent Reginald B. Reyes, stated, “There is probable cause to believe that the Reporter has committed a violation” of the Espionage Act “at the very least, either as an aider, abettor and/or co-conspirator of Mr. Kim.”

It also said that Google was specifically instructed not to notify “the subscriber” -- Rosen -- that his emails were being seized.

In new documents disclosed Thursday, the Justice Department sought and obtained approval to keep the search warrant, which was approved by a federal magistrate, under seal. It was unsealed in November 2011, but never made a part of the docket of Kim’s case and went unnoticed until this week.

Justice officials have since said they do not intend to criminally charge Rosen, but media groups have condemned the issuance of the search warrant itself.

"The Justice Department's decision to treat routine newsgathering efforts as evidence of criminality is extremely troubling and corrodes time-honored understandings between the public and the government about the role of the free press," said Bruce Brown, executive director of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press.

In his speech Thursday, Obama reiterated his determination to pursue leak investigations. "We must enforce consequences for those who break the law and breach their commitment to protect classified information," he said.

But, he said, "Our focus must be on those who break the law," not journalists. He said he was calling on Congress to pass a media shield law and had raised the issue with Holder, "who shares my concern."

As part of the Justice Department review of guidelines, the president said, Holder will convene a group of media organizations to hear their views and “report back to me by July 12th."

*NBC News Chief Justice Correspondent Pete Williams contributed to this report.

http://openchannel.nbcnews.com/_news/201...icial-says?lite

Alternate headline for the NBC article above:

Holder Investigates Holder

Stay classy, Mr. Holder. You've been such a shining light of morality and good decisions.......

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I understand the "difference", but we're still talking about a DoJ that has targeted a bigger group than a couple of Fox victims. How are they being treated MORE unfairly than any of the AP journalists?

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I'm not going to argue degree... both are wrong, I was just explaining that they were wrong in slightly different ways...

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Try googling media groups that belong to the AP.

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Don't need to, already stated that requesting and keeping files on the AP was wrong.. and by inclusion, NPR.

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And it's your conclusion that Fox is the only "news" media doing this job? My point is when Fox and all the conservative pundits start every single day with a new pile of poop about one party and one party only they do WAY more damage to their party.

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No, it's my conclusion that the AP was wronged..and a few select folks from Fox were specifically targeted for different reasons... the rest of your quote is about the effectiveness of Fox News.. which isn't really a part of this discussion.

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Well of course it has if you're a Pavlovian subject who's mouth waters whenever Fox and others ring the bell.

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Does the fact that some people's mouths water when the bell rings make them any worse or better than the people who get defensive and have the hair on the back of their neck stand up when the bell rings? Both are Pavlovian responses... and your response still seems to skip the point of my comment, which is that this administration is clueless and obstructionist.. nobody seems to know anything about anything.. while the evidence mounts. I'm just hoping that if/when the news breaks that evidence has been found that those at or near the top were aware of all of this wrong-doing, that it is broken by CNN or NPR or the Telegraph, and not Fox News so you don't immediately go to attacking the source..

The way I understand things is that this administration is NOT clueless but is actually very aware of the things they are doing.

From what I understand they have the highest rate of firing people for leaks than any other administration.

Yea I guess Fox could be used as an example of targeting but in reality they're a target in a whole shooting gallery full of targets aren't they?

The DoJ has been after leaks. The government bureaucracy has always been ideal for creating plausible deniability as well as providing credit.

Why does this seem like an ultimately scandalous occurrence? It's certainly bad enough without the hyperbole of the ultimate government scandal

That is the point I was attempting to make about Fox's reaction and the conservative's desire to make everything political Armageddon. When something does happen there's a consistent stench of hyperbole that clouds reality.

I do think it hurts any attempt to help people understand the scope of the problem. Many are writing this off as another conservative witch hunt. There were millions of dollars spent chasing down Clinton when in reality all it took was Linda Tripp and a phone recorder.

But what we've got now is a whole industry built to claim everything dems do is the devil's work and people are tired of hearing it and tend to laugh it off. At some point the dems will be able to get away with anything they want, like targeting Americans with drones without due process.

Just when will it be time to call a spade a spade....to stop making excuses and minimalizing and just admit what these crooks are doing is wrong? Pointing out the faults of the opposing party doesn't lessen the impact.

Obviously the point I've been trying to make.

At least Holder can't remember, instead of hiding behind the Fifth, he is probably in his thrid fifth this weekend.

rockdogg, I agree with every single word of that.

This is my take on the media and Fox News specifically... 10 years ago or so, Fox News was great in that it actually did provide facts and viewpoints that you couldn't get anywhere else in the media... and it rose to success quickly by pointing out areas that the mainstream media was under-reporting or simply not giving any alternate views... I think it did good work in keeping the mainstream media honest, so to speak..

Unfortunately I believe it has become a victim of its own success and now it goes to great lengths to find media and political conspiracy where none exists... and it actually serves to distract people from the real issues that need discussed and debated. I haven't watched Fox News or listened to any of the opinion talk radio shows in years because it became too much. I actually found myself to be very unhappy (contrary to the other thread) after watching and listening to it because it seemed like it's only goal was to make me afraid of anything and everything... Fox News has become a caricature of what it once was a decade or so ago when it grew in popularity... much like the republican party, it left the people that made it in an effort to satisfy its most fringe supporters.

And until the conservatives/republicans can find a unifying voice that can act like an adult, put things in perspective, stop the crying and whining, and start advocating (and living) the real conservative principles of limited government, lower but fair taxes, limited spending, etc... they will continue to struggle in elections.... and I'm not sure who that voice is or what it even sounds like at this point...

Well DC, I think you stated it much better than I did. Thank you.

J/C

I have to laugh when anybody acts shocked that the communist in charge of the administration has his minions breaking laws left and right. The media has been covering up for this jack ass since his first election. People hate Romney due to the stories "his" press put out about him. Stupid ass college kids who thought it would be cool because he was black voted him in twice, along with an ever growing population of takers.The unions were bought, and now are seeing what it cost them.

If this was a Republican administration, impeachment would be under way now, and Holder would have been charged with lying under oath. Remember "wag the dog", IMO this dirtbag we call the president was chosen because he would agree to ;lie about anything and push the Soros and socialist agenda. He doesn't care about anybody, he will now be paid for life for ruining the greatest country on earth.

The lady from the IRS is collecting 220,000.00 a year STILL, even after refusing to testify, after making a statement. That is not how it works.

Many saw this coming, and thanks to the counties of Hamilton and Cuyahoga in Ohio, our country has turned into what our fathers and grandfathers fought to save us from.

Obama, Holder, Lerner, and the rest are lying scumbags...period. What's sad, is people will still try to excuse them. It flat out sucks what they are doing to this country.

People laugh at armed revolution, but I would join in a heart beat.

Tell us how you really feel.