Associated Press president Gary Pruitt provided greater details regarding the US Justice Department’s seizure of phone records during a town hall meeting, stating that the probe had included “thousands and thousands” of incoming and outbound calls.
Earlier this month, the AP itself had broken the news that the
DOJ had secretly monitored the communications of AP journalists
in a bid to identify the source of a leak regarding a foiled
terrorist attack linked to Yemen.
Though the Department of Homeland Security and the White House
had independently confirmed at the time that there was no
credible evidence of a terror plot to commemorate the death of
al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, Pruitt disputed those statements
during an interview with CBS last week.
“We felt the American public
needed to know this story,” Pruitt told CBS, calling
claims from Washington that there was no credible evidence of a
terrorist plot “misleading to
the American public.”
That story evidently prompted the DOJ to pursue a warrant to
monitor the communications of AP staff, and kept that order
hidden by invoking a clause within the Espionage Act claiming a
national security interest.
On Tuesday, Pruitt told members of the AP that the Obama
administration had acted as “judge, jury and executioner” by
obtaining the phone records of the organization, echoing similar
comments he had made during his appearance on CBS’ “Face the Nation.”
Pruitt further pressed the point that the AP had originally held
off on publishing its scoop on the failed attempt to attack a
jetliner bound for the US, which began to unravel after a CIA
operation in Yemen. According to the AP chief, the news agency
waited five days until its sources indicated the Obama
administration intended to publicly disclose details of the plot.
The DOJ’s subpoenaed records from 20 different phone lines over
two months, though Pruitt on Wednesday alluded to the fact that
thousands of calls had been intercepted during that period.Phone
records included personal and bureau lines for several AP
national security reporters and editors, as well as the main line
for AP reporters working directly out of the House of
Representatives press gallery.
According to the AP’s own reporting on the phone tappings, in
testimony in February CIA Director John Brennan noted that the
FBI had questioned him about whether he was AP’s source in the
foiled terror plot story, which he denied.Brennan further called
the release of the information to the media about the terror plot
an “unauthorized and dangerous
disclosure of classified information.”
“The rules require them to come
to us first. But in this case they didn’t, claiming an exception,
saying if they had it would have posed a substantial threat to
their investigation. But they have not explained why it would,
and we can’t understand why it would,” said Pruitt to CBS.
According to a source cited by the Daily Mail on Tuesday, the
House Committee on the Judiciary is said to be targeting US
Attorney General Eric Holder over fears he may have lied to
Congress during a May hearing regarding private phone records of
AP staff, according to a source close to the congressional probe.
Holder has denied involvement in the subpoena process that
obtained the AP’s phone records. Only days after that May 16
hearing, NBC News reported that the Attorney General had
personally signed off on another subpoena to obtain the phone
records of Fox News Channel’s James Rosen in another leak
investigation.
This article originally appeared on: RT