Government monitoring of the AP: How Far Will Obama Go to Crack Down on Leaks?

[limpyhobbler]

Published on May 16, 2013
http://www.democracynow.org - David Cay Johnston, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and president of Investigative Reporters and Editors, joins us to discuss the growing scandal over the Justice Department's seizure of telephone records from Associated Press editors and reporters. The action came as part of a probe into the leaks behind an AP story about how U.S. intelligence thwarted a Yemen-based al-Qaeda bombing plot on a U.S.-bound airplane. "This is a very troubling aspect of this administration -- it is hostile to the news media," Johnston says. "They're behaving much more like a corporation than like the people's government."

[Tx4obama]

1. GOP Rep Claims Responsibility For AP Surveillance - two different articles below

GOP Rep Claims Responsibility For AP Surveillance

Here: http://www.addictinginfo.org/2013/05/16/no-choice-gop-congressman-cites-national-security-defends-doj-investigation-of-ap-video/

and

GOP Congressman Defends DOJ Surveillance: ‘They Are Doing What We Asked Them To Do’

Here: http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2013/05/15/2013511/gop-congressman-defends-doj-surveillance-they-are-doing-what-we-asked-them-to-do/

[OregonBlue]

2. From what I've read AP exposed and agent and could have gotten him and his family killed.

Someone on the House Committee on Intelligence or one of their aides was probably the leaker. The House asked the DOJ to investigate. As far as I'm concerned, whoever leaked this information and put this agent and his family in danger should be in jail. Too bad the GOP does not like it that the DOJ is doing it's job. I suspect that it was a house member and the GOP is playing CYA.

[limpyhobbler]

3. AP statement:

AP statement:

"We did not publish anything until we were assured by high-ranking officials with direct knowledge of the situation, in more than one part of the government, that the national security risk was over and no one was in danger. The only deal was to hold the story until any security risk was resolved."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/some-question-whether-ap-leak-on-al-qaeda-plot-put-us-at-risk/2013/05/15/47003ed4-bd77-11e2-89c9-3be8095fe767_story_1.html