Assault on press freedom: Justice Department secretly seized Associated Press phone records

Reuters reports: The Associated Press on Monday said the U.S. government seized records from phone lines assigned to AP offices and its reporters over a period of two months in 2012, which the news service described as a “massive and unprecedented intrusion.”

AP Chief Executive Gary Pruitt, in a letter posted on the agency’s website, said the AP was informed last Friday that the Justice Department gathered records for more than 20 lines assigned to the agency and its reporters.

Phone lines at AP bureaus in New York, Hartford and Washington were among those affected by the records seizure, as well as an AP phone at the U.S. House of Representatives, the AP said.

“There can be no possible justification for such an overbroad collection of the telephone communications of The Associated Press and its reporters,” Pruitt said in the letter, which was addressed to Attorney General Eric Holder.

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One thought on “Assault on press freedom: Justice Department secretly seized Associated Press phone records”

  1. BillVZ

    “Oh Shit, They Can Do That?”

    A perspective and critique to the mighty AP that has merit:

    “A shame; maybe if you’d been better at bringing the real facts to the people, the people would be better informed, and the elections/legislation that legalized the travails you currently endure could have been avoided” .

    Perhaps this will inspire you to truthfully and factually inform the American people about what has been happening to their country right under their, and your, nose. William Rivers Pitt- TruthOut

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