U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder defended the Obama administration’s record on privacy and civil liberties during a Tuesday press conference.
Holder’s comments followed Monday’s revelation that the Department of Justice engaged in unprecedented spying on Associated Press journalists.
“I’m proud of what we have done,” said Holder, particularly citing the actions the administration has taken to prosecute the War on Terror.
The Justice Department seized two months of phone records for 20 of the AP’s phone lines between April and May 2012.
The DOJ’s move potentially affected at least 100 AP reporters, the AP said.
Holder defended the DOJ’s actions, calling the leak to the AP that prompted the spying “very, very serious leak” that “put the American people at risk.”
When asked if the administration was worse than the George W. Bush administration on civil liberties, Holder replied, “No, we’re not.”
“This administration has put a real value on the rule of law and our values as Americans,” he said. “I think the actions we have taken are consistent with both.”
He announced Tuesday that he had recused himself from the AP investigation since its beginning, stating that it was being handled by Deputy Attorney General James Cole.
The administration’s actions have given critics ample reason for concern.
The DOJ’s warrantless surveillance requests of phone communications skyrocketed by 60 percent between 2009 and 2011.
Not only has the administration’s transparency record not lived up to its promises, but its targeting of whistle-blowers is unprecedented.
The New York Times reported in May 2011 that the Obama administration had then already prosecuted more people for leaking classified information “than all previous presidents combined.”
Among these include: New York Times reporter James Risen, former U.S. Army Private First Class Bradley Manning, former CIA officer Jeffery Sterling, former FBI translator Shamai Leibowitz and former NSA official Thomas Drake.
Former Anonymous-affiliated hacktivist Barrett Brown is also being charged by the federal government for allegedly passing on information obtained in the 2012 hack against private intelligence firm Stratfor’s email systems.
Sarah Hoffman contributed to this report.
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