The Associated Press is continuing its refusal to release the letter from the DOJ notifying the organization it had seized two months of its journalists phone records from April and May 2012.
The seizure was reportedly part of the Justice Department’s investigation into the source of the so-called intelligence leaks plaguing the Obama administration.
On Monday, in response to media inquiries by The Daily Caller and others, the AP said that it would not be releasing the letter it received from the DOJ, even in redacted form.
An article in Wired published Monday evening, however, reported on the contents of the DOJ letter.
“The letter to AP’s general counsel,” said Wired, “consisted of a single sentence that said, “Pursuant to 28 C.F.R. (Section) 50.10(g)(3), the Associated Press is hereby notified that the United States Department of Justice has received toll records from April and May 2012 in response to subpoenas issued for the following telephone phone numbers.””
The DOJ guideline cited in the letter states that the media organization under investigation would be notified within 45 days after it is determined notification would not threaten the investigation.
When asked about the Wired piece, AP spokesperson Erin Madigan White told The Daily Caller that “they have not released the letter.”
Gary Pruitt — president and CEO of The Associated Press — thanked the DOJ on Tuesday for a new letter, which the AP has not released, but said that “it does not adequately address our concerns.”
“In their response today, the DOJ says the seized records cover only a portion of April and May of 2012,” said Pruitt.
“However, in their original notification to us on May 10, they say they have “received toll records from April and May 2012,” and then list 20 different numbers for AP offices and staff,” he said.
Attorney General Eric Holder defended the administration’s civil liberties record during a Tuesday press conference in the face of mounting criticism from the press, civil liberties advocates and press freedom groups like Freedom House, Reporters without Borders and the Committee to Protect Journalists.
Reporters Without Borders secretary-general Christophe Deloire condemned the DOJ’s seizure of the AP phone records in a statement Tuesday.
“We also think that such a flagrant violation of constitutional guarantees needs to be the subject of a congressional commission of enquiry,” said Deloire, calling for a federal shield law to protect journalists’ sources.
“We regret to see that the federal government has not ended the practices that prevailed during President George W. Bush’s two terms, when officials sacrificed the protection of private data and, above all, the First Amendment right to be informed,” he said.
