White House press secretary Jay Carney insisted Wednesday that Attorney General Eric Holder “testified truthfully” in a May 15 hearing.
Holder told the House committee that “with regard to potential prosecution of the press for disclosure of material, that is not something that I have ever been involved in, heard off, or would think would be a wise policy.”
But a few days later, news reports showed that Holder personally sought surveillance of a Fox News reporter under the grounds that he had possibly broken the law. Two judges rejected the requested, but a third approved the surveillance.
That statement prompted members of the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday to announce an investigation of Holder’s apparent denial of a personal role in the investigation.
The committee’s letter was focused on “the discrepancy between [Holder’s] sworn testimony before the House Judiciary Committee earlier this month and the Department of Justice’s decision to obtain a search warrant for the emails of James Rosen, the chief Washington correspondent for Fox News.”
Carney suggested that Holder’s statement was correct because it was focused on a prospective decision to prosecute a journalist for violating secrecy laws, not on whether a reporter’s actions should be investigated.
“It seem self-evident that the charge [of lying] is inaccurate,” said Carney, because the Justice Department has announced prior to the hearing that the journalist will not be prosecuted.
The investigation “is completed, no further charges or prosecution is contemplated,” he said.
“The president believes the attorney general is doing a good job and the president has confidence in the AG,” Carney said.
Immediately after his “wise policy” statement, Holder suggested he opposes the actual prosecution of journalists.
“What I’ve proposed during my confirmation … [is] that the press should have a shield law with regards to the press’ ability to gather information and disseminate it,” he said.
The department’s “focus should be on those people who break their [secrecy] oaths and put the American people at risk,” he said.