Al-Qaeda Alert: DoJ Seize AP Phone Records Concerning CIA Secret Ops

The Truth Behind The News

Susanne Posel
Occupy Corporatism
May 14, 2013

The Department of Justice (DoJ) has been secretly obtaining telephone records of journalists who work at the Associated Press (AP).

Journalists affected by the intrusion said that this “dragnet to intimidate media” was “chilling”.

Greta Van Susteren said: “What is stunning is the breadth of the seizure! If you read the AP President’s letter to DOJ, and if his letter is accurate, the seizure was very broad: 2 months of telephone records involving many who work at AP! 20 phone lines, home and cell? NY, DC, Connecticut employees? That doesn’t sound like a criminal investigation that sounds like a dragnet to intimidate the media. The US Attorney’s issued statement about the secret seizure was blah, blah, blah. It doesn’t say anything. The DOJ better be following the law and the Constitution.”

Lists of out-bound calls, including personal cell phone numbers and calls made at work, were seized by the DoJ. Even the direct number to the House of Representatives held by AP was taken.

In a written statement, the DoJ explained: “Those regulations require us to make every reasonable effort to obtain information through alternative means before even considering a subpoena for the phone records of a member of the media. We must notify the media organization in advance unless doing so would pose a substantial threat to the integrity of the investigation. Because we value the freedom of the press, we are always careful and deliberative in seeking to strike the right balance between the public interest in the free flow of information and the public interest in the fair and effective administration of our criminal laws.”

While remaining vague as to why they were interested in this information, the DoJ stated that they were concerned about how the AP was privy to leaked information regarding an al-Qaeda bomb plot in Yemen prior to the story being publicized.

For two months during 2012, the DoJ syphoned data pertaining to the incidents regarding their claim that the AP was in cahoots with al-Qaeda.

The story published by AP regarded how last spring the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) was conducting an operation in Yemen to stop al-Qaeda from successfully obtaining a bomb and detonating it on an airplane in the US. AP apparently knew more about the operation than they should have.

Gary Pruitt, president and chief executive officer at AP, told Attorney General Eric Holder that the media outlet has a Constitutional right to gather the information they obtained.

Pruitt said: “There can be no possible justification for such an overbroad collection of the telephone communications of The Associated Press and its reporters.”

In February, John Brennan, then CIA director nominee, stated that the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) questioned him as to whether or not he was the source that leaked the information to AP. Brennan denied this assertion and explained that releasing terroristic information to the media would be an “unauthorized and dangerous disclosure of classified information.”

In a press conference this week, President Obama skirted the issue.

Jay Carney, press secretary for the Obama administration said : “Other than press reports, we have no knowledge of any attempt by the Justice Department to seek phone records of the AP. We are not involved in decisions made in connection with criminal investigations, as those matters are handled independently by the Justice Department.”

The post Al-Qaeda Alert: DoJ Seize AP Phone Records Concerning CIA Secret Ops appeared first on Susanne Posel.

Source: http://www.occupycorporatism.com/al-qaeda-alert-doj-seize-ap-phone-records-concerning-cia-secret-ops/