By Mike Cavender
On the heels of the Justice Departments
seizure of telephone records involving AP reporters in four bureaus now comes the revelation the DOJ had investigated the news-related activities of FOX News reporter James Rosen in another probe of classified leaks. Incredibly the government suggested that Rosen was a co-conspirator" for allegedly
asking for information about a story.
When did THAT become a crime?
The case here involved Stephen Jin-Woo Kim a former State Department employee who is accused of giving Rosen details involving North Korea from a classified report after it had been released to others in the intelligence community. His trial is scheduled for next year.
As part of its investigation the Justice Department asked for and received a search warrant for Rosens personal e-mails. In an affidavit the FBI said Rosen asked solicited and encouraged Mr. Kim to disclose sensitive United States internal documents and intelligence reports." It claimed that accessing Rosens information was critical to its investigation.
Rosen was not charged with a crime nor is he expected to be. And the fact is that no reporter has ever been charged in this country for seeking classified information.
But the mere fact that Rosens movements were tracked his emails read and his phone records reviewed stand as more examples according to critics of the governments efforts to criminalize 1st Amendment freedoms. These chilling
developments will only serve to further drive away sources from reporters for fear their conversations are not likely to remain confidential.
In fact the AP says thats already begun after the phone records seizure was revealed.
The Obama Administration continues to publicly tout its support for a free press and its defense of the First Amendment. At the same time it has pursued more leak investigations under the Espionage Act of 1917 that all other administrations before it. And in the process apparently sees no conflict with repeatedly involving journalists while doing so.
We understand the need to protect Americas national security. It is the most fundamental responsibility of government. However it is increasingly clear to us the path the government has chosen to carry out that responsibility has little regard for respecting the fundamental rights of the press.
And thats the true shame in all of this.
Mike Cavender is Executive Director of the Radio Television Digital News Association (RTDNA) headquartered in The National Press Building in Washington D.C.
