– AG Holder To Recuse Himself From AP Leak-Gate Investigation (ZeroHedge, May 14, 2013):
From one farce to another:
- *HOLDER SAID TO RECUSE HIMSELF FROM AP PHONE RECORDS CASE
- *HOLDER SAID TO RECUSE HIMSELF BECAUSE HE WAS QUESTIONED IN CASE
Yesterday, the Associated Press revealed the Department of Justice had been secretly monitoring both the personal and work phones of numerous AP editors and reporters. So just what did Holder know? For now, it is not known if Holder authorized or even knew about the investigation.
– Attorney General Holder recused himself from AP subpoena (Reuters, May 14, 2013):
U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said on Tuesday that he recused himself from the Justice Department’s controversial decision to secretly seize telephone records of the Associated Press.
Instead, the decision to seek the media records was made by the deputy attorney general, Holder said. Jim Cole currently holds that position.
Holder recused himself from the matter to avoid a potential conflict of interest because he was interviewed by the FBI in connection with the investigation into unauthorized disclosure of classified information.
The seizure of AP telephone records appears connected to a criminal probe into information contained in a May 7, 2012, AP story about a CIA operation in Yemen that stopped an al Qaeda plot to detonate a bomb on an airplane headed for the United States.
The episode has created an uproar in Washington and led to questions over how the Obama administration is balancing the need for national security with privacy rights.
Holder, a frequent target of conservatives, appeared Tuesday afternoon with Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to discuss Medicare fraud but faced questions from reporters about the decision to pursue AP records.
The AP has said it was informed last Friday that the Justice Department had gathered records for more than 20 phone lines assigned to the news agency and its reporters.
The records covered April and May of last year, and were obtained earlier this year, the AP said.
The AP on Monday described the seizures as a “massive and unprecedented intrusion” into news-gathering operations.
“There can be no possible justification for such an overbroad collection of the telephone communications of The Associated Press and its reporters,” AP Chief Executive Gary Pruitt said in a letter sent to Holder on Monday.
An AP story on the records seizure said the government would not say why it sought them.
But it noted that U.S. officials have previously said the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the District of Columbia was conducting the criminal investigation into the May 2012 AP story.
Five reporters and an editor involved in that story were among those whose phone records were obtained by the government, the AP said.
White House spokesman Jay Carney said during a press briefing on Tuesday that President Barack Obama sought to balance support for a free press with the need to investigate leaks of classified information.
Carney reiterated that the White House was not involved in the decision to seize the AP records.
Well, at least he stepped aside, unlike many public officials over the past 2 decades. I do not care for Holder, he goes after the least dangerous of criminals, and lets the banks and wall street ride free. No investigations into torture, bank fraud, insider training…….just goes after pot smokers to get lots of cheap labor for the privatized prisons.
This is not the country I grew up in. All I can say is that this pattern is getting VERY old.
It started with Nixon. He won his second term by landslide numbers, then Watergate broke. Congress rightfully investigated, we had a free press that forced them to do it, and Nixon had enough class to resign rather than put the country through an impeachment. He took us off the gold standard and opened China……..terrible things to do, the beginning of the end of our rich, powerful nation. It was the setting of a new pattern, congress holding hearings, wasting time and money, and ignoring the business of the people.
Then, we had an appointed president, Ford, who only served for one term. Next, we got that fool, Carter, the least said, the best. He didn’t start any wars, that is one good thing.
Next, we got Reagan. 2nd term, won by a landslide against an insipid candidate whose name I cannot remember. Then came Iran/Contra. He apologized, and got away with it. But, he did prosecute savings and loan crooks……1200 bank executives were jailed, and we were still a nation of law. That is why he got away with it, he did follow through on some of the important stuff.
Next, we got that fool Bush 1. The least said the better. I was involved in the Ross Perot campaign because I didn’t like bush or Clinton. Even when Perot stepped down, he pulled 22% of the vote. He rightfully opposed NAFTA.
Unfortunately, that give us Clinton, and he was an unmitigated disaster. Signing away all financial regulations & establishment of NAFTA was the worst. He won 2nd term by a landslide, then came the sex scandals……giving congress an excuse to do nothing for the next 3 years. He has no pride, so sat through an impeachment process. Unlike Nixon, he only cared about himself, not the country. The entire world laughed at us.
Then, the courts gave us Bush 2, the worst yet. He got into power on a silent coup, won 2004 against a very weak candidate, John Kerry. Corrupted voting machines assured his reelection.
Then, the truth started coming out about him, and nothing was done for another 4 years. The Patriot Act, torture, NSA Spying on our own people, all civil rights destroyed, his record shows he was the worst so far. None of his henchmen stepped down, they just stayed in power.
Obama won promising the restoration of habeas corpus and the repeal of the Patriot Act. Once he got into office, he did the opposite. He pushed NDAA though. He said one thing, and did the opposite. He set the bush policies into stone.
Obama-care was his. Instead of single payer, it was based on the obsolete employer paid system, and was sure to be a problem. It gave corporate insurance companies a captive market of millions, and the IRS will provide free collection services for them.
The world has changed. 95.5% of all new jobs are part time and low wage. Part time allows corporations to avoid paying benefits, medical or retirement. So, these already struggling workers will have to buy medical insurance, So far, I have seen no protection for them regarding costs or quality of coverage. It will only make the poor poorer.
Now, he won by a landslide. So, now the congress has found new ways to do nothing for another 4 years, just chase ghosts instead of doing the people’s work.
We are on the brink of financial and social ruin. This website has covered these problems better than most. We have fools in power. We cannot afford another 4 years of doing nothing.
This is such an obvious pattern, and I am sick of it. These clowns are dismantling this country. Look at any trade agreement. Our leaders are working against our best interests on a daily basis.
So, lets chase more ghosts.
Thanks for all you do.