The Lomax Report
News, Information and Items of Interest
For The Common Sense American
-exerpt from the movie "A Man Called Peter"
copyright (c) 2013 lomaxreport.com
ASSOCIATED PRESS PHONE RECORDS SEIZED: Scandal 4 Opens For Obama Administration
May 14, 2013 – In a report shown on the AP website it is revealed that the U.S. Department of Justice secretly obtained two months of phone records of reporters and also general office phone lines at AP. In the information stolen by the DOJ were outgoing calls for personal phone numbers and work phone numbers of reporters at the AP. Also records of the AP phone line in the press gallery of the House of Representatives were seized. Records were seized for April and May of 2012.
AP President and Chief Executive Officer Gary Pruitt sent a letter of protest to Attorney General Eric Holder outlining that the records taken were far beyond anything that could be reasonably used for investigative purposes. In all there were about 20 phone lines that had records seized by the Department of Justice. Pruitt demanded that the records be returned and all copies be destroyed.
Criticism of the actions has come from both sides of the aisle as both Republican and Democrats in congress have expressed concern over the matter. Sen. Patrick Leahy, D- Vt said that he is concerned that the government did not meet its burden of proof before intruding on the constitutional right of a free press. Also Republican Darrell Issa, R-Calif., said that the DOJ should have exhausted every avenue for information before intruding on the right of free press.
The Obama Department of Justice claims they were seeking details on classified information that had been leaked to the press back in 2012. However little has been said by the government about this incident. This marks the fourth scandal that is currently rocking the Obama administration. Currently the Benghazi cover-up, the failed Boston Bombing investigation, and the IRS Targeting Scandal are wreaking havoc on the administration. The ACLU has chimed in on this scandal, saying that the use of subpoenas for a broad swath has a chilling effect on journalists and even whistleblowers who want to report on government wrongdoing.
Citizens around the country are becoming fearful of the Obama administration’s appearance of power-hungry politics. “It’s obvious our government is seeking ultimate control, like the aristocrats in France during medieval times” said one person in a Lomax Report street interview. Others have said that president Obama’s outrage over the IRS scandal appears fake. Time will tell if he is able to display leadership for the nation. With the number of scandals growing it makes one wonder if Obama will be able to serve out the remainder of his term without impeachment for criminal action.
AP President and Chief Executive Officer Gary Pruitt sent a letter of protest to Attorney General Eric Holder outlining that the records taken were far beyond anything that could be reasonably used for investigative purposes. In all there were about 20 phone lines that had records seized by the Department of Justice. Pruitt demanded that the records be returned and all copies be destroyed.
Criticism of the actions has come from both sides of the aisle as both Republican and Democrats in congress have expressed concern over the matter. Sen. Patrick Leahy, D- Vt said that he is concerned that the government did not meet its burden of proof before intruding on the constitutional right of a free press. Also Republican Darrell Issa, R-Calif., said that the DOJ should have exhausted every avenue for information before intruding on the right of free press.
The Obama Department of Justice claims they were seeking details on classified information that had been leaked to the press back in 2012. However little has been said by the government about this incident. This marks the fourth scandal that is currently rocking the Obama administration. Currently the Benghazi cover-up, the failed Boston Bombing investigation, and the IRS Targeting Scandal are wreaking havoc on the administration. The ACLU has chimed in on this scandal, saying that the use of subpoenas for a broad swath has a chilling effect on journalists and even whistleblowers who want to report on government wrongdoing.
Citizens around the country are becoming fearful of the Obama administration’s appearance of power-hungry politics. “It’s obvious our government is seeking ultimate control, like the aristocrats in France during medieval times” said one person in a Lomax Report street interview. Others have said that president Obama’s outrage over the IRS scandal appears fake. Time will tell if he is able to display leadership for the nation. With the number of scandals growing it makes one wonder if Obama will be able to serve out the remainder of his term without impeachment for criminal action.