Eric Holder Says He Regrets Lying To A Judge And Saying A Reporter Was A 'Co-Conspirator' But The Law Made Him Do It
from the uh,-no-it-didn't dept
Giving a talk at the Washington Ideas Forum, outgoing Attorney General Eric Holder spoke about two different (though, similarly named) journalists that the DOJ has been absolutely egregious in trying to abuse for the sake of questionable leak investigations. Regarding James Risen, the NY Times reporter who the DOJ has been pursuing and demanding he reveal sources concerning a leak (when it's clear the DOJ already knows the source and is just doing this to destroy Risen's credibility with sources), Holder says that the DOJ expects "a resolution" in the near future. That's not too surprising. Holder and the DOJ seem to realize that actually putting Risen in jail (the next step in the process) probably wouldn't go over very well.But it's the other journalist where things get a bit dicier. That's Fox News reporter James Rosen (note the different letter from Risen). Rosen, you may recall, had his phone, email and security badge records grabbed by the government, after the DOJ told a court that Rosen wasn't a reporter, but "an aider and abettor and/or co-conspirator" in the "crime" of leaking classified information about North Korea from the State Department. It later came out that the DOJ actually pretended Rosen was involved in a bombing in its motions to the court.
Holder was asked if there was a decision during his tenure that he regretted, and he brought up the Rosen story:
Holder: I think that -- I think about the subpoena to the Fox reporter, Rosen. I think that I could have been a little more careful in looking at the language that was contained in the filing that we made with the court. He was labeled as a -- as a co-conspirator. I mean, you had to do that as a result of the statute, but there are ways in which I think that could have been done differently, done better. And that's one of the reasons why I thought the criticism that we received because of that -- and the AP matter as well -- was something that we had to act upon and why we put in place this review of our -- the way in which we interact with the media.Except, as Julian Sanchez points out, that's completely bogus. Holder claiming they had to do that because of the statute is flat out opposites-ville. They had to do that because the statute doesn't allow them to spy on journalists. The law was designed to stop the DOJ from spying on journalists, and so the only way to break that was to lie to the court. The law in question -- 18 USC 793 is designed to only apply to the people actually committing the crime of leaking defense information -- and not to reporters.
Holder claiming that the statute effectively "forced" him into declaring Rosen a co-conspirator is ridiculous. The statute compels him not to seize Rosen's records. Holder is admitting that the DOJ lied to the court here and trying to blame the statute for that lie. That's astounding.
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Filed Under: doj, eric holder, investigations, james risen, james rosen, leaks, reporters, terrorism, whistleblowers
Reader Comments
The First Word
“Hey... it happens
I know a guy who was forced to lie to the court, saying he didn't rob that bank... all because of a stupid statute which says you can't rob banks. Totally sympathize with Holder.Subscribe: RSS
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Hey... it happens
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Really?
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correction?
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Dis Barment?
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I WAS JUST FOLLOWING ORDERS!
I WAS JUST FOLLOWING ORDERS!
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Re: Really?
The reporter was bad because he did something that the DOJ didn't like. The law was written to protect the reporter (bad law), so Holder had to declare Rosen a co-conspirator so he could go after him, which was the right thing, because Holder said so.
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Or...
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However; Holder's only subject to the high court
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Holder vs. Aereo
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Surprisingly, it seems like Holder just might have a smidgen of conscience in his soul. Most bureaucrats follow the "I regret nothing (and if I had to do it all over again, I would)" mantra, no matter how colossal their mistakes or misconduct might be.
Dick Cheney comes to mind as someone who failed miserably yet will insist until the day he dies that he did everything right. I don't fault Holder for being honest, I applaud him for it. Hopefully he will admit more prosecutorial shenanigans, perhaps even something we don't already know.
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No one should be surprised
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Re:
No, it really cannot be by any sane reading of it. While I'm not a lawyer, it clearly is not written to be applied to news reporting.
http://codes.lp.findlaw.com/uscode/18/I/37/793
And even if in some twisted version you see it that way, the DOJ **still** lied about him being involved in a bombing plot.
There is no law or statute that requires the DOJ or a prosecutor to label someone a co-conspirator or to make shit up that is clearly not true on a warrant.
The DOJ clearly lied, and Holder signed off on it. But there is no accountability, so nothing is going to be done and clear acts of perjury will just be let by.
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Re: Dis Barment?
Holder would be a FINE lawyer according to their MO.
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Re:
Still want them in Jail for what they have done either way!
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Re: Hey... it happens
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Holder lies to explain why he lied to the court..
It's still perjury, which is a crime, and he needs to spend time in prison for it.
It's also illegal to falsify court documents with known false information.
Now he's publicly lying as to why he perjured himself and falsified court documents.
Holder needs to spend about 10 to 50 years in prison, preferably a maximum security one due to his actions being of the worst criminal variety. I'd consider his actions on the same level as mass murder.
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There's no accountability for wrong doing and those in charge think there is nothing wrong with bending the law to allow them to do what ever it is they have in mind. This extends to redefining what words mean to all it to break the law as it stands.
This is the same behavior demonstrated by criminals.
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Even more shocking is nobody is being charged with making false statements, perjury, or obstruction of justice over falsified and fabricated charges. Especially the fabricated charge that Risen was involved in a bombing.
I don't have much faith or respect left for America's corrupt justice system. We're officially in kangaroo court territory now.
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An alternate reading of the quote...
His remorse was that he couldn't go after him directly. ;)
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Oh, I get it. Eric Holder clearly thinks he's Judge Dredd: "I am the law!"
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Re:
'Yeah, I lied to a judge so we could go after someone we otherwise wouldn't have been able to, no big deal.'
It's almost bragging at that point.
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Holder
No, that's "my ends justify the means" Holder. A modern-day Lynch, he won't have the law get in the way of his idea of justice.
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Re: Double Plus Good Rationalizations
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Interesting choice of words
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Re: Interesting choice of words
Be less obviously a crook. It's like a policeman priding himself not to use excessive force when killing innocents in order to cover his department's ass. Just enough to do the trick.
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Re: Dis Barment?
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When Eric Holder blatantly lies to get around the law it's allowed, but when Aereo follows the law, it's called getting around it?
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Re: Re:
One person who worked under Eric Holder, SEC prosecutor James Kidney, even admitted as he walked out the door that the entire federal "investigation" of Wall St. bank fraud was a total farce. Which of course everyone already knew, but it's always nice to hear it from someone near the top.
http://www.counterpunch.org/2014/04/09/65578/
Eric Holder has been unremarkable silent on these charges of inbred corruption.
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Re: Re:It's also bragging at that point
EH lied to congress, he was held in contempt of congress and what happened,absolutely nothing, he knows he's untouchable.
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Deception is the name of the game
How is that astounding?
Does anyone here remember the last time anyone from the DOJ, or any of the federal law enforcement or spy agencies opened their mouth and something true fell out?
Nope.
The Department of Just Ice and all of the Federal La La La enforcement agencies LIE whenever they are forced to deal with the public in any way whatsoever.
If it were up to the Feds, the public would be forbidden from questioning any of its actions and would receive only the Hollywood version of reality in any news report it approved.
They all LIE because they DO NOT want the public to learn what they are really doing with all of that free taxpayer and confiscation derived money they spend every year.
They don't want the public to learn what they are doing because what they are doing is both illegal/criminal in a real democracy and immoral anywhere outside a fascist dictatorship.
What they are doing is setting up the infrastructure of the very evils they are claiming to fight, so that there will be some actual evidence of their activity in the daily news.
In exactly the same way that it has created ISIS/ISIL to give the NSA that much needed new lease on life and its excuse for the new budget funding, all other branches of the federal government are creating their own "evil forces", using your money, so they have something to point at when asked where all the money went.
This is being done because of the huge success of the Drug War and its half century plus and counting, of public support and funding that has funnelled hundreds of billions of dollars out of the taxpayer's pocket and into the Federal hole in the ocean since its creation, with absolutely zero positive results to show for all that cash and time.
What the public has learned so far from the miniscule leaks that have escaped the system, is not even the barest tip of this iceberg, and the Federal Gangsters want to keep that iceberg hidden for as long as possible.
After all, most of the branches of the Civilian-based Public Policing Army are not yet fully armored up and are still basically under-trained in National Crown Control.
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Re: Deception is the name of the game
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