Atty. Gen. Eric Holder Under Siege

by John M. Curtis
(310) 204-8700

Copyright May 14, 2013
All Rights Reserved.                                         

               Asking 62-year-old Atty. Gen. Eric Holder to resign, Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Preibus called Holder’s actions of obtaining two months of Associated Press mobile phone records unconstitutional. Holder’s decision to seek the phone records of AP reporters and bureau chiefs in New York City, Washington, D.C., Harford, Conn., and Capitol Hill violated the First Amendment guarantee of freedom of speech and the rights of a free press.  Whatever happens to Holder, Preibus’ statement put the White House in a bunker mentality rather that look at the egregious abuse of the U.S. Constitution.  When former Univ. of Chicago law Professor President Barack Obama gets the facts, Holder will get his long-overdue walking papers.  Tainted with scandals like “Fast-and-Furious” gun-running, Guantanamo Bay, drone strikes against U.S. citizens , etc., Holder was already on thin ice.

             Priebus leaped at the chance to hit the Obama administration with a oversized cream pie.  “Freedom of the press is an essential right in a free society. The First Amendment doesn’t request the federal government to respect it:  It demands it.  Atty. Gen. Eric Holder, in permitting the Justice Dept. to issue secret subpoenas to spy on Associated Press reporters, has trampled on the First Amendment and failed in his sworn duty under the Constitution,” read the RNC’s statement.  Priebus said nothing about former Vice President Dick Cheney’s chief of staff I. Scooter Libby’s outing of covert CIA operative Valerie Plame.  That didn’t violate, to Priebus, Plame’s rights to privacy, while Cheney paid back Plame’s husband, Joe Wilson for criticizing Bush in his 2003 State of the Union Speech.  Obama dances now on a razor’s edge defending Holder for the indefensible—especially of the nation’s AG.

             While it’s tempting to pile on Holder for every real or symbolic violation of the Constitution, the AG crossed a line when he decided to unlawfully tap phone records of AP reporters.  Like all presidents, they’re loyal to their employees.  Obama must rise above the partisan politics to assess the nature of Holder’s mistakes.  Calling Holder’s actions a “massive and unprecedented intrusion by the Dept. of Justice into the newsgathering activities of the AP,” AP President and CEO Gary Pruit, detailed the extent of the Justice Dept.’s constitutional abuse.  Receiving a letter from U.S. Atty. Ronald C. Machen Jr. detailing how the Justice Dept. obtained records on 20 AP phone lines over a two-month period, AP General Counsel Laura Malone outlined Holder’s violations.  While it’s not known for sure exactly why Holder ordered the AP surveillance, some believe it was over a foiled May 2, 2012 terrorist plot.

             AP executives believe Holder retaliated for the AP’s story about a foiled terrorist plot on the anniversary of Osama bin Laden’s death.  “The plot was significant,” the AP article explains. “Because the White had told the public it had ‘no credible information that terrorist organizations, including al-Qaeda,’ are plotting attacks in the U.S. to coincide with the [May 2] anniversary of Bin Laden’s death.”  Whether or not Holder was really that petty, it makes no sense for the AG to investigate the AP’s phone records, other than trying to pinpoint the source of a leak.  If Holder tried to ascertain the source of a leak within his department or the White House, then it opens up another can of worms:  Namely, who ordered the investigation.  Given that the April 15 Boston Marathon terrorist bombing, any government interference in a free press takes on even greater significance

             White Press Secretary Jay Carney punted questions about Secretary Holder or the Justice Dept.’s actions.  “This is being handled entirely by the U.S. Atty. in D.C,” said an unnamed member of the Justice Dept.’s public affairs team to the press.  As long as Holder or the White House refuse to answer questions, the scandal promises to monopolize the headlines.  “The Atty. Gen. must explain the Justice Dept.’s actions to the public so that we can make sure this kind of press intimidation doesn’t happen again,” said Washington American Civil Liberties Union D.C. Director Laura Murphy.  Given recent revelations about GOP-based 501(c) 3 nonprofits getting unwarranted scrutiny by the IRS, the White House has a lot of explaining to do.  Holder’s actions were especially egregious because the AG’s office is responsible for assuring nationwide compliance with the Constitution.

             Whatever criticism one levels at Holder for Guantanamo Bay, Fast-and-Furious, drone strikes, etc., it pales in comparison to ordering surveillance of AP reporters’ phone records.  “Obtaining a broad range of telephone records in order to ferret out a government leaker is an unacceptable abuse of power,” said Ben Wizner, director of the ACLU Speech, Privacy and Technology Project.  With the hourglass ticking, Obama can’t dither around when it comes to violations of the Constitution by key Cabinet officials.  “The media’s purpose is to keep the public informed and it should be free to do so without the threat of unwarranted surveillance,” said Murphy, DC’s ACLU director.  Obama must get over the GOP’s partisan demands and his blind loyalty to his employees and do what’s right.  If Holder knew anything of the unlawful records’ search on AP reporters, he must step down.

John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news.  He's editor of OnlineColumnist.com.and author of Dodging the Bullet and Operation Charisma.