Will government probe of AP phone records cost Eric Holder his job?
| Washington
Speculation has begun in Washington over whether a massive Justice Department investigation of Associated Press phone records will end up costing Attorney General Eric Holder his job.
Mr. Holder is 鈥渁 battered survivor of many controversies and this could be the one that finally convinces him or Obama that it is time to go,鈥� the National Journal鈥檚 .听
Esquire blogger : 鈥淗e should be gone. This moment. Not only is this constitutionally abhorrent, it is politically moronic.鈥澛�
And Northeastern University journalism professor Dan Kennedy tweeted, 鈥淚t is 8:42. The AP phone story broke at 7:50. Why is Eric Holder still attorney general.鈥�
Of course, only the president knows for sure whether Holder will be forced to step down to help quiet the multiple controversies engulfing the administration, which also include its handling of the attack on the US consulate in Benghazi and the IRS鈥檚 investigation of conservative political organizations. But the political stakes for the White House are high.听聽
鈥淭he rule of three 鈥� means the president鈥檚 credibility is truly on the line right now,鈥� .
Sacrificing Holder might be personally painful to the president. In his book 鈥淜ill or Capture鈥� about President Obama鈥檚 national security team, Daniel Klaidman notes that Mr. Obama and Holder have become good friends since they met at a dinner party in 2004. And Holder鈥檚 wife, obstetrician Sharon Malone, is reportedly very close with first lady Michelle Obama.
Holder has long been controversial, especially with Republicans who voted in June 2012 to hold him in contempt of Congress, the first time a sitting attorney general has been in that position. The issue was Holder鈥檚 refusal to turn over certain documents in "Fast and Furious," a botched federal gun sting operation that allowed hundreds of weapons to flow to Mexico, and which resulted in the death of a US federal agent. 聽
The nation鈥檚 top lawyer also has drawn fire for arguing that the US court system is the right place to try terrorists (as opposed to military tribunals at 骋耻补苍迟谩苍补尘辞) and for stating in recent congressional testimony that some banks have become 鈥渟o large that it does become difficult for us to prosecute them.鈥�
What is different about the controversy over the seizure of the AP鈥檚 phone records is the bipartisan nature of the outcry. On Monday the AP, a highly influential news cooperative that serves print, broadcast, and online news outlets, announced that the Justice Department had secretly obtained two months of phone records for reporters and editors in New York, Washington, and Hartford, Conn. The government seized records for more than 20 separate phone lines that were used by more than 100 reporters in April and May 2012.
AP President and Chief Executive Officer Gary Pruitt wrote to Holder calling the 聽the Justice Department operation a 鈥渕assive and unprecedented intrusion鈥� into how news organizations do their work. 鈥淭here can be no possible justification for such an overbroad collection of telephone communications,鈥� Mr. Pruitt said.
At a press conference Tuesday afternoon Holder said he recused himself from the decision to subpoena the AP's phone records, and that the decision had been made by Deputy Attorney General Jim Cole, who is handling the case. Holder said he stepped aside because he had been interviewed in the investigation into who provided information for a May 7, 2012, AP story about a foiled terror plot that targeted the US. The attorney general said the leak his department was investigating "put the American people at risk."
The Justice Department defending its actions, saying, 鈥淲e take seriously our obligations to follow all applicable laws, federal regulations, and Department of Justice policies when issuing subpoenas for phone records of media organizations.鈥� Because we value the freedom of the press, we are always careful and deliberative in seeking to strike the right balance between the public interest in the free flow of information and the public interest in the fair and聽effective聽administration of our criminal laws.鈥�
Sen. Patrick Leahy, the Vermont Democrat who heads the Senate Judiciary Committee, issued a statement, saying, "I am very troubled by these allegations and want to hear the government's explanation."聽
On Monday, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney issued a statement distancing the White House from the investigation. 鈥淲e are not involved in decisions made in connection with criminal investigations, as those matters are handled independently by the Justice Department.鈥�
On Tuesday, however, he offered Holder some support: "The president has confidence in the attorney general."
Meanwhile, when Holder was asked about his future last month on the , he responded: 鈥淚 don鈥檛 know,鈥� when asked if he would stay the full four years of Obama鈥檚 second term. He added, 鈥淚鈥檓 happy. I鈥檓 still enjoying what I鈥檓 doing and still want to be done. I鈥檓 still the president鈥檚 wing man, and I鈥檓 here with my boy.鈥�
