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WASHINGTON — Attorney General Eric Holder yesterday labored to convince lawmakers that the Justice Department isn’t going after journalists — but he’ll be called back soon to explain himself again.
“The department has not prosecuted and, as long as I’m attorney general, will not prosecute any reporter for doing his or her job,” Holder insisted to the Senate Appropriations Committee.
“The department’s goal in investigating leak cases is to identify and prosecute government officials who jeopardize government secrets,” he said.
Holder has been under fire since it was revealed last month that the Justice Department had secretly seized e-mail and phone records from Associated Press and Fox News journalists as part of a government leak probe.
His explanations did little to quell the uproar.
The GOP-led House Judiciary Committee sent Holder a letter demanding that he appear again at a hearing to respond to his May 15 testimony that he had no knowledge of “potential prosecution of the press” for leaks.
It was later revealed he signed off on a warrant that listed Fox News reporter James Rosen as a “possible co-conspirator” in criminal leaks.