INSPECTOR CLOUS-O: The bumbling goes on in the Obama administration, which admitted that Fox News’ James Rosen was the latest reporter placed under surveillance, in a bid to plug a State Department intelligence leak. (
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WASHINGTON — The Obama administration’s snooping scandal mushroomed yesterday when it was revealed that the Justice Department seized a trove of information about Fox News correspondent James Rosen in an effort to aid a leak investigation — including tracking the reporter’s movements in and out of the State Department.
The feds gained access to records of Rosen’s use of the phone at his State Department desk, as well as his cellphone, while also spying on his personal e-mails.
The effort to track the prominent Brooklyn-born reporter was part of the case against State Department official Jin-Woo Kim, who the feds believe leaked “top secret” information based on its investigation of Kim’s activities, government computer use and phone records.
But government documents reveal that the FBI also maintained that Rosen, Fox’s chief Washington correspondent, had engaged in “criminal” activity when he wrote a story about North Korea.
The 2009 story, published on Fox News’ Web site, revealed that US intelligence issued official warnings that Pyongyang would likely respond to US sanctions with additional nuclear tests.
According to an FBI affidavit seeking a warrant, FBI Agent Reginald Reyes said there was evidence Rosen broke the law “at the very least, either as an aider, abettor and/or co-conspirator.”
Fox News vigorously disputed that contention yesterday — and the US Attorney’s Office, in its own statement, noted that Rosen has not been charged with a crime.
“We are outraged to learn today that James Rosen was named a criminal co-conspirator for simply doing his job as a reporter,” said Michael Clemente, Fox News’ executive vice president for news. “In fact, it is downright chilling. We will unequivocally defend his right to operate as a member of what up until now has always been a free press.”
Rosen is well regarded by his colleagues. He’s known as somewhat of a scholar on Richard Nixon, having authored the book “The Strong Man: John Mitchell and the Secrets of Watergate.”
Reporters hounded White House Press Secretary Jay Carney yesterday about the government’s pursuit of Rosen, after The Washington Post revealed the probe.
Asked repeatedly whether he thought Rosen’s activity was criminal, Carney, a former Time magazine Washington bureau chief, responded, “I cannot comment on an ongoing investigation.”
Carney said that he, like President Obama, believes there must be a “balance” between the First Amendment and security. “We need to make sure that leaks are not tolerated,” he added.
News of the government’s pursuit of Rosen comes just a week after The Associated Press revealed that the Justice Department had obtained a sweeping subpoena that provided two months’ worth of phone records for 21 phone lines used by 100 AP journalists as part of a separate investigation into another leak.
In its investigation of the North Korea leak, the FBI tracked Rosen’s movements in and out of State, and matched them up against Kim’s movements.
The data, gleaned from State’s security system, were used to try to establish that the two had a “face-to-face” meeting outside the State Department, according to the affidavit. Phone traffic between the two also purports to reveal multiple contacts around the time the story was published, and the government claims seized e-mails show Rosen cultivating Kim as a potential source.
White House reporters were furious yesterday that the investigation makes efforts to obtain accurate information about government activities appear to be a criminal matter. According to the affidavit, in an interview, “Mr. Kim acknowledged that [State Department] protocol required that he would have to go through the DoS press office before he could speak with the press.”
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) said yesterday he was “very concerned” about reports of “possible criminal prosecution for doing what appears to be normal news gathering protected by the First Amendment.”
“National security leaks are criminal and put American lives on the line, and federal prosecutors should, of course, vigorously investigate,” Rubio said. “But we expect that they do so within the bounds of the law, and that the investigations focus on the leakers within the government — not on media organizations that have First Amendment protections and serve vital function in our democracy.”