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Nixonian or Obamaesque? Obama Administration Spied On Associated Press Editors and Reporters

220px-Richard_NixonPresident_Barack_ObamaI recently published a column on how Barack Obama has publicly assumed many of the powers that were once cited as the basis for the investigation and attempted impeachment of Richard Nixon. One of those areas was the Obama Administration’s crackdown on journalists. This week Attorney General Eric Holder appears to have yet again added to this ignoble record. It appears that the Justice Department secretly obtained two months of telephone records of reporters and editors for The Associated Press. This disclosure follows another recent disclosure that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) targeted conservative groups associated with the Tea Party. Yet, once again, most Democrats remain silent in a type of cult of personality where principle is discarded in favor of loyalty to the President.


The spying on reporters by the Obama Administration included outgoing calls for the work and personal phone numbers of individual reporters. The seizure covered general AP office numbers in New York, Washington and Hartford, Conn. The Justice Department showed no restraint or concern, even including the AP in the House of Representatives press gallery. It now appears that in a few years historians could well be saying the Nixon was perfectly Obamaesque in his abuses.

AP President and Chief Executive Officer Gary Pruitt has written a letter to Holder objecting to the spying, noting that “[t]here can be no possible justification for such an overbroad collection of the telephone communications of The Associated Press and its reporters.” I would be equally upset with the mere fact of the spying as opposed to its breadth.

The spying may be part of a criminal investigation into a May 7, 2012, AP story about a foiled terror plot. AP agreed to hold the story after an objection from the Administration but ultimately ran the story disclosing a CIA operation in Yemen that stopped an al-Qaida plot to detonate a bomb on an airplane bound for the United States. While working with the Administration in holding the story, the Administration apparently was moving to spy on five reporters and an editor who were involved in the story.

Holder would have to have personally approved the subpoenas under Justice Department regulations.  However, it is not enough to again criticize Holder (who has assembled one of the most abusive records on civil liberties in our history).  Obama is well aware of the objections by civil libertarians and personally approved such decisions as promising CIA officials that they would not be investigated for torture and the kill list policy.

What is most striking about this story is the sense of complete immunity and lack of concern shown by the Administration. That sense of impunity has developed over four years as Democrats have gone into radio silence over abuses by the Administration from Obama’s “kill list” policy to other rollbacks on civil liberties. There will come a day when this president is no longer in office and many Democrats and Liberals will be faced with the imperial presidency that he created in the hands of someone they do not revere. When that day comes, it will be hard to climb over the mountain of hypocrisy to find a principled ground for criticism.

Source: CNN

289 thoughts on “Nixonian or Obamaesque? Obama Administration Spied On Associated Press Editors and Reporters”

  1. “the chances of finding an oncologist with no continuing ed is as likely as finding a talking dog.”

    If you’d ever worked med mal, you’d be on the market for a talking dog right now. CE requirements in medicine are just like they are in law – some are good and people learn something substantive and others are vacations. Consider too that it is possible to “test learn” and then simply ignore the new information rather than integrate it. No. CE’s are not a guarantee that the person is current. They are a preventative, not a curative, and only as useful as the individual student. For example, I know of a cardiologist. He’s a great mechanic if you need a stent or other heart surgery, but he hates CE’s related to meds and doesn’t like keeping up with the latest pharmacology. He’s more of a physiology guy than a chemistry guy. As a consequence, he often prescribes older medicines which sometimes are not as effective or have harsher side effects than newer meds. This is not a unique story and has parallels in any profession that one would think CE is simply part of the job.

    I know you know I find this an anathema as I know you know how I feel about learning in general. Namely that a day without it is a day wasted. However, some people aren’t aggressive learners let alone autodidactic.

    You know this is true as a proposition of human nature.

  2. Gene H:

    the chances of finding an oncologist with no continuing ed is as likely as finding a talking dog. The very nature of the job requires continued education. Even engineers are required to take 24 hours a year of continuing ed. but I find in the course of practice, I am keeping up with the latest and greatest by just reading a couple of mags and doing internet searches once in a while. Although gravity hasnt changed much in 500 years so F=ma is as valid today as it was when Mr. Newton figured it out.

    Once you understand F=ma, the rest is just finding new ways to use it. Which comes from experience.

  3. Bron,

    I think it depends on the situation. Consider doctors. Do you want an oncologist with 15 years experience who may be operating on experience and 15 year old knowledge or the oncologist fresh out of school who knows that latest science and technology backward and forward?

  4. “Surveillance of AP on behalf of national security the ‘last refuge of scoundrels'”

    Published time: May 16, 2013 05:18

    http://rt.com/op-edge/surveillance-ap-national-security-348/

    Justification of far-reaching surveillance on the Associated Press is evidently based on interests of national security, the “last refuge of scoundrels” looking to suppress information, Norman Solomon, of the media watch group ‘FAIR’, told RT.

    RT: If indeed in the interest of national security surely the action against the Associated Press was justified in this instance?

    Norman Solomon: Well, a lot is done in the name of national security and protecting the public. Several decades ago spying by the Nixon administration on the press – dirty tricks and so forth – were also rationalized within the White House and later publicly as somehow protecting the public from subversive or other elements that threaten the republic. And that is, really, one of the last refuges of scoundrels, when it comes to top leaders who want to turn off the tap of information reaching their own public. That those leaders would rather the public be kept in the dark.

    And I think what we’ve seen with these revelations about the phone records of AP reporters is that this administration, which has already waged a larger war against more whistleblowers than any other in US history, has continued to push the envelope and tried to have a chilling event not only on journalists but to sources within the administration.

  5. although I think both are necessary, I would rather have the person with 10 years of experience over the one with one assuming of course the same training in college.

  7. About gambling. My wife loved to go to the casinos. When they built the casinos on the Gulf Coast and in Tunica, MS, she was thrilled. I took her several times, but handed her exactly the amount of cash she could spend. We agreed that no one should take more money to a casino than they would be willing to toss in the fireplace and burn.

    I find casinos interesting. I like to watch the people. Gambling is the perfect example of the power of Variable Interval Reinforcement. B. F. Skinner discovered this law of behavior by accident in 1956. To me, a casino is a big psychology lab where you can see all the principles of behavior modification at work.

  9. nick,

    I’m in remarkably good health for a 68 year old and have little trouble standing for long periods of time so I just might give craps a shot. We’re all going with my daughter next year. Her husband is a huge fight fan and one of our friend’s brother trains at Merriweather’s (I think I have the name right) gym and he’ll give my son-in-law a pass to watch the training sessions. Tex and I will have the 5 year old taking her to the pool, to the Cirque, and to that roller coaster … etc. My other daughter and son-in-law will be with us too and he’s the one who knows craps so maybe, if I’ve learned the game, he’ll let me come with him to the casino.

  10. http://www.democracynow.org/blog/2013/5/15/ap_reporter_appeared_on_democracy_now_while_being_targeted_by_justice_department_dragnet

    “AP Reporter Appeared on Democracy Now! While Being Targeted By Justice Department Dragnet”

    “On April 17, 2012, Associated Press reporter Matt Apuzzo appeared on Democracy Now! to talk about the New York City Police Department’s surveillance of Muslim communities in the city and around the northeastern United States. A day earlier, Apuzzo and his partners had won a Pulitzer Prize for Investigative Reporting for their months-long series. Apuzzo is now at the center of the Justice Department spy scandal. According to the Associated Press, Apuzzo was among the journalists whose April-May 2012 phone records were seized by the government. The phone records would include any calls made by Democracy Now! to Apuzzo ahead of his April 17 interview. Apuzzo was targeted because he co-wrote a May 7 article about a secret operation, conducted by the CIA and allied intelligence agencies, that stopped a Yemen-based al-Qaeda plot to detonate a bomb on an airplane headed for the United States. U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder has defended the secret subpoena as part of a probe into what he described a “very serious” leak which “put the American people at risk.””

    “Matt Apuzzo, Adam Goldman, Chris Hawley and Eileen Sullivan of The Associated Press today were named winners of the 2012 Pulitzer Prize for Investigative Reporting for their months-long series outlining the New York Police Department’s surveillance of minority and particularly Muslim neighborhoods since the 9/11 terror attacks.” (http://www.ap.org/content/press-release/2012/ap-wins-pulitzer-prize-for-investigative-reporting-on-nypd-surveillance)

  11. “This is a very troubling aspect of this administration — it is hostile to the news media,” Johnston says. “They’re behaving much more like a corporation than like the people’s government.” -David Cay Johnston

    http://www.democracynow.org/2013/5/16/ap_monitoring_raises_fears_of_government

    “AP Monitoring Raises Fears of Government Overreach: How Far Will Obama Go to Crack Down on Leaks?”

    David Cay Johnston, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and president of Investigative Reporters and Editors, joins us to discuss the growing scandal over the Justice Department’s seizure of telephone records from Associated Press editors and reporters. The action came as part of a probe into the leaks behind an AP story about how U.S. intelligence thwarted a Yemen-based al-Qaeda bombing plot on a U.S.-bound airplane. “This is a very troubling aspect of this administration — it is hostile to the news media,” Johnston says. “They’re behaving much more like a corporation than like the people’s government.”

  12. Blouise, From my communications w/ you here I think you have more of the personality for craps. However, @ your advanced age can you stand for a few hours? Actually, for people of your years, the crew will let you bring over a stool from a blackjack table.

    You’ll like this. I was @ a nearby Indian casino recently. It was pretty busy and few stools were open. I then saw a 3 deck blackjack table[premium for people who know the game] w/ 2 seats open. I sat down and realized why. There was a nice retired dairy farmer playing. He was sans a left leg. He had his stump[not covered] on the adjacent stool. I said WTF and sat down on the second stool and played. I asked him how he lost his leg[farm accident] and we hit it off. He was a good player.

  13. I can only speak for myself. I have not disparaged book learning. I just refuse to worship it. Anyone who says they would, “rather hire a mechanic right out of school than a self taught mecahnic” is putting ideology over common sense. It’s like doubling down on 13, which I’ve actually see done. The guy was pie eyed.

  14. ” … you can earn a living at casino poker. The same is often true of the sports book or race track, …” (Tony C)

    Many years ago, when we first bought this house, our next door neighbor earned his living at the racetrack … always had and continued to do so till he died. I also served on a jury with a man who earned his living at the track. I believe they both described themselves as handicappers.

  16. Nick: You attribute to much credit to your personal experience; we can agree to disagree about that.

    I have no pick in horse races anymore, I have no love of any kind of racing in particular, and I only analyze races I intend to bet hundreds on; otherwise it is not worth my time. Like sports, it is not a hobby, in Phoenix it was just chance proximity to an interesting mathematical puzzle while I was taking a break and waiting for something else to start.

    Yes, track condition (from fast to sloppy) can influence the race. Not just for how the horses run but for how the jockeys run them and trainers and owners instruct them to run. Any race can be literally lethal for both horse and jockey; but a muddy track especially so. For some jockeys, trainers and owners, winning is much less important than horse and jockey surviving the race.

  17. Those who disparage “book learnin'” usually don’t have any. Experience supplements formalized training, but it is not a replacement for it. Conversely as Tony notes with his Einstein/Newton example, formal training allows the educated to exploit and maximize experience in ways the self-taught can not. The relationship is reciprocal, but not equal.

  18. ap,

    Strongbox … very interesting. I’m going to look for more on it.

  19. nick,

    Perhaps I should learn Craps … I think my other son-in-law knows the game.

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