The Department of Justice claims it has proof it alerted the parent company of Fox News of a subpoena used to obtain the phone log records of Washington correspondent James Rosen as part of an investigation into a 2010 leak of classified information, according to CNN.
“The Justice Department is telling us here at CNN….that it showed a Fox News notification according to the Justice Department of this James Rosen investigation nearly three years ago,” CNN’s Jim Acosta reported on air Wednesday, per a rush transcript. “To back that up, earlier this afternoon Justice and law enforcement producer Carol Cratty was shown by a law enforcement official documents indicating as much of this notification to the parent company of Fox News, News Corporation.”
The Justice Department previously said it had notified News Corp. of the seizure on Aug. 27, 2010, but company officials over the weekend countered by claiming they had no such record. News Corp.’s chief legal counsel at the time also issued a strong denial of ever receiving a subpoena from the government.
“Consistent with the department policies, and procedures, the government provided notification of the subpoenas they’re saying for phone records and other pieces of information nearly three years ago by certified mail, fax, and e-mail,” a DOJ official said in a statement obtained by Acosta.
According to Reuters, Attorney General Eric Holder personally approved a decision to subpoena Rosen. Holder reportedly felt “a creeping sense of personal remorse” upon reading a Washington Post story detailing the gravity of the situation.
