The Department of Justice sent a letter to the Associated Press on Tuesday, which was provided to TPM, saying that it acted within the law when subpoenaing the phone records of AP journalists as part of a criminal investigation.
“The subpoenas were limited to a reasonable period of time and did not seek the content of any calls,” DOJ Deputy Attorney General James Cole wrote to AP President and CEO Gary Pruitt. “In addition, these records have been closely held and reviewed solely for the purposes of this ongoing criminal investigation. The records have not been and will not be provided for use in any other investigations.”
“We strive in every case to strike the proper balance between the public’s interest in the free flow of infomation and the public’s interest in the protection of national security and effective enforcement of our criminal laws. We believe we have done so in this matter.”
