Government Authorized Searches Against News Organizations 10 Times in 2014

By Julian Hattem, The Hill

15 August 15

he federal government authorized searches against news organizations 10 different times in 2014, the Justice Department said Friday. 

In two of the cases, however, the government ultimately decided not to issue the demands, after receiving authorization from then-Attorney General Eric Holder.

Additionally, the government twice gave federal agents the authority to question people whom it treated as journalists — including once during a national security investigation — though that questioning remained voluntary.

The information was contained in a report issued by the Justice Department that follows from Holder’s pledge last February to detail how the government demands information from members of the news media.

“Today’s report is an important step in the Justice Department’s ongoing efforts to promote the freedom of the press, to keep the American people informed and to improve transparency and accountability regarding media-related process,” Attorney General Loretta Lynch said in a statement. 

Details are omitted from most of the cases. However, one of the subpoenas was issued in connection with an investigation into former CIA officer Jeffrey Sterling, who was suspected of giving secret material to New York Times reporter James Risen. Risen ultimately did not testify during Sterling’s trial, after which Sterling was found guilty and sentenced to 42 months in prison.

In other cases, U.S. attorneys or assistant attorneys general demanded information from CNN and Boston's WBZ-TV for recordings in connection to the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing; from a TV news outlet that reported on a killing allegedly connected to a man accused of attempted murder; and about a man making threats to a reporter.

The one subpoena and one warrant authorized by Holder but ultimately not issued concerned information in connection with the trial of a convicted al Qaeda member and of a suspected hacker.