Remind me, isn’t the Justice Department supposed to follow the Constitution and the Law? Apparently not when Eric Holder is in charge and they want to retaliate against a journalist
(The New Yorker) The Obama Administration fought to keep a search warrant for James Rosen’s private e-mail account secret, arguing to a federal judge that the government might need to monitor the account for a lengthy period of time.
The new details are revealed in a court filing detailing a back and forth between the Justice Department and the federal judges who oversaw the request to search a Gmail account belonging to Rosen, a reporter for Fox News. A 2009 article Rosen had written about North Korea sparked an investigation; Ronald C. Machen, Jr., the U.S. Attorney who is prosecuting Stephen Jin-Woo Kim, a former State Department adviser who allegedly leaked classified information to Rosen, insisted that the reporter should not be notified of the search and seizure of his e-mails, even after a lengthy delay. (snip)
He argued that disclosure of the search warrant would preclude the government from monitoring the account, should such a step become necessary in the investigation. Machen added that “some investigations are continued for many years because, while the evidence is not yet sufficient to bring charges, it is sufficient to have identified criminal subjects and/or criminal activity serious enough to justify continuation of the investigation.â€
This was a government sponsored fishing expedition which seemingly violated the 4th Amendment, where they just wanted to look and look and look in an open ended way without specificity nor informing the subject of the warrant for years
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
This was an overly broad warrant, and they did not want to notify Rosen. Other people, such as his parents, were caught up in this un-Constitutional scheme.
Many are calling for Eric Holder to go, even on the far left. Here’s Taylor Marsh
If ever someone deserved to be relieved of his job it is Mr. Holder.
I disagree with all these calls from people on the left and right that he should resign or be fired: he should be prosecuted. He most likely committed perjury to Congress with his testimony, and he authorized the breathtakingly Constitutional violating warrants. Ms. Marsh argues that there is only one thing left for Obama to do, which would be kicking Holder to the curb. Here’s Firedoglake
In any case, AG Holder has proved again that he can not be trusted to perform his duties.
I’ll make the prediction that Obama will not fire Holder nor ask for his resignation. When it comes down to it, Obama thinks he is the smartest POTUS ever, and can do no wrong, so if he cans Holder that means Obama made a mistake. Second, Obama is a master at turning negative issues into a wider partisan controversy, and will use it to attack Republicans. Just watch. Consider that Obama is asking Holder to investigate Holder in this matter.
Crossed at Right Wing News and Stop The ACLU.
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