Over The Top: The AP Records Intrusion

The recent news coverage regarding the seizure of information by the Justice Department from the offices of the Associated Press (AP), has left many Americans, myself included, very upset.

The government seized information regarding the phone records of 20 seperate phone lines which included general switchboard lines, and one office wide shared fax line. Then, as if it could not get any worse, the Justice Department gave no explanation for the seizure of this information (www.ap.com).

In addition, the Justice Department gave the AP no advanced notice of this intrusion, which is unusual. Later in the news cycle, they produced some sources that claimed they were investigating a leak in national security regarding a foiled terrorist attack in Yemen involving a bomb on a U.S. bound plane in May 2012.

The big issue with that rationale is that the records they seized involved phone lines used by over 100 AP journalists who are working on a huge gambit of stories requiring contact with hundreds of confidential sources which the government now has their contact information in their possession (www.ap.com).

This is a huge infringement on the First Amendment rights of the freedom of the press, and it is a major detriment to journalisitic integrity. The criminal justice system has safeguards in place to guard against this type of action by a government entity, in the form of keeping subpoenas very narrow in scope. The requirement of advanced notice before the seizure of information by the government of a news providing service ; all of these safeguards exist to prevent exactly what happened at the AP offices.

I have read other news stories that the action here by the Justice Department violated other Constitutional rights too, with regard to illegal search and seizure. I tend to agree that a legal team representing the AP may have a pathway for a case along those grounds as well.

I also whole heartedly agree with AP CEO Gary Pruitt that the Justice Department should return the phone records immediately and destroy all the copies. That leads to the natural progression in my mind of this issue: how do you prove that all the copies were destroyed at this point?

I learned a long time ago in my college communications courses one very important rule for journalism: always protect your sources. The government just ran roughshod over this integral aspect of journalistic integrity. Then, to have no explanation for the seizure of these records was in my opinion, outrageous. I know I am joined by many others with similar sentiments on this matter.

This over the top search and seizure has left these AP journalists in a very vulnerable position as well as their sources, many of whom are taking some degree of risk to provide information to a news agency. This information concerns some very sensitive and potentially volatile situations throughout the world.

America is a country founded on certain freedoms and principles given to us by the Constitution, which the leaders in Washington swore to protect. What use is it to have these principles if others in power are going to ignore them?

I am encouraged that Congress is very concerned over this action by the Justice Department and is planning to conduct inquiries and I would assume potential hearings on this matter in the near future. This type of activity by the government needs to be challenged, and we the citizens need to band together and defend our rights so that this situation does not become the standard practice. We need to let Congress and the White House know that this type of behavior by the Justice Department is not acceptable.