Earlier it was reported that the FBI had specifically investigated a Fox News reporter as part of an investigation into leaks.
New Yorker reporter Ryan Lizza points out the "most chilling" part of the search warrant on Fox News reporter James Rosen during a 2009 leak investigation.
In an application for a search warrant, FBI agent Reginald Reyes wrote that there was probable cause Rosen had violated the Espionage Act by soliciting classified information from Stephen J. Kim, a former State Department official. Reyes wrote that Rosen was an "aider and abettor and/or co-conspirator" in leaking the information.
According to the search warrant, which was posted by the Federation of American Scientists, Reyes wrote that Rosen may have committed a "conspiracy to violate" section of a law against leaking classified info, which he wrote was "punishable by up to 10 years imprisonment."
Reyes also wrote that the FBI had exhausted all other alternatives in the leak investigation when applying for a search warrant, short of asking Rosen to voluntarily provide his email communications.
"Because of the Reporter's own potential criminal liability in this matter, we believe that requesting the voluntary production of the materials from Reporter would be futile and would pose a substantial threat to the integrity of the investigation and of the evidence we seek to obtain by the warrant," Reyes wrote.
The Washington Post brought renewed attention to the 2009 investigation with a report late Sunday night.
The report comes at a time when the Obama administration is facing renewed scrutiny over leak investigations, a week after the Associated Press said that the Department of Justice had obtained more than two months of some of its reporters' phone records.
Here is the full search warrant:
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