Journalists are understandably alarmed by the revelation that President Barack Obama's Justice Department targeted Fox News reporter James Rosen during a leak investigation of a State Department employee.
The news, reported by the Washington Post late Sunday night, reveals that the Obama administration will apparently stop at nothing to track down whistle-blowers who leak classified information. In Rosen's case, that included implicating him as a "criminal co-conspirator" whose actions were punishable with up to 10 years in prison.
While it is not uncommon for the government to investigate leaks, it is unprecedented for a journalist to be accused of committing a crime for reporting on classified information.
The Justice Department's application for the search warrant for Rosen's Gmail account reveals the extent of the administration's Orwellian maneuvers. By granting the search warrant, the judge alarmingly agreed that Rosen was an "aider and abettor and/or co-conspirator" in leaking the information.
Here are the most chilling parts of the search warrant:
The following sections indicate that DOJ tracked Rosen's phone calls:
And movements at the State Department:
What's also clear from the search warrant is that the DOJ had already established that State Department employee Stephen Jin-Woo Kim was the source of the leak:
The search warrant application indicates that DOJ was also looking for any other potential sources that Rosen might have had, noting the clandestine system that Rosen had set up for communicating with sources using code names and asterisks:
The New Yorker's Ryan Lizza points out this interesting footnote:
And the big finish:
Read the full search warrant here >
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