Obama's DOJ Fought For Indefinite Secret Monitoring Of Reporter's Communications

By Susan Duclos

This week we found out that Attorney General Eric Holder personally signed off on the secret warrant for Fox News reporter James Rosen's personal emails, which was enough for calls from the left and the right for Holder's dismissal.

It gets worse.

Ryan Lizza at The New Yorker dug a little deeper and found that Obama's Department of Justice also fought. lost, then appealed, and finally convinced a judge to allow them indefinite monitoring of Rosen's communications without notifying Rosen of the search and seizure of his e-mails.

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.

E-mails, Machen wrote, “are commonly used by subjects or targets of the criminal investigation at issue, and the e-mail evidence derived from those compelled disclosures frequently forms the core of the Government’s evidence supporting criminal charges.”

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.”

Machen insisted the investigation would be compromised if Rosen was informed of the warrant, and also asked the court to order Google not to notify Rosen that the company had handed over Rosen’s e-mails to the government. Rosen, according to recent reports, did not learn that the government seized his e-mail records until it was reported in the Washington Post last week.

Allahpundit at Hot Air does a great job in reminding folks exactly who Ronald C. Machen, Jr. is:

“Machen,” by the way, is U.S. Attorney Ronald Machen. If his name sounds familiar, that’s because he’s the guy who was charged with deciding whether to pursue the House’s contempt citation against his boss, Eric Holder, over Fast & Furious. Holder’s deputy, James Cole, wrote a letter to Machen — before he’d even received the citation — to let him know that the Department determined Holder had done nothing wrong and therefore shouldn’t be prosecuted. Machen also happens to be leading the FBI investigation into the leak that involved the DOJ subpoenaing AP reporters’ phone records. The man who authorized those subpoenas was, of course, James Cole, acting as AG after Holder recused himself. Machen’s a loyal soldier, in other words, with a track record of aggressively pursuing access to journalists’ private data to sniff out leaks.

A reminder of what Barack Obama said on Thursday- " Journalists should not be at legal risk for doing their jobs. Our focus must be on those who break the law. That is why I have called on Congress to pass a media shield law to guard against government over-reach. I have raised these issues with the Attorney General, who shares my concern. So he has agreed to review existing Department of Justice guidelines governing investigations that involve reporters, and will convene a group of media organizations to hear their concerns as part of that review. And I have directed the Attorney General to report back to me by July 12th."

As The Daily Caller headlines "Obama asks Holder investigate Holder's investigation."

Remember it isn't just Rosen from Fox News, but the DOJ had also named 30 phones numbers in their warrant, main lines at Fox News as well as Rosen's parents. In a separate leak investigation they seized the Associated Press phone records, including five locations where 100 reporters worked.

This is not limited to one organization and what is chilling is this is just what has become public.

How many other reporters, news organizations, media outlets, etc, are being spied on by the Obama administration, right now?

Via The Washington Post editorial board:

What did the journalist do to become a potential criminal co-conspirator? According to the FBI agent, he “asked, solicited and encouraged” his source to disclose sensitive information. The reporter did this “by employing flattery” and playing to the “vanity and ego” of Mr. Kim. In other words, the journalist was doing what reporters do. Unfortunately, a judge signed off on this flimsy search warrant.

 Exactly.

There must be a special prosecutor assigned, one completely independent, to investigate what Obama's DOJ has done and how far they have gone.

Anybody who laughed at the expression of "Big Brother Is Watching You," and waved it off as paranoia, shouldn't be laughing anymore.

Related:

Far Left, Far Right Finally Agree- AG Eric Holder Must Go

Fox News chief Roger Ailes- Memo To Employees Regarding Obama Admin Attack On Free Press

By Susan Duclos

Erik Wemple at Washington Post publishes a memo sent from Fox News chief Roger Ailes regarding the Obama Department of Justice's attacks against journalists and the free press:

Memo below:

Dear colleagues,

The recent news about the FBI’s seizure of the phone and email records of Fox News employees, including James Rosen, calls into question whether the federal government is meeting its constitutional obligation to preserve and protect a free press in the United States. We reject the government’s efforts to criminalize the pursuit of investigative journalism and falsely characterize a Fox News reporter to a Federal judge as a “co-conspirator” in a crime. I know how concerned you are because so many of you have asked me: why should the government make me afraid to use a work phone or email account to gather news or even call a friend or family member? Well, they shouldn’t have done it. The administration’s attempt to intimidate Fox News and its employees will not succeed and their excuses will stand neither the test of law, the test of decency, nor the test of time. We will not allow a climate of press intimidation, unseen since the McCarthy era, to frighten any of us away from the truth.

I am proud of your tireless effort to report the news over the last 17 years. I stand with you, I support you and I thank you for your reporting with courageous optimism. Too many Americans fought and died to protect our unique American right of press freedom. We can’t and we won’t forget that. To be an American journalist is not only a great responsibility, but also a great honor. To be a Fox journalist is a high honor, not a high crime. Even this memo of support will cause some to demonize us and try to find irrelevant things to cause us to waver. We will not waver.

As Fox News employees, we sometimes are forced to stand alone, but even then when we know we are reporting what is true and what is right, we stand proud and fearless. Thank you for your hard work and all your efforts.

Sincerely,

Roger Ailes

Far Left, Far Right Finally Agree- AG Eric Holder Must Go

By Susan Duclos

With the breaking news that Attorney General Eric Holder personally signed off on the warrant that allowed the Justice Department to search Fox News reporter James Rosen's personal email, the far left and the far right and pretty much everyone in between, finally found an issue they can all agree on..... Attorney General Eric Holder must go.

Sarah Palin certainly qualifies as the far right and she asks on Twitter "Where is the apology and resignation of your attorney general, Mr. President? http://fb.me/MZDSVlXQ

Huffington Post, who qualifies as the far left, headlines with "Time To Go: Holder Ok'd Press Probe"

 

Even before this latest revelation, far lefties like Daily Kos and Esquire were calling for Holder's resignation and/or his firing.

Then you have the whole lying to Congress thing going on and it is pretty clear Holder has got to go, but as of May 16, 2013, Barack Obama was still saying "I have complete confidence in Eric Holder as attorney general. He does his job with integrity and I expect he will continue to do so."

Duuuuuude, there is thing called a dictionary, which states clearly that "integrity" includes "soundness of moral character and honesty"...Look. It. Up. 

Then again on Thursday, May 23, 2013, Barack Obama says:

Journalists should not be at legal risk for doing their jobs. Our focus must be on those who break the law. That is why I have called on Congress to pass a media shield law to guard against government over-reach. I have raised these issues with the Attorney General, who shares my concern. So he has agreed to review existing Department of Justice guidelines governing investigations that involve reporters, and will convene a group of media organizations to hear their concerns as part of that review. And I have directed the Attorney General to report back to me by July 12th.

Are you kidding me? That is like asking a pedophile to babysit your children. (It is analogy, not saying Holder is a pedophile)

I suppose like the Benghazi attack, the AP phone records seizure, the IRS targeting conservatives scandals, Fast and Furious, and Solyndra, etc....Obama will again claim he knew nothing about it, until he read the NBC report about Holder personally signing off on the warrant against Rosen?

Note to Obama- Plausible deniability only works when it is, you know, plausible!

ACLJ Publishes Letters Signed By Lois Lerner Showing Direct Involvement In IRS Targeting Conservatives

By Susan Duclos

Despite her claims to the contrary, Lois Lerner,  the head of the exempt organizations division of the IRS (now on administrative leave) was directly involved in the active targeting of conservatives by the IRS and ACLJ has published  followup letters, signed by Lois Lerner, as well as examples of the original requests for additional information that was deemed "inappropriate" by the Treasury Inspector General's report.

Consider the timeline. We now know through her own testimony and from the Inspector General's report that Lerner was briefed about this unlawful targeting scheme in June 2011. But nine months later, beginning in March 2012, she sent cover letters to many of our clients - demanding additional information and forwarding intrusive questionnaires. In fact, in March and April of 2012, Lerner sent 15 letters to 15 different clients (including those who were approved after lengthy delays and those who are still pending).

This letter dated March 16, 2012 sent to the Ohio Liberty Council is representative of the other letters that Lerner sent to our clients. This letter, posted here, was sent on letterhead out of the IRS office in Cincinnati. The cover letter bears Lerner's signature, who runs the Exempt Organizations division out of the Washington, DC office. It includes more invasive and improper questions about membership of the group and demands information about all public events conducted or planned for the future. And it specifically requested information about the organization's website, Facebook page, and other social media outlets.

The ACLJ also provides proof  contrary to claims by the IRS and the White House, the conservative targeting did not end in May of 2012, but continued until May 6, 2013 - just four days before Lerner admitted to the targeting scheme. The ACLJ provides one of the 26 IRS questionnaires sent to 18 clients during the past year, and below hat is the followup letter dated May 6, 2013.

The May 6, 2013 followup letter starts on page 8 of the PDF embedded below. Beneath the letters below is an image showing what the requests for additional information looked like prior to 2010 when the targeting began.

Linchpins of Liberty From IRS Full uploaded by Susan Duclos

Below is an example provided in a Memorandum written by Cleta Mitchell, Esq, from Foley & Lardner, LLP, an attorney who has practiced in the area of non-profits and exempt organizations for many years. showing what the requests for information were in 2009, before the IRS targeting of conservative groups began.

The full memorandum is 42 pages and provides further examples of the IRS targeting of conservatives as well as proof of direct lies told to congress in their investigative hearings into this matter.

Foley concludes:

TIGTA, Congress and others must obtain internal communications and correspondence from the IRS and interview IRS employees and agents under oath. That should not be delegated to the Department of Justice, which has also been criticized by its Inspector General for unlawful 'ideological and political' considerations in official decision-making.

From the targeting to arranging to have a question planted, which has been confirmed by the initial questioner,  to the followup letters sent bearing Lois Lerner's name, she has had an active role in the targeting itself, yet she has not been fired from her position, she is simply on "administrative leave," which generally means the taxpayers are still paying her.

Let us not forget for one second that the woman running the IRS's tax exempt and government entities division from 2009 to 2012, when the targeting was happening, was Sarah Hall Ingram, and ABC News reports she is now the director of the IRS’ Affordable Care Act office.

Full Wake up America coverage on the IRS scandal can be found here.


(Corrections have been made to this article)

Mistrial In Penalty Phase Of Jodi Arias Trial

By Susan Duclos

In the penalty phase of the Jodi Arias trial where she was convicted of murdering Travis Alexander, the jury was hung and the penalty phase declared a mistrial:

A Maricopa County Court was unable to agree on a sentence for convicted murderer Jodi Arias, prompting a judge Thursday to declare a mistrial in the sentencing phase of the case.

The jury had deliberated nearly 14 hours over three days to determine if Arias, 32, should be sentenced to life imprisonment or sentenced to death. Judge Sherry Stephens said a new jury would be convened in the case on July 18. Arias, who was in tears earlier, breathed a sigh of relief.

The guilty verdict against Arias came down May 8. A week later, the same jury found that the murder was especially cruel, making Arias eligible for the death penalty. During the sentencing hearing, Arias pleaded for mercy, saying she would live a valuable life in prison.

If the prosecution chooses not to retry the penalty phase, Arias will get life in prison, either with or without parole.

The prosecutor's office has not announced what it plans to do.

ABC News:

"We appreciate the jury's work in the guilt and aggravation phases of the trial and now we will assess, based upon available information, what the next steps will be," Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery said in a written statement. "As of this point in time, the court has set a status conference for June 20 and we will proceed with the intent to retry the penalty phase. Because, for purposes of a jury determination on punishment, this is still a pending matter, there will be no further comment."

Reactions are mixed throughout the Arizona on whether the prosecutions office should retry the penalty phase or offer a deal of life without parole if they take the death penalty off the table, saving the taxpayers the cost of retrying the penalty phase.