Biden won't allow Justice Dept. to seize reporters' records
President Joe Biden says he won’t allow the Department of Justice to seize journalists’ phone records and emails, calling the practice “wrong” in a significant departure from his predecessors
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.President Joe Biden says he won’t allow the Department of Justice to seize journalists’ phone records and emails, calling the practice “wrong” in a significant departure from his predecessors.
“Absolutely, positively, it’s wrong. It’s simply, simply wrong,” he told a reporter Friday at the White House
His comments come as CNN reported Thursday that the Trump administration Justice Department secretly obtained the 2017 phone records of one of their correspondents, the latest revelation of an apparent leak investigation aimed at identifying a journalist’s sources that was launched during the last administration.
The Washington Post also disclosed that the Justice Department had last year seized phone records belonging to three of its journalists who covered the Russia investigation.
When asked if Biden would prevent his Justice Department from seeking reporters' phone records, Biden responded: “I won't let that happen.”
His comments, however, seem to contradict those made earlier by White House press secretary Jen Psaki when asked how the administration viewed the practice of obtaining journalists’ records. Psaki suggested that the Justice Department would use the “Holder model,” a reference to Obama-era Attorney General Eric Holder.
Under Holder, the Justice Department announced revised guidelines for obtaining records from the news media during criminal leak investigations, removing language that news organizations said was ambiguous and requiring additional levels of review before a journalist could be subpoenaed, but it did not end the practice.
In 2013, the Justice Department secretly obtained records of a number of Associated Press journalists in a leak investigation.
The White House offered no immediate clarification of the discrepancy.