The Patriot Post® · Eric Holder Further Erodes Press Freedoms

Attorney General Eric Holder’s new guidelines over when to issue subpoenas threaten the independence and robustness of the press. “Instead of retaining straightforward language telling prosecutors not to ‘impair the news-gathering function’ from the previous set of guidelines,” the New York Times editorial board wrote, “new wording unveiled with release of the overhauled guidelines in February calls for avoiding the issuance of subpoenas that ‘might unreasonably impair ordinary news gathering.’ The change by Mr. Holder and his aides could invite prosecutors in the future to claim that news gathering that entails the disclosure of classified information (as national security reporting typically does) is out of the ‘ordinary’ and, therefore, exempted from the guidelines.” This is just the latest example of the executive branch – especially the Department of Justice – stifling oversight from Congress and the fourth estate. Wasn’t the whole point of the First Amendment to avoid situations like this? More…