The Trump Department of Justice secretly obtained CNN reporter’s 2017 phone and email records as yet another example of a government attempt to use journalist communications to pursue a government leak investigation. ..
CNN Disclosure Pentagon correspondent Barbara Star informed in a letter on May 13 that the prosecutor had obtained two months of telephone and e-mail records between June 1, 2017 and July 31, 2017. Thursday was done.
According to the network, the judicial notice included the reporter’s Pentagon extension, home and cell phone, and personal email account.
Earlier this month The Washington Post reported Justice has obtained a 2017 telephone record that includes three reporters covering an investigation into Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential election.
In the CNN case, a judicial spokesman reviewed the 2017 communications-related records on Thursday, confirming that “the process of looking for these records was approved in 2020.”
“The Attorney General will soon meet with reporters to hear concerns about recent notices and further convey his firm support and commitment to Attorney General Merrick Garland’s free and independent press,” said Attorney General Anthony Corey. ..
In that report, CNN President Jeff Zucker condemned the act of justice.
“We are calling for an immediate meeting with the Justice Department for explanation,” Zucker said.
CNN reported that the government had obtained a “toll record” of the phone, citing a judicial notice. This includes the calls made to and from the target phone and the length of the call.
“The Justice Department received” non-content information “from Star’s email account, the letter said. That is, it includes the recipient, sender, date and time, but not the content of the email, “the network said.
CNN said Pentagon correspondents were involved in reporting “US military options in North Korea ready to be presented to Trump, and stories about Syria and Afghanistan,” but the judiciary was a star. He said he did not reveal the reason for asking for communication.
“This is a bigger story,” said Bruce Brown, secretary-general of the Freedom of the Press Press Committee. “A journalist from another news agency has been confiscated by the Trump Justice Department. That is, the last administration has invaded the relationship between reporters and sources, and efforts to cool news gathering are more extensive than we initially thought.
“The current Department of Justice leadership has a detailed explanation of exactly what happened, why, and how it plans to increase protection against the free flow of information to the public. Should be provided. “
This article was originally published in USA TODAY: The Trump administration secretly collected CNN reporter phone records