Govt obtains wide AP phone records in probe

[Are_grits_groceries]

Govt obtains wide AP phone records in probe

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department secretly obtained two months of telephone records of reporters and editors for The Associated Press in what the news cooperative's top executive called a "massive and unprecedented intrusion" into how news organizations gather the news.

The records obtained by the Justice Department listed incoming and outgoing calls, and the duration of each call, for the work and personal phone numbers of individual reporters, general AP office numbers in New York, Washington and Hartford, Conn., and the main number for AP reporters in the House of Representatives press gallery, according to attorneys for the AP.

In all, the government seized those records for more than 20 separate telephone lines assigned to AP and its journalists in April and May of 2012. The exact number of journalists who used the phone lines during that period is unknown but more than 100 journalists work in the offices whose phone records were targeted on a wide array of stories about government and other matters.

In a letter of protest sent to Attorney General Eric Holder on Monday, AP President and Chief Executive Officer Gary Pruitt said the government sought and obtained information far beyond anything that could be justified by any specific investigation. He demanded the return of the phone records and destruction of all copies.

"There can be no possible justification for such an overbroad collection of the telephone communications of The Associated Press and its reporters. These records potentially reveal communications with confidential sources across all of the newsgathering activities undertaken by the AP during a two-month period, provide a road map to AP's newsgathering operations, and disclose information about AP's activities and operations that the government has no conceivable right to know," Pruitt said.
<snip>
http://bigstory.ap.org/article/govt-obtains-wide-ap-phone-records-probe

This may be the story that caused this action:
http://www.businessinsider.com/why-ap-phone-records-seized-yemen-story-cia-al-qaeda-2013-5

This has got to stop!
A lot of the info they obtained probably has nothing to do with the object of the probe. It should have remained private.

[jberryhill]

1. Does the phone line belong to AP?

Is AP a corporation?

Are you going to tell me that a corporation has fourth amendment rights?

[Are_grits_groceries]

2. Did you read the article?

"The records obtained by the Justice Department listed incoming and outgoing calls, and the duration of each call, for the work and personal phone numbers of individual reporters."

Unless I am mistaken, AP nor the government own personal phone lines.
AP is a news corporation. Its reporters do have 4th amendment rights. This was a fishing expedition that cast a wide net. The personal calls are beyond the pale.

[jberryhill]

3. The work numbers belong to AP, correct?

[geek tragedy]

7. employees still have 4th amendment rights against government snooping

But, not really of any consequences unless it's used against them in a court of law . . .

[geek tragedy]

5. Employees don't have the same 4th amendment rights in their

office telephones and computers, including their company email, that they do in their own emails and phones.

What jberryhill is trying to get at is the "no corporate personhood" argument leads to state tyranny very quickly.

[Rex]

8. It does say work and personal numbers were obtained.

Unless the phones for personal use are also bought and assigned to reporters by the company, I don't see why they need private phone numbers too.

[geek tragedy]

15. Makes sense if they thought the government leaker was calling

reporters on their personal lines.

This is really disturbing stuff, and if there wasn't a warrant, hoo boy.

[Rex]

16. Dam, didn't think of that.

Almost makes me wonder if they already have a 'person(s) of interest' in mind. Yes...please please please let there be a warrant issued. Otherwise this will go critical, fast imo.

[LiberalAndProud]

10. I would suggest that the first amendment applies.

It's that troublesome free press idea.

[jberryhill]

13. There is a contingent here...

...which does not believe that corporations should have first amendment rights.

There is an organization called Move To Amend which would expressly amend the Constitution to state that rights under the Constitution are solely reserved to natural persons, and that would include freedom of the press.

A telephone is not a press in any event.

[Savannahmann]

17. Yes Corporations have 4th amendment rights

That was a Supreme Court Decision. Hale v. Henkel, 201 U.S. 43 (1906) Note the year, 1906. A Corporation has had 4th Amendment rights for more than a century. If the Justice Department hasn't heard of that, then I have to wonder what else they haven't heard of.

Do a little reading on what rights the corporations have, and don't have. Very few came from Citizens United, which I'm sure is a disappointment for many.

You would think that we Liberals would not be working overtime to find exceptions to civil liberties.

[jberryhill]

18. I agree with you

But you will quickly learn the majority opinion at DU is that corporations should not have Constitutional rights.

Which is why I'm puzzled by the reaction to this story.

[Rex]

4. I wish the M$M would report on this kind of intrusion 24/7.

Sadly they are too busy selling Big Pharma Death all day long.

[DisgustipatedinCA]

6. Unlike Benghazi and the IRS, this has the makings of a real scandal

We will see what comes of it, but if Holder really cast a net that wide to try to find who leaked a story, that's not a good sign.

[Rex]

9. Smells like desperation going after people personally.

Why not just start with the company first? I agree, that is one large net.

[DisgustipatedinCA]

11. This is a story that's getting a lot of immediate attention on Twitter, presumably on Facebook too

I've seen the LBN version of this story, along with this GD thread, but not much else. I think this one is going to get big pretty quickly, if the story pans out the way it's starting to look like it will.

[Rex]

12. The govt better have some kind of certainty in this snooping.

The AP is a huge organization and will turn this into a prime story all over the world.

[Malik Agar]

14. AP is really mad...

People in high places will get fired/impeached over this.