The Department of Justice (DOJ) faces criticism from two Democratic lawmakers who
want the agency to stop acquiring journalists’ phone records to identify their sources,
The Hill reports.
Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) sent a letter to Attorney
General Merrick Garland asking him to stop the practice of seeking phone information
on reporters.
“Simply put, the government should not collect journalists’ communications records
unless it’s investigating them for a crime or as part of an investigation into foreign
espionage, in which case it should get a warrant,” the lawmakers wrote.
“The Biden administration has the opportunity to voluntarily leave behind the thuggish
and Orwellian abuses of power of the last administration and stand up as a world leader
for press freedoms. To that end, we urge you to revise the DOJ’s guidelines for
investigations of journalists.”
This letter comes off the heels of a report from The Washington Post, which revealed
that reporters Post Ellen Nakashima and Greg, along with former reporter Adam
Entous, received letters from the DOJ.
The agency stated that they had records of their phone interactions from April 15 to July
31 in 2017, including calls made from their phones and how long each lasted. However,
they didn’t include what was discussed on the calls.
When asked for a comment on the matter, a DOJ spokesperson told the Post that the
reporters themselves were not under investigation, but “rather those with access to the
national defense information who provided it to the media and thus failed to protect it as
lawfully required.”