Another Obama ‘Scandal’? Nope GOP Rep Claims Responsibility For AP Surveillance

[MaxShimba]

Just when you thought another event was about to be added to the growing list of Obama ‘scandals’ – what with the Benghazi ‘cover-up’ (debunked by a single e-mail), the IRS surveillance of Tea Party-supporting groups (which flame-throwers like Allen West attempted to conflate into ‘conspiracies’ with no success), and the continuing heat on the military for its policies on sexual abuse – the Department of Justice investigation of Associated Press telephone records, widely expected to be another partisan blowtorch, has just been defended by a Republican congressman who claims it was the Republicans themselves who demanded the investigation last year.

Representative Trey Gowdy (R-SC) spoke to Fox News’ Greta Van Susteren about the issue, one libertarians, journalists, and freedom of information advocates all believe demands review and reform, and instead of using it to bludgeon the administration for overstepping (which most of his party, the media, and even the President’s own party are doing), he instead claimed it was the natural evolution of a GOP demand for a probe. From Think Progress:

“Greta, you were an attorney. There are lots of privileges — husband-wife, priest-penitent, attorney-client, none of them unqualified. So when you have a major national security leak, which is a compelling issue, and you juxtapose that with the right of the media to do its job and provide oversight, there’s a conflict. And there’s no federal statute on point. But the Supreme Court has said if there is a compelling interest, which there certainly is in national security cases, and the information is relevant which it has to be to justify a subpoena, and you have no alternative means of getting the information, then the Department of Justice had no choice. . . .

“Think back a year ago. We had the attorney general and other Department of Justice employees, and we grilled them over national security leaks. And here they are doing what we asked them to do, investigate the leak.”​

Read more: Another Obama 'Scandal'? Nope... GOP Rep Claims Responsibility For AP Surveillance (VIDEO)

 

[MaxShimba]

The fact is that DOJ did it. That is far more consequential. Anyone can ask for something, but seizing records without a warrant is serious. It's a clear violation of civil liberties, even if it was legal.