Eric Holder

The head of The Associated Press blasted the Justice Department on Wednesday over its seizure of journalists' phone records, saying the move effectively could give dictatorships cover to harass their own media. AP President and CEO Gary Pruitt told a luncheon gathering of journalists and others that the Justice Department even violated its own rules when it secretly seized records for thousands of phone calls at the AP. He said the department failed to notify AP in advance of the subpoena, as normally required. While department rules say a delay in notification is justified if needed to protect the integrity of its investigation, Pruitt said that justification was unfathomable in this case. He went on to blast the department's move as "overly broad" and claimed the department "acted as judge, jury and executioner in private, in secret." And he questioned whether it could serve to enable authoritarian governments to crack down in their own countries. "The DOJ's actions could not have be...

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