WASHINGTON--Members of Congress expressed concern Wednesday
about the Justice Department's subpoena of Associated Press phone
records at a hearing where Attorney General Eric Holder faced
questions over his record.
The House Judiciary Committee was hearing testimony from Mr.
Holder amid multiple controversies involving the department,
including the AP issue and the Internal Revenue Service's targeting
of conservative groups.
The committee's chairman, Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R., Va.), said any
abridgement of freedom of the press was "very concerning." The top
Democrat on the panel, Rep. John Conyers of Michigan, generally
praised Mr. Holder's record but also said he was troubled the
government sought such a broad array of phone records from AP. The
department took calling records of some 20 phone numbers used by AP
journalists, including personal numbers.
"I was not the person involved in that decision," said Mr.
Holder, reiterating that he was recused from the case. "I am not
familiar with the reasons" that the subpoena was written so
broadly, he said. He said Deputy Attorney General James Cole was
the person who authorized the subpoena.
Mr. Goodlatte said the Justice Department handling of the matter
"appears to be contrary to the law and standard procedure."
The AP subpoenas were connected to a probe by Ronald Machen,
U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, into a leak concerning
a 2012 counterterrorism operation in Yemen. Mr. Holder said that he
recused himself because he was interviewed by investigators over
the leak and was a "fact witness" in the case.
At a news conference Tuesday, Mr. Holder said the leak justified
a vigorous probe because "it put the American people at risk, and
that is not hyperbole."
On the IRS issue, Mr. Goodlatte said the agency's actions were
"outrageous" and called for "answers and accountability."
Write to Brent Kendall at brent.kendall@dowjones.com and Peter
Landers at peter.landers@wsj.com
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