• An unnamed sourced claims Eric Holder  personally signed off the warrant to seize James Rosen’s emails
• The Justice Department believed Rosen to be  a ‘possible co-conspirator’
• Holder had previously denied any knowledge  of his department’s decision to obtain the phone records of 20 Associated Press  reporters
• The president has requested a review of the  policy by which the department obtains journalists’ records

By  Daily Mail Reporter and Associated Press Reporter

PUBLISHED: 20:57 EST, 23 May  2013 |  UPDATED: 23:40  EST, 23 May 2013

Attorney General Eric Holder personally  signed off on the controversial search warrant that identified Fox News chief  Washington correspondent James Rosen as a ‘possible co-conspirator’ in  violations of the Espionage Act and authorized seizure of his private emails, an  unnamed law enforcement official has claimed.

Rosen, who has not been charged in the case,  was the target of a search warrant that enabled Justice Department investigators  to secretly seize his private emails after an FBI agent said he had ‘asked,  solicited and encouraged … (a source) to disclose sensitive United States  internal documents and intelligence information.’

The reporter’s emails were seized, with a  judge’s approval, as part of the prosecution of Stephen Kim, a State Department  adviser who is accused of leaking secret information about North  Korea.

 

Attorney General Eric Holder personally authorized the  seizure of James Rosen’s private emails, an unnamed law enforcement official has  claimed

 

Reporter James Rosen was the target of a search warrant  that enabled Justice Department investigators to secretly seize his private  emails

Holder’s approved the Rosen search in the  spring of 2010 after senior Justice Department officials concluded there was  ‘probable cause’ that his communications with Kim met the legal burden for such  searches.

‘It was approved at the highest levels – and  I mean the highest,’ said the law enforcement official, who spoke to NBC  News on condition of anonymity on  Thursday. He said that explicitly included Holder.

The Justice Department is currently facing  public scrutiny over its practices after it was also revealed that it has also  obtained the phone records of 20 Associated Press reporters as it sought to  determine who had leaked information about the CIA’s role in a foiled terror  plot in Yemen.

In that instance, Holder denied any knowledge  of the AP subpoena because he had been questioned as a witness in the underlying  investigation into the leek.

The disclosure came on the same day that  President Barack Obama announced that the Justice Department is going to review  the policy under which it obtains journalists’ records in investigations of the  leak of government secrets.

Obama acknowledged he is ‘troubled by the  possibility that leaks investigations may chill the investigative journalism’  that he says holds government accountable and said he has expressed his concerns  to the Attorney General.

But he said his administration would continue  to try to find the government employees who are responsible for  leaks.

In recent weeks, the administration has  acknowledged secretly seizing portions of two months of phone records from The  Associated Press and reading the e-mails of Fox News reporter James Rosen in  separate investigations about the publication of government  secrets.

The president said the government has to  strike the right balance between security and an open society.

 

President Obama announced on Thursday that the Justice  Department is going to review the policy under which it obtains journalists’  records in investigations of the leak of government secrets

He said Holder will meet with representatives  of media organizations and report back to him by July 12.

Obama re-stated his support for a media  shield law that he said would ‘guard against government overreach.’

Such a law would require a federal judge to  sign off before investigators could have a look at the records of  journalists.

‘Journalists should not be at legal risk for  doing their jobs. Our focus must be on those who break the law,’ Obama  said.

But the president also offered no apologies  for his administration’s aggressive pursuit of leakers. The six prosecutions  since he took office in 2009 is more than in all other presidencies  combined.

‘As commander in chief, I believe we must  keep information secret that protects our operations and our people in the  field. To do so, we must enforce consequences for those who break the law and  breach their commitment to protect classified information,’ he said.

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