Eric Holder, who stepped down Friday as U.S. attorney general, said in a recent interview that claims that the Obama administration has been uniquely hostile to press freedom are unfounded.
In an interview with Politico, Holder expressed skepticism of complaints by New York Times reporter James Risen, who tweeted last week that Holder “leaves behind a wrecked First Amendment.” The White House had threatened to prosecute Risen for refusing to identify a source in his reporting that exposed a plan by the U.S. to disrupt Iran’s nuclear program. In the end, the justice department did not pursue any charges.
“You know, I don’t — I can’t understand where Mr. Risen would get — get those views,” Holder said in the interview. “I’ve seen him describe, compare Barack Obama to Richard Nixon, and, I mean, you’ve got to think about that for a minute.”
The Obama administration has also been criticized by journalists for monitoring the activity of specific reporters and also prosecuting whistle blowers within the administration.
Holder added, “Well, I don’t think it’s founded [Risen’s criticisms]. You know, I think we brought lead cases, which is kind of the genesis of, you know, a lot of this criticism, where it was appropriate to bring them.”
“But people also have to focus on the outreach efforts that I engaged in along with the deputy attorney general, Jim Cole, to meet with members of the media and to change the way in which the Justice Department interacts with the media,” Holder said. “We have put in place really substantial, new mechanisms so that — for instance, people in the media will get notice before the Justice Department does a variety of things. This is unheard of.”
