WASHINGTON (AP) — Attorney General Eric Holder sought to strike a conciliatory tone on the subject of surveillance Wednesday, defending the Obama administration’s methods to Congress at the same time he insisted that the government will safeguard Americans’ privacy.

At the same time, he rebuffed requests by several Republican members of the Senate Judiciary Committee who asked him to appoint a special prosecutor to look into the Internal Revenue Service’s targeting of tea party and other conservative groups for additional scrutiny when they applied for tax-exempt status.