On Wednesday, Republican members of the House Judiciary Committee sent a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder explaining they are worried he committed perjury when he testified before Congress on May 15. That day, Holder testified he had nothing to do with “the potential prosecution of the press for disclosure of material.” Nine days later, a Department of Justice release demonstrated he personally signed off on records seizures with regard to Fox News reporter James Rosen.
The Republican letter expresses “great concern.” The letter states:
The media reports and statements issued by the Department regarding the search warrants for Mr. Rosen’s emails appear to be at odds with your sworn testimony before the Committee. We believe – and we hope you will agree – it is imperative that the Committee, the Congress and the American people be provided a full and accurate account of your involvement in and approval of these search warrants.
Nonetheless, the White House maintains that it was “self-evident” Holder didn’t lie. “I think based on what he said, he testified truthfully,” White House press secretary Jay Carney stated. “The attorney general talked about prosecution.”
Yesterday, Holder said to reporters today that he was “not satisfied” with DOJ guidelines regarding the news media. Which is odd, since he is the head of the DOJ.
Holder also explained that he hopes that his planned parlay with the press this week will cool calls for his resignation.
Ben Shapiro is Editor-At-Large of Breitbart News and author of the New York Times bestseller “Bullies: How the Left’s Culture of Fear and Intimidation Silences America” (Threshold Editions, January 8, 2013).