On Newsmax’s American Agenda this week, veteran reporter James Rosen reminded Americans of a stunning episode that should alarm anyone who cares about the Constitution: the Department of Justice, under then-Attorney General Eric Holder, secretly sought access to Rosen’s private emails and phone records and even tracked his movements inside the State Department. These were not routine subpoenas — an FBI affidavit actually accused a working journalist of being, at the very least, a “probable co-conspirator” in a leak investigation. Rosen’s recollection is a sober reminder that the machinery of law enforcement can be bent to intimidate the press when political priorities outweigh the rule of law.
The episode traces back to a June 2009 Fox News report about North Korea and a leak investigation into State Department contractor Stephen Jin‑Woo Kim. Federal prosecutors obtained a sealed subpoena and, according to documents unsealed later, pursued Rosen’s communications in 2010; the full scope of the surveillance became public in 2013 when court records and congressional hearings exposed what happened. Kim ultimately pleaded guilty and was sentenced in 2014, but the prosecution of the leaker does not justify turning a reporter’s notebook and inbox into a target of government fishing expeditions.
What followed should chill every American who believes in accountability: on May 15, 2013 Attorney General Eric Holder told Congress he had never been involved in potential prosecutions of members of the press, yet Justice Department statements and records revealed he had been involved in vetting the very decisions that led to Rosen’s targeting. Republicans on the Judiciary Committee rightly demanded answers and accused Holder of having misled Congress, and the controversy exposed a Justice Department that answers to politics before principles. If the Attorney General can sign off on surveillance of journalists and then dodge responsibility on the Hill, who is safe from a politicized DOJ?
This story is not merely about one reporter or one administration; it’s about a dangerous precedent. When federal power is wielded to chill sources and intimidate messengers, investigative journalism — the last check on corruption and incompetence — is hobbled. Conservatives should not shrug at overreach by one party’s appointees, because a precedent that enables government to treat reporters as conspirators will be used again and against us when the political winds shift.
Congress must stop posturing and start fixing the problem: require greater transparency, insist on stricter standards before journalists’ records can be seized, and hold accountable Justice Department officials who mislead Congress or abuse their authority. The First Amendment cannot be protected by talking points alone; it requires real oversight, reforms, and consequences for those who weaponize justice for political ends.
James Rosen’s account on American Agenda is a call to vigilance for every patriot who values liberty. Hardworking Americans who love free speech and a free press should be furious that a reporter doing his job was treated like a criminal for simply doing his duty to inform the public. If we fail to stand up now, we risk normalizing a forever-expanding state that answers to ideology instead of the Constitution.
