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N.Y. Times will not attend DOJ session, citing opposition to off-the-record provision

New York Times executive editor Jill Abramson has announced that her paper will not attend an off-the-record session with Attorney General Eric Holder to discuss the Justice Department's monitoring of reporters, due to the fact that the meeting is to be conducted "off the record."

“We will not be attending the session at DOJ. It isn’t appropriate for us to attend an off the record meeting with the attorney general. Our Washington bureau is aggressively covering the department’s handling of leak investigations at this time," Abramson said in a statement.

"Evidently, there will be a future session with department officials on the substance of how the law should be applied in leak cases and I am hopeful that our counsel, David McCraw will be able to participate in that meeting," she wrote.

(QUIZ: How well do you know Eric Holder?)

The Justice Dept. had planned to hold a meeting with Washington bureau chiefs from all major national news organizations this week to discuss guidelines for subpoenas of reporters. On Wednesday, The Huffington Post reported that those meetings would be conducted off-record, meaning the bureau chiefs would not be free to report on Holder's remarks.

It is unclear whether the Times's boycott will inspire other news organizations to follow suit. Watch for updates here.

(WATCH POLITICO Junkies: New DOJ media guidelines or a PR stunt?)

UPDATE (7:04 p.m.): The Associated Press says it will not attend this week's off-the-record meeting with Attorney General Holder unless the Justice Department decides to change its mind and conduct the meeting on the record. Full details here.

(h/t Michael Calderone)

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