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Holder skips Fox News in exit interviews

Outgoing Attorney General Eric Holder declined to give Fox News an interview this week, despite sitting down with every other major television news organization.

The slight, which is consistent with Holder's general approach to Fox News, was protested by Fox News Executive Vice President Michael Clemente, who called it "a deep disservice to America’s largest cable news audience and the interests of a free press."

In his statement, Clemente suggested that Holder's decision may have been influenced by the Justice Department's investigation of James Rosen, a Fox News reporter. In 2013, The Washington Post reported that the DOJ had labeled Rosen and "co-conspirator" in a leak probe and monitored his emails, phone records, and comings and goings at the State Department.

"Ultimately ... we’re not surprised that Holder would try to evade a thorough accounting of his record in office, including his decision to investigate our chief Washington correspondent, James Rosen through an illegal seizure of emails and phone records of Rosen and his parents," Clemente said.

Justice Department spokeperson Brian Fallon told Fox News, "We appreciate the interview request, and look forward to accommodating it at a future time." In his statement, Clemente said, "We’re hopeful but realistic about whether that will actually happen.”

Holder has given exit interviews to ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN and POLITICO.

With the exception of POLITICO, Holder has yet to give exit interviews to print publications like The New York Times and The Washington Post. James Risen, a Times reporter, was also involved in a DOJ leak investigation regarding his confidential sources for a report on the CIA plan to undermine Iran’s nuclear program.

Carolyn Ryan, the Times Washington bureau chief and political editor, declined to say whether the Times would be interviewing Holder, but pointed out that it's never been a problem for them in the past.

"We don't generally discuss what interviews we are doing or have planned, but I can tell you that we have not had a problem getting interviews at DOJ because of the Risen case or anything related to it," she told the On Media blog. "And if we did, we would certainly take it up with DOJ."