Holder says the committee might have misinterpreted his remarks. | John Shinkle/POLITICO Holder: Rosen probe 'appropriate'

Attorney General Eric Holder is defending his testimony before the House Judiciary Committee in a new letter, reiterating that he did not lie when he told the committee no journalists have been prosecuted by the Justice Department for publishing leaks.

Holder called the investigation that involved Fox News reporter James Rosen “appropriate,” saying again that charges were never brought against Rosen and saying the committee might have misinterpreted his remarks.


“I do not agree that characterizations establishing probable cause for a search warrant for materials from a member of the news media during an ongoing investigation constitute an intent to prosecute that member of the news media. I do believe that a thorough investigation of the disclosure of classified information that threatened national security was necessary and appropriate,” Holder wrote in answering the committee’s questions.

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

The letter is the latest in a back-and-forth between committee leaders and the attorney general over statements he made before the committee in May. The committee requested Holder’s response after expressing dissatisfaction with a letter from a DOJ deputy explaining Holder’s testimony and a letter from Holder that didn’t respond to committee questions.

Judiciary Chairman Rep. Bob Goodlatte has pressed Holder on his statements, saying they conflict with an affidavit attached to a search warrant that named Rosen as a co-conspirator. Holder defended that label as being part of showing probable cause necessary to get the warrant, and again said charges against Rosen were never sought.

In his answers, Holder also said neither guidelines nor the law require the attorney general to sign off on search warrants for journalists’ emails, unlike phone records, though department officials got Holder’s approval in this case.

( Also on POLITICO: Leak investigations: Just the start)

Holder will be meeting with committee leaders in the matter, but he said due to ongoing investigations, he would not testify again and he could not provide any more detail to Congress.

Goodlatte (R-Va.) and crime subcommittee Chairman Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Wisc.) issued a statement thanking Holder for his answers while also questioning why it took so long. Still, they said, some of his comments were “troubling.”

“We found several of the attorney general’s answers troubling, including his acknowledgment that the Department of Justice regulations do not explicitly cover the procedures for gathering emails belonging to members of the media and the department’s interpretation of the Privacy Protection Act of 1980. We intend to discuss both of these matters with Mr. Holder when he comes to Capitol Hill in the coming days to meet with us,” Goodlatte and Sensenbrenner said in their statement.