A Fox News reporter the Justice Department labeled a “co-conspirator” in a leak investigation on Wednesday dismissed Attorney General Eric Holder’s expressions of regret over the handling of his case.
Holder personally signed off on a search warrant enabling officials to seize emails from reporter James Rosen in a hunt for one of his sources.
{mosads}The attorney general on Wednesday expressed regret at labeling Rosen a “co-conspirator” in that warrant, saying he should have been “a little more careful” about the language.
Rosen, in a statement Wednesday, dismissed that response, saying that Holder failed to address the substance of his case.
“Throughout this ordeal for my family and me, I have tried to keep my head down and continue covering — and breaking — the news, said Rosen.
“I consider myself blessed to have an employer in Fox News, and a boss in Roger Ailes, who have stood by me and enabled me to remain focused on what matters most to me in professional terms: first-rate journalism,” he continued.
“At some later point, I may have more to say about this entire controversy, which — as commentators from across the ideological spectrum have noted — does indeed raise serious concerns about the state of press freedoms under the present administration,” he added.
“Suffice to say for now that the attorney general’s latest comments about my case, like his previous remarks, scarcely address the relevant facts of his conduct.”
Holder, who is leaving office once a successor is confirmed, was asked Wednesday if there were any decisions he wished he could re-do.
“I think that I could’ve been a little more careful looking at the language that was contained in the filing that we made with the court. He was labeled as a co-conspirator,” Holder said of Rosen.
“You had to do that as a result of the statute, but there are ways in which, I think, that could have been differently, done better,” he added.