Holder snubs Fox, refuses exit interview

by David McCabe - 02/26/15 7:36 PM ET

Outgoing Attorney General Eric Holder has denied Fox News the chance to interview him as he leaves his position, even as he grants interviews to many of its competitors, the network said Thursday.

“We learned today that Attorney General Eric Holder has conducted interviews with ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN and Politico, while excluding FOX News,” said Fox’s executive vice president for news, Michael Clemente, in a statement. “The Attorney General’s decision does a deep disservice to America’s largest cable news audience and the interests of a free press.”

{mosads}“Late today, the DOJ press office said ‘they look forward to accommodating’ FOX News at a future time. We’re hopeful but realistic about whether that will actually happen,” he added.

The statement was also read on “Special Report” on Thursday night, where Bret Baier said that he had repeatedly requested an interview with Holder for months.

Asked for additional comment, a Justice Department spokesman referred The Hill to the language cited in the network’s statement.

Loretta Lynch, whom President Obama has nominated to replace Holder, was approved Thursday by the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Fox News, which features popular conservative commentators on some shows, has long had a contentious relationship with the Obama administration.

“And if media is operating basically as a talk radio format, then that’s one thing, and if it’s operating as a news outlet, that’s another,” Obama said in 2009 after some of his advisers had criticized the network.

The Justice Department under Holder subpoenaed the emails of Fox reporter James Rosen during a leak investigation, in the process labeling him as a possible criminal “co-conspirator.”

In his statement, Clemente suggested that the network would press Holder on the Rosen case if they received an interview.

Tags Eric Holder Fox News Channel