The Obama Justice Department has seized the phone records of numbers that are associated with White House staffers and, apparently, with Fox News reporters, according to a document filed in the case of Stephen Jin-Woo Kim, on October 13, 2011. Kim is a former State Department contractor accused of violating the Espionage Act for allegedly leaking classified information to James Rosen, a Fox News reporter. Ronald C. Machen, Jr., the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, who is prosecuting the case, has seized records associated with two phone numbers at the White House, at least five numbers associated with Fox News, and one that has the same area code and exchange as Rosen’s personal-cell-phone number (the last four numbers are redacted).
In all, Machen has seized records associated with over thirty different phone numbers. In the filing that included the new information, the last four digits of each telephone line targeted by the Obama Administration are redacted. Two of the numbers begin with area code 202 and the exchange 456, which, according to current and former Administration officials, are used exclusively by the White House. (The phone number for the White House switchboard is (202) 456-1414.)
At least five other numbers targeted by the government include the area code 202 and the exchange 824. The phone number for the Fox News Washington bureau, which is publicly available, is (202) 824-0001. Rosen’s work phone number at Fox News begins with the same area code and exchange.
William Miller, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney, told The New Yorker this afternoon, “Because that information is sealed, I can’t confirm the owner or subscriber for any of those records.” Asked if the phone numbers of any reporters had been targeted in the Kim investigation, Miller said he could not comment.
Yesterday, the Washington Post reported that, as part of the investigation of the Kim leak, Obama’s Department of Justice seized e-mails from Rosen’s personal Gmail account. In the search warrant for that request, the government described Rosen as “an aider, and abettor, and / or co-conspirator” in violating the Espionage Act, noting that the crime can be punished by ten years in prison. Rosen was not indicted in the case, but the suggestion in a government document that a reporter could be guilty of espionage for engaging in routine reporting is unprecedented and has alarmed many journalists and civil libertarians.
The document uncovered today suggests the government seized “call detail” records from Rosen’s work and cell phones, which would show whom he called, who called him, how long they spoke, and the times of the calls. The document suggests that the government was seeking only the subscriber records for the two White House numbers targeted, information that a government source said would include the name of the official who used the specific line.
Because the last four digits of each phone number are redacted in the government filing, it is impossible to determine who exactly was targeted by the Justice Department.
Here is the full list of the phone numbers included in the filing, which lists evidence that the prosecution was sharing with the defense:
(202) 506 (Comcast)
(202) 777 (ATT)
(212) 601 (ATT) (According to NewsCorp, the main number for the Fox Business Channel is (212) 601-7000.)
(202) 549 (ATT Wireless) (Rosen’s cell phone begins with these digits.)
(202) 615 (ATT)
(202) 213 (ATT Wireless)
(202) 213 (TracFone)
(202) 824 (The main number for Fox News’s Washington bureau is (202) 824-0001 and Rosen’s work line starts with these six digits.)
(202) 861 (Verizon) (Time uses this area code and exchange, but so do other unrelated entities.)
(202) 883 (Verizon)
(202) 293 (Verizon)
(202) 728 (Verizon)
(202) 456 (Verizon) (The White House uses this area code and exchange.)
(202) 547 (Verizon)
(202) 647 (Verizon) (The State Department uses this area code and exchange.)
(718) 720 (Verizon)
(703) 979 (Verizon)
(202) 628 (Verizon)
(202) 577 (Verizon wireless)
(202) 329 (Verizon wireless)
703-472 (Verizon wireless)
(202) 577
(703) 342
(703) 883
(304) 558 (Frontier Communications)
(212) 301 (Verizon)
(202) 628 (ATT)
(917) 562 (ATT)
As of May, the government has handed over sixteen thousand two hundred and eighty-six pages of unclassified documents and three thousand two hundred and three pages of classified documents to the defense in the Kim case. Because many of the filings are under seal, it is not possible to determine what other information was collected in the leak investigation.
But e-mail and phone records were not the only information collected about journalists. According to another document in the case, “the United States has also produced a CD containing voluminous [Department of State] badge records for media personnel for the period March 1, 2009, through September 30, 2009.”
Rosen declined to comment on the case. Asked if the phone numbers of any reporters had been targeted in the Kim investigation, a spokesperson for Fox News said they were not familiar with the new information regarding Fox’s phone records and directed The New Yorker to a statement released yesterday by Michael Clemente, the executive vice-president for News at the cable channel: “We are outraged to learn today that James Rosen was named a criminal co-conspirator for simply doing his job as a reporter. In fact, it is downright chilling. We will unequivocally defend his right to operate as a member of what up until now has always been a free press.” 101311 discovery58 (PDF) 101311 discovery58 (Text)
Illustration by Marc Rosenthal.
