“In a contentious Senate panel hearing about what protections should be available to journalists who receive government secrets, Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions (R) said that ‘historically, spies have been shot for revealing information,’ and that the thinking on a shield law for journalists should proceed forth from that point. Earlier this year, journalists and editors working for the Associated Press found out that the Department of Justice had tapped and recorded their phone calls for more than two months. The Justice Department also used warrants to obtain the emails of reporter James Rosen. In each case, the government maintained that it was attempting to police its internal workings for leakers.”
