Obama administration treats journalists as ‘enemies of the state’
The Obama administration treats journalists that “cross this administration” as “enemies of the state” who “will be attacked and punished,” according to a former CBS News investigative journalist.
Sharyl Attkisson, who resigned from CBS News in March, 2014 after 21 years with the network, lashed out at the White House and Justice Department on Thursday for blocking her various attempts to report on the activities of the US government.
“If you cross this administration with perfectly accurate reporting they don’t like, you will be attacked and punished,” Attkisson testified at the Senate confirmation hearing for US Attorney General nominee Loretta Lynch.
“You and your sources will be subjected to the kind of surveillance devised for enemies of the state," she said.
"They bully and threaten the access of journalists who do their jobs, news organizations that publish stories they don’t like, and whistleblowers who dare to tell the truth,” she added.
Attkisson is one of several reporters who have accused the Justice Department of spying on them for doing critical reports on the government. Earlier this month, she filed a $35 million lawsuit against outgoing Attorney General Eric Holder for the “unauthorized and illegal surveillance” of her computers and telephones from 2011 until 2013.
She was among a number of journalists who were investigating the Justice Department’s failed gun-running program, known as Operation Fast and Furious, that sold guns to Mexican drug cartels.
That investigation upset the White House and Justice Department, who called and emailed CBS News executives to put a lid on the story, Attkisson said.
Later, she discovered the government was spying on her and that the Justice Department also prevented her from attending Fast and Furious briefings with select reporters.
"There’s still a large distrust of the Justice Department, and in some cases, the government in general,” Attkisson said.
AHT/HRJ
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