Copyrighted Image? DMCA | Top advisers to the president defended the Obama administration on Tuesday from criticism that it had drastically over-extended its authority in seizing telephone records for the Associated Press as part of a leak investigation. In dual briefings that overlapped for several minutes, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney and Attorney General Eric Holder remained vague when asked why the Department of Justice had subpoenaed the records of up to 100 AP reporters and editors from a two-month period. In some instances, their defense of the department's actions could be distilled down to a simple plea: trust us, we mean no harm. |