The House Judiciary Committee wrote an open letter to Attorney General Eric Holder on Wednesday as part of a continuous probe into the allegations that he signed off on secret search warrants for a Fox New reporter.
In the letter to Holder, the committee declared his original testimony to the house panel was contradicted through verifiable proof, and asks a series of questions in an attempt to learn the actual depth of involvement of the attorney general as it relates to allegations that Fox News's chief Washington correspondent James Rosen "was a possible 'co-conspirator' in violations of" 18 USC Chapter 37, also known as the Espionage Act.
One question in the letter asks, "The search warrant for Mr. Rosen's emails was approved at the highest levels of the Department. Did this include you? If so, what date did you approve the search warrant request? As part of any such approval, did you personally read the search warrant application and accompanying affidavit?"
According to some reports, Holder approved the documentation that initiated the warrant in question.
According to NBC News, Rosen was being investigated under the notion that he assisted in the leak of classified information about North Korea from an American intelligence official, Stephen Kim.
Based on a report on the Daily Beast, "Holder acknowledged that there was considerable room for improvement in how Justice handles leak cases, casting the episode as a kind of teaching moment for his department and himself."
"While both of these cases were handled within the law and according to Justice Department guidelines," he said in an interview, "they are reminders of the unique role the news media plays in our democratic system, and signal that both our laws and guidelines need to be updated.
"This is an opportunity for the department to consider how we strike the right balance between the interests of law enforcement and freedom of press," he said.
But after Holder issues the search warrant, he began to "feel a creeping sense of personal remorse," The Daily Beast reported.
Holder has until June 5 to respond.
