Credit: Getty Images
The House Judiciary Committee is investigating whether Attorney General Eric Holder lied to Congress during his recent testimony regarding the Justice Department's monitoring of journalists, an aide revealed on Tuesday. A Republican aide also told MailOnline that "perjury is on the table."
Testifying before the House committee on May 15, Holder said he was not involved in or aware of any "potential prosecution of the press for the disclosure of material." He also said it would not be a course of action that he would recommend.
However, just days later the DOJ was forced to admit that the Holder personally signed off on the search warrant to obtain Fox News reporter James Rosen's personal emails. The affidavit filed accused the reporter of being a likely criminal "co-conspirator" in the leak of sensitive material regarding North Korea's nuclear program.
Rosen has not been charged or prosecuted, but he was accused by the DOJ of violating the federal Espionage Act.
"Holder said it's not something I'm involved with, don't know anything about it -- he lied on both counts," former Justice Department attorney J. Christian Adams said.
In the meantime, Holder is planning to investigate the DOJ's investigative policies involving journalists. The department has been criticized for allowing Holder to lead an investigation into an incident that he was personally involved in.
"Holder, though, could argue that, in fact, Rosen was never prosecuted -- and so his testimony was not misleading," Fox News notes.
Featured image via Getty
–
[related]
