>>1664368
New York Times "reporter" Ali Watkins had her phone and emails seized by the FBI. Hahahaha.
Watkins's Twatter is @AliWatkins, for anyone interested in twatting at her.
https:// www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2018/06/07/feds-seize-new-york-times-reporters-phone-email-records-leak-probe/683548002/
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New York Times reporter Ali Watkins had her emails and phone records seized by the Justice Department, the newspaper said Thursday night.
And a veteran Senate Intelligence Committee staffer Watkins had a personal relationship with was indicted on charges of giving false statements during a federal leak investigation.
A federal prosecutor notified Watkins on Feb. 13 that the DOJ obtained information on her Google email accounts and Verizon phone, the Times reported. The seized records spanned years before and after Watkins joined the Times in 2017 to cover federal law enforcement.
Before she started at the Times, FBI agents sought information from her about a romantic relationship she had with James Wolfe, a former staffer of the Senate Intelligence Committee. Watkins said she didn't answer those questions, which were part of an investigation into unauthorized leaks, the Times reported.
Wolfe stopped working for the Senate panel in December and retired in May, the Times article states.
Wolfe, 57, is a former Army intelligence analyst who worked for the Senate committee for more than 30 years, the Times reported.
The Times reported that Watkins said Wolfe had not been a professional source of information for her during their personal relationship. She said before joining the Times she told editors at two previous employers — BuzzFeed News and Politico — about her relationship with Wolfe and continued to cover national security and the Intelligence Committee for them.
According to Justice Department rules for getting information from, or records of, members of the news media, "the approach in every instance must be to strike the proper balance among several vital interests: Protecting national security, ensuring public safety, promoting effective law enforcement and the fair administration of justice, and safeguarding the essential role of the free press in fostering government accountability and an open society."
“It’s always disconcerting when a journalist’s telephone records are obtained by the Justice Department — through a grand jury subpoena or other legal process,” said Watkins’s personal lawyer, Mark J. MacDougall. “Whether it was really necessary here will depend on the nature of the investigation and the scope of any charges.”
In August, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced a broad crackdown on unauthorized disclosures of classified information, warning both would-be leakers and the media as he demanded that the "culture of leaking must stop."
Referring to an "explosion'' of leaks since President Trump took office, Sessions said the Justice Department has “more than tripled" the number of active leak investigations compared to the number pending at the end of the Obama administration.
"I have this warning for would-be leakers: Don't do it," Sessions said. "I strongly agree with the president and condemn in the strongest terms the staggering number of leaks," he said.