At the time, then-Attorney General Eric Holder made symbolic gestures and promised new policies that would supposedly make it more difficult for the government to target journalists. What Holder left out of his grandstanding was that none of the new rules applied to National Security Letters. Known in government parlance as NSLs, these documents enjoy a separate set of rules that allow for nearly unchecked surveillance powers on anyone as long as someone utters the magic words “national security.”
The government typically issues a gag order regarding the surveillance activity, threatening officials at phone companies and other data sources with arrest if they inform the target. Give us what we want, and if you tell anyone, we will hurt you. There’s an expression for that; and it’s not “national security.”
There are many more stories; tales of journalists and staffers who find themselves under a microscope because they stepped outside of ranks and dared say the words that apparently terrify the government: This is wrong, and I’m going to do something about it. For all the hype about freedom of the press, the reality is that speaking truth to power is no longer an honored American pastime – it can be a very dangerous proposition if that truth casts doubt on the actions of the government.
