Incident
United States search warrant names Fox News reporter James Rosen a possible co-conspirator in a leak case
A 2010 FBI search-warrant affidavit, unsealed in 2013, described Fox News reporter James Rosen as a possible co-conspirator in violating the Espionage Act because he sought classified information from a State Department analyst, and used that theory to obtain his private emails.123
What happened
In 2009, Fox News reporter James Rosen published a story, based on a State Department analyst's account, that North Korea would likely respond to United Nations sanctions with more nuclear tests. Investigating the leak, an FBI agent wrote in a 2010 warrant affidavit, unsealed and reported in 2013, that Rosen, "in his newsgathering, was violating federal statutes that prohibit 'unauthorized disclosure of national defense information' as an 'aider, abettor, and/or co-conspirator,'" under the Espionage Act, a 1917 law against disclosing defense information. A federal magistrate approved the warrant, which the Justice Department used to obtain two days of Rosen's personal emails, his phone records and records of his security-badge movements inside the State Department. The analyst, Stephen Kim, was separately charged and later pleaded guilty. Rosen himself was never charged; press-freedom groups said naming a reporter as a criminal co-conspirator for ordinary newsgathering, asking questions and cultivating a source, had no precedent in a warrant against a working journalist.123
What reason was given
Stated justificationThe FBI affidavit argued Rosen's newsgathering itself, soliciting classified information and cultivating a source, made him a likely "aider, abettor, and/or co-conspirator" in violating the Espionage Act, the legal theory the Justice Department used to justify seizing his records.2
What changed for reporting
The Justice Department seized Rosen's personal emails, phone records and State Department security-badge logs; the Committee to Protect Journalists said such tactics against reporters had "a chilling effect domestically and sends a terrible message to journalists around the world."3
Timeline
2013
Who acted
| Name | Role in this incident | Office at the time |
|---|---|---|
| Barack Obama | other | President of the United States (2009-2017) |
| Eric Holder | ordered | Attorney General of the United States |
| James Rosen | other | Reporter, Fox News |
| Stephen Jin-Woo Kim | other | State Department arms expert |
Outlets and journalists
| Name | Kind | Relation |
|---|---|---|
| Fox News | outlet | affected |
Sources
- Justice search warrant relied on probable cause of criminal conduct by Fox News journalist archived copy
- CPJ alarmed by U.S. Justice scrutiny of Fox News reporter archived copy
Claims and evidence
Each numbered claim quotes the source it rests on.
- The FBI affidavit described Rosen's newsgathering as making him a possible co-conspirator under the Espionage Act.
in his newsgathering, was violating federal statutes that prohibit 'unauthorized disclosure of national defense information' as an 'aider, abettor, and/or co-conspirator.'
Justice search warrant relied on probable cause of criminal conduct by Fox News journalist archived copy, Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, 2013-05-20.Claim 228, checked 2026-09-22. - The government's theory was that Rosen's newsgathering made him an aider, abettor or co-conspirator.
an aider, abettor and/or co-conspirator
CPJ alarmed by U.S. Justice scrutiny of Fox News reporter archived copy, Committee to Protect Journalists, 2013-05-20.Claim 229, checked 2026-09-22. - CPJ said prosecuting leakers by obtaining journalists' records chilled newsgathering domestically and abroad.
U.S. government efforts to prosecute leakers by obtaining information from journalists has a chilling effect domestically and sends a terrible message to journalists around the world who are fighting to resist government intrusion
CPJ alarmed by U.S. Justice scrutiny of Fox News reporter archived copy, Committee to Protect Journalists, 2013-05-20.Claim 230, checked 2026-09-22.