{
  "id": 60,
  "slug": "2013-us-doj-seizes-ap-phone-records",
  "title": "United States Justice Department secretly seizes two months of Associated Press phone records",
  "occurred_on": "2013-05-13",
  "occurred_on_precision": "day",
  "ended_on": null,
  "jurisdiction": "US",
  "country": "US",
  "continent": "north-america",
  "level": "national",
  "type": null,
  "tactic_primary": "surveillance_and_subpoenas",
  "leader_slug": "barack-obama",
  "issue_of_the_day": "A May 2012 AP report on a foiled al-Qaeda bomb plot aimed at a U.S.-bound airplane, which the government said compromised an intelligence source.",
  "outcome": "sustained",
  "outcome_on": "2013-07-12",
  "outcome_note": "The records were not returned and no journalist or source was charged; the Justice Department issued revised media-subpoena guidelines on July 12, 2013, after the disclosure.",
  "granularity": "anchor",
  "era": "2010s",
  "summary": "The U.S. Justice Department secretly obtained two months of telephone records from more than 20 Associated Press phone lines during a leak investigation, notifying the news agency only after the fact; AP called the scope of the seizure unjustified.{c:224}{c:225}{c:226}{c:227}",
  "what_happened": "In April and May 2012, the Associated Press (AP) reported that the CIA had disrupted a plot by an al-Qaeda affiliate in Yemen to bomb a U.S.-bound airplane. The Justice Department, investigating who disclosed the classified operation, obtained telephone toll records covering more than 20 AP office and staff phone lines in New York, Washington and Hartford, Connecticut, and the AP's line in the U.S. House of Representatives press gallery, without first asking AP for the records, as its own guidelines generally required. AP learned of the seizure when the Justice Department notified it on May 10, 2013, and disclosed it publicly on May 13. AP President Gary Pruitt said, \"There can be no possible justification for such an over-broad collection of the telephone communications of The Associated Press and its reporters.\" More than 100 journalists worked in the offices whose numbers were collected. No journalist or source was ever charged in the underlying leak case.{c:224}{c:225}{c:226}{c:227}",
  "stated_justification": "Attorney General Eric Holder called the underlying disclosure \"among, if not the most serious ... a ... very, very serious leak,\" and the Justice Department said, \"We take seriously our obligations to follow all applicable laws, federal regulations, and Department of Justice policies when issuing subpoenas for phone records of media organisations.\"{c:224}{c:225}",
  "effect_on_reporting": "The seizure covered work and personal numbers for AP staff across three bureaus and swept in more than 100 journalists' shared office lines, exposing AP's contacts and sourcing patterns on a wide range of unrelated stories, not only the leak under investigation.{c:226}{c:227}",
  "unknowns": null,
  "status": "historical",
  "status_updated_on": "2026-09-22",
  "external_ids": {},
  "illustration_key": null,
  "pub_state": "published",
  "published_at": "2026-09-22T23:07:54Z",
  "reviewed_on": "2026-09-22",
  "next_review_on": "2026-12-22",
  "revision": 5,
  "created_at": "2026-09-22T23:07:48Z",
  "updated_at": "2026-09-23T00:11:10Z",
  "stage": "punish",
  "ladder_note": null,
  "country_name": "United States",
  "tactics": [
    "surveillance_and_subpoenas"
  ],
  "leader": {
    "slug": "barack-obama",
    "name": "Barack Obama",
    "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/leaders/barack-obama"
  },
  "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2013-us-doj-seizes-ap-phone-records",
  "page_meta": {
    "published": "2026-09-22T23:07:54Z",
    "reviewed": "2026-09-22",
    "sources": 2,
    "status": "historical",
    "statusAsOf": "2026-09-22",
    "unknowns": null
  },
  "actors": [
    {
      "slug": "barack-obama",
      "name": "Barack Obama",
      "kind": "person",
      "role": "other",
      "role_at_time": null,
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/actors/barack-obama"
    },
    {
      "slug": "eric-holder",
      "name": "Eric Holder",
      "kind": "person",
      "role": "ordered",
      "role_at_time": null,
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/actors/eric-holder"
    },
    {
      "slug": "gary-pruitt",
      "name": "Gary Pruitt",
      "kind": "person",
      "role": "other",
      "role_at_time": null,
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/actors/gary-pruitt"
    }
  ],
  "outlets": [
    {
      "slug": "associated-press",
      "name": "The Associated Press",
      "relation": "affected",
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/outlets/associated-press"
    }
  ],
  "journalists": [],
  "cases": [],
  "related": [],
  "events": [],
  "claims": [
    {
      "id": 224,
      "subject_type": "incident",
      "subject_id": 60,
      "field": "stated_justification",
      "value": "Pruitt calls the seizure unjustified",
      "statement": "AP President Gary Pruitt said there was no possible justification for the scope of the records collection.",
      "attribution": null,
      "source_id": 207,
      "evidence_quote": "There can be no possible justification for such an over-broad collection of the telephone communications of The Associated Press and its reporters.",
      "evidence_date": "2013-05-14",
      "method": "outlet_report",
      "verified_at": "2026-09-22",
      "confidence": "medium",
      "status": "current",
      "supersedes_id": null,
      "superseded_by": null,
      "supersede_reason": null,
      "batch_label": "v2-research-2026-09-22",
      "created_at": "2026-09-22T23:07:49Z",
      "source": {
        "id": 207,
        "url": "https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2013/5/14/us-government-seized-ap-phone-records",
        "final_url": "https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2013/5/14/us-government-seized-ap-phone-records",
        "title": "US government 'seized AP phone records'",
        "publisher": "Al Jazeera",
        "published_on": "2013-05-14",
        "link_state": "live",
        "link_state_since": "2026-09-22T23:23:23Z",
        "wayback_url": null,
        "wayback_saved_at": null
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      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/claims/224"
    },
    {
      "id": 225,
      "subject_type": "incident",
      "subject_id": 60,
      "field": "stated_justification",
      "value": "DOJ cites its own guidelines",
      "statement": "The Justice Department said it followed applicable laws and its own policies when issuing the subpoenas.",
      "attribution": null,
      "source_id": 207,
      "evidence_quote": "We take seriously our obligations to follow all applicable laws, federal regulations, and Department of Justice policies when issuing subpoenas for phone records of media organisations.",
      "evidence_date": "2013-05-14",
      "method": "outlet_report",
      "verified_at": "2026-09-22",
      "confidence": "medium",
      "status": "current",
      "supersedes_id": null,
      "superseded_by": null,
      "supersede_reason": null,
      "batch_label": "v2-research-2026-09-22",
      "created_at": "2026-09-22T23:07:50Z",
      "source": {
        "id": 207,
        "url": "https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2013/5/14/us-government-seized-ap-phone-records",
        "final_url": "https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2013/5/14/us-government-seized-ap-phone-records",
        "title": "US government 'seized AP phone records'",
        "publisher": "Al Jazeera",
        "published_on": "2013-05-14",
        "link_state": "live",
        "link_state_since": "2026-09-22T23:23:23Z",
        "wayback_url": null,
        "wayback_saved_at": null
      },
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/claims/225"
    },
    {
      "id": 226,
      "subject_type": "incident",
      "subject_id": 60,
      "field": "effect_on_reporting",
      "value": "More than 100 journalists affected",
      "statement": "More than 100 journalists worked in the AP offices whose phone lines were targeted.",
      "attribution": null,
      "source_id": 208,
      "evidence_quote": "More than 100 journalists work in the offices where phone records were targeted, on a wide array of stories about government and other matters.",
      "evidence_date": "2013-05-14",
      "method": "outlet_report",
      "verified_at": "2026-09-22",
      "confidence": "medium",
      "status": "current",
      "supersedes_id": null,
      "superseded_by": null,
      "supersede_reason": null,
      "batch_label": "v2-research-2026-09-22",
      "created_at": "2026-09-22T23:07:50Z",
      "source": {
        "id": 208,
        "url": "https://www.lawfaremedia.org/article/ap-doj-secretly-obtained-ap-reporters-phone-call-records",
        "final_url": "https://www.lawfaremedia.org/article/ap-doj-secretly-obtained-ap-reporters-phone-call-records",
        "title": "AP: DOJ Secretly Obtained AP Reporters' Phone Call Records",
        "publisher": "Lawfare",
        "published_on": "2013-05-14",
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      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/claims/226"
    },
    {
      "id": 227,
      "subject_type": "incident",
      "subject_id": 60,
      "field": "effect_on_reporting",
      "value": "AP calls the seizure unprecedented",
      "statement": "AP's top executive called the records seizure a massive and unprecedented intrusion.",
      "attribution": null,
      "source_id": 208,
      "evidence_quote": "massive and unprecedented intrusion",
      "evidence_date": "2013-05-14",
      "method": "outlet_report",
      "verified_at": "2026-09-22",
      "confidence": "medium",
      "status": "current",
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      "supersede_reason": null,
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      "created_at": "2026-09-22T23:07:51Z",
      "source": {
        "id": 208,
        "url": "https://www.lawfaremedia.org/article/ap-doj-secretly-obtained-ap-reporters-phone-call-records",
        "final_url": "https://www.lawfaremedia.org/article/ap-doj-secretly-obtained-ap-reporters-phone-call-records",
        "title": "AP: DOJ Secretly Obtained AP Reporters' Phone Call Records",
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      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/claims/227"
    }
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  "sources": [
    {
      "id": 207,
      "url": "https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2013/5/14/us-government-seized-ap-phone-records",
      "final_url": "https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2013/5/14/us-government-seized-ap-phone-records",
      "title": "US government 'seized AP phone records'",
      "publisher": "Al Jazeera",
      "published_on": "2013-05-14",
      "link_state": "live",
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    {
      "id": 208,
      "url": "https://www.lawfaremedia.org/article/ap-doj-secretly-obtained-ap-reporters-phone-call-records",
      "final_url": "https://www.lawfaremedia.org/article/ap-doj-secretly-obtained-ap-reporters-phone-call-records",
      "title": "AP: DOJ Secretly Obtained AP Reporters' Phone Call Records",
      "publisher": "Lawfare",
      "published_on": "2013-05-14",
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  "revisions_url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2013-us-doj-seizes-ap-phone-records/revisions",
  "license": {
    "name": "CC BY 4.0",
    "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"
  },
  "cite_as": "United States Justice Department secretly seizes two months of Associated Press phone records. The War On News, thewaronnews.com. https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2013-us-doj-seizes-ap-phone-records. Retrieved 2026-09-23."
}