WASHINGTON May 15 (Reuters) – The Justice Department’s
controversial decision to seize phone records of Associated
Press journalists was just one element in a sweeping U.S.
government investigation into media leaks about a Yemen-based
plot to bomb a U.S. airliner, government officials said on
Wednesday.

The search for who leaked the information is being led by
the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Washington and has involved
extensive FBI interviews of personnel at the Justice Department,
U.S. intelligence agencies, the White House’s National Security
staff and the FBI itself.

WASHINGTON, May 14 (Reuters) – U.S. Attorney General Eric
Holder said on Tuesday he did not make the controversial
decision to secretly seize telephone records of the Associated
Press but defended his department’s actions in the investigation
of what he called a “very, very serious leak.”

The decision to seek phone records of one of the world’s
largest news-gathering organizations was made by Deputy Attorney
General Jim Cole, Holder said.

WASHINGTON, May 14 (Reuters) – U.S. Attorney General Eric
Holder was likely to face a storm of questions on Tuesday over
the Justice Department’s controversial decision to seize
telephone records of the Associated Press, a move denounced by
critics as a gross intrusion into freedom of the press.

The episode has created an uproar in Washington and led to
questions over how the Obama administration is balancing the
need for national security with privacy rights.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Associated Press said on Monday the U.S. government secretly seized telephone records of AP offices and reporters for a two-month period in 2012, describing the acts as a “massive and unprecedented intrusion” into news-gathering operations.

AP Chief Executive Gary Pruitt, in a letter posted on the agency’s website, said the AP was informed last Friday that the Justice Department gathered records for more than 20 phone lines assigned to the news agency and its reporters.