When Can FBI Spy on Journalists? That's Classified

Some journalists may remember the outrage back in 2014 about the Justice Department spying on journalists. And they may even remember Attorney General Eric Holder's promise to go straight and stop doing it — via new guidelines. Some may have believed it.

But Trevor Timm, writing as a columnist in the Columbia Journalism Review, tells another chapter in the story. Timm had been pestering the Justice Department with Freedom of Information Act requests for information about the new guidelines. He wanted to know what the Justice Department's rules were for when they could target a journalist for surveillance using "national security letters."

The Justice Department's answer: that's classified.

• "When Can the FBI Use National Security Letters To Spy on Journalists? That’s Classified." Columbia Journalism Review, January 11, 2016, by Trevor Timm.