Obama DOJ obtains search warrant for Fox News reporter James Rosen's email by labeling him a criminal 'co-conspirator'
On May 28, 2010, the FBI obtained a federal search warrant for the personal Gmail account of Fox News reporter James Rosen by asserting probable cause in a sworn affidavit that Rosen himself had violated the Espionage Act as a 'co-conspirator' for soliciting a leak from State Department contractor Stephen Jin-Woo Kim. The warrant was executed secretly; it became public in May 2013. AG Eric Holder personally approved the warrant.
Dates: Underlying Fox News story June 11, 2009; FBI affidavit and search warrant May 28, 2010; separate grand jury subpoena for Fox phone records October 13, 2011; Washington Post discloses warrant May 2013; Holder publicly defends approval May 23, 2013; Kim pleaded guilty April 2014. Individuals and organizations: James Rosen (Fox News); Stephen Jin-Woo Kim (State Department contractor); AG Eric Holder; USAO D.C. Ronald Machen; FBI Special Agent Reginald Reyes (affiant). What happened: Rosen reported June 11, 2009 that North Korea might respond to UN sanctions with additional nuclear tests, based on a classified CIA assessment. The FBI investigated Kim as the source. FBI Agent Reyes swore an affidavit asserting Rosen 'aided and abetted' or was a 'co-conspirator' in the Espionage Act violation, allowing the DOJ to bypass the Privacy Protection Act's prohibition on media search warrants. AG Holder personally approved the warrant. Rosen was never charged. Legal authority used: Federal search warrant under Rule 41, with affidavit labeling reporter as criminal co-conspirator to overcome PPA restrictions; grand jury subpoena for Fox News phone records. Outcome: Warrant executed; Kim convicted (13 months). Rosen not charged. Episode prompted the 2013–2015 DOJ media guidelines reform that explicitly prohibited using 'co-conspirator' theories solely to circumvent the Privacy Protection Act. Why it matters: Confidential sources were at issue. The warrant was executed in secret with no opportunity for press challenge. Sworn characterization of a working journalist's newsgathering as criminal conspiracy was, and remains, the central press-freedom controversy of the Obama era alongside the AP records case.