Republicans Outraged Over AP Spying Scandal Killed Legislation That Would Have Prevented It

Darrell Issa is outraged that the Department of Justice secretly obtained phone records through a subpoena of the AP's telecommunications provider. He's right to condemn the action, but as nycsouthpaw points out, it's worth remembering that Issa voted against legislation that would have protected the AP:

Issa was one of 21 House members who opposed the Free Flow of Information Act of 2007, a measure that would have forbidden federal investigators from compelling journalists to give evidence without first obtaining a court order. The bill included a section that specifically forbid subpoenaing journalists’ phone records from “communication service providers” to the same extent that the law protected the journalists themselves.

The legislation passed the House, but it was filibustered by Republicans in the Senate and opposed by the Bush Administration. Barack Obama, at the time a U.S. Senator, didn't vote on the bill, but was a co-sponsor. So you have a situation where Issa and Senate Republicans opposed legislation that would have prevented a government action they now decry, and you have a president who supported the legislation but whose administration is now responsible for taking the actions his legislation was supposed to prevent.

Thus far, the president hasn't addressed the DOJ's actions. Yesterday, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney tried to take a neutral posture, saying that the White House was unaware of the subpoena until the AP announced it yesterday and referring all questions to the DOJ.

Given the president's support for the press shield legislation in the Senate, he's at risk of being as hypocritical on this issue as Issa and most Senate Republicans—without having the added virtue of being right. But if he wasn't involved in the decision to subpoena the records, he could help make up for the government's overreach not only by saying it was wrong to subpoena copies of AP phone records, but also by harnessing the GOP's new civil libertarian streak to push through the legislation that they killed just a few short years ago.