conduct more of these justice department leak investigations than all previous administrations put together. that began what seems to be a trend that may well have intensified under it s worrisome under the trump administration. jeff sessions says he now has three-times as many leak investigations going on as were left open by the obama administration. that tends to suggest that this this is intensifying. and it does have a chilling effect. this particular case seems to have all sorts of special circumstances. there was the alleged lying to the fbi, also an alleged relationship between mr. wolfe and ally watkins, the times reporter who apparently, the period involved, seems to be have been when she was working for buzz feed or politico. so there s a lot of special circumstances. nonetheless, it is a new york times reporter, phone records
times is reporting that one of its own reporters had her telephone and electronic communication seized by the justice. we understand that s ally watkins, she s someone who cover the same beat i do. we know they cover the robert mueller investigation. so i don t think they can be taken separately. first, yes, someone in wolfe s position is supposed to be sensitive about the way they handle materials and certainly they can be charged with lying to the fbi. we ve seen people like andrew mccabe being taken down. lying in that position is something that s not tolerated. but in this case it seems it s a message sent to anyone who wants to leak materials to journalists, even people who think that the right message isn t being delivered by these committees. if they think there s more information that needs to get out that is being covered up,
these people are now going to be arrested for that, as we ve seen tonight. so it s a big message, and i think that people on my beat, on ally s beat now will be possibly very cautious going forward. i think this could have a chilling effect. the new york times reporter involved, ally watkins who has been a reporter at other news organizations prior to the new york times, she s the one subject to this subpoena at the new york times. and the justice department release on this says that james wolfe was arrested today, or tonight, he will make his first appearance tomorrow in federal district court in maryland. and that s because that s where he lives. he was arrested in maryland where he lives. the release also makes this very clear that this is not part of robert mueller s investigation. special prosecutor has nothing to do with this. it s the release tonight says, the investigation into this matter is being conducted by the
that tonight the new york times is reporting that one of its own reporters had her telephone and electronic communication seized by the justice. we understand that s ally watkins, she s someone who cover the same beat i do. we know they cover the robert mueller investigation. so i don t think they can be taken separately. first, yes, someone in wolfe s position is supposed to be sensitive about the way they handle materials and certainly they can be charged with lying to the fbi. we ve seen people like andrew mccabe being taken down. lying in that position is something that s not tolerated. but in this case it seems it s a message sent to anyone who wants to leak materials to journalists, even people who think that the right message isn t being delivered by these committees. if they think there s more information that needs to get out that is being covered up,
these people are now going to be arrested for that, as we ve seen tonight. so it s a big message, and i think that people on my beat, on ally s beat now will be possibly very cautious going forward. i think this could have a chilling effect. the new york times reporter involved, ally watkins who has been a reporter at other news organizations prior to the new york times, she s the one subject to this subpoena at the new york times. and the justice department release on this says that james wolfe was arrested today, or tonight, he will make his first appearance tomorrow in federal district court in maryland. and that s because that s where he lives. he was arrested in maryland where he lives. the release also makes this very clear that this is not part of robert mueller s investigation. special prosecutor has nothing to do with this. it s the release tonight says, the investigation into this matter is being conducted by the fbi s washington field office.