Roger Ailes: Obama admin creating 'McCarthy era' 'climate of press intimidation

Politico Playbook on Friday published a memo sent to Fox News employees by the news organization's CEO, Roger Ailes. It addresses recent reports about the Obama administration's crackdown on government leaks/whistle blowers and the journalists using them as sources.

The memo reads in part:

"Dear colleagues, The recent news about the FBI's seizure of the phone and email records of Fox News employees, including James Rosen, calls into question whether the federal government is meeting its constitutional obligation to preserve and protect a free press in the United States. We reject the government's efforts to criminalize the pursuit of investigative journalism and falsely characterize a Fox News reporter to a Federal judge as a 'co-conspirator' in a crime. ... The administration's attempt to intimidate Fox News and its employees will not succeed and their excuses will stand neither the test of law, the test of decency, nor the test of time. We will not allow a climate of press intimidation, unseen since the McCarthy era, to frighten any of us away from the truth. ...

"We will not waver. As Fox News employees, we sometimes are forced to stand alone, but even then when we know we are reporting what is true and what is right, we stand proud and fearless. Thank you for your hard work and all your efforts. Sincerely, Roger Ailes"

@eScarry