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Government transparency may have ranked high on the list of campaign promises made by Barack Obama — but years later, it seems the government could be more repressive than ever before.
Just ask this New York Times journalist.
Times reporter James Risen went off on the Obama administration's press freedom record in a Twitter rant late Tuesday.
It all started with a link to this District Sentinel article about Attorney General Eric Holder defending the Obama administration's record on whistleblower retaliation, which Risen annotated with a simple, "WTF?"
— James Risen (@JamesRisen) February 18, 2015Risen then went on an epic rant about the government, calling out Holder by name many times and saying that, "The Obama Administration is the greatest enemy of press freedom in a generation," and "Eric Holder leaves behind a wrecked First Amendment."
Given Holder's speech today, I repeat: The Obama Administration is the greatest enemy of press freedom in a generation.
— James Risen (@JamesRisen) February 18, 2015Eric Holder has been the nation's top censorship officer, not the top law enforcement officer.
— James Risen (@JamesRisen) February 18, 2015Eric Holder has done the bidding of the intelligence community and the White House to damage press freedom in the United States.
— James Risen (@JamesRisen) February 18, 2015Eric Holder has sent a message to dictators around the world that it is okay to crack down on the press and jail journalists.
— James Risen (@JamesRisen) February 18, 2015Eric Holder leaves behind a wrecked First Amendment.
— James Risen (@JamesRisen) February 18, 2015Eric Holder managed to destroy any semblance of a reporters privilege in the United States.
— James Risen (@JamesRisen) February 18, 2015This is Eric Holder's true legacy on press freedom:
"There is no First Amendment "reporter's privilege."
From DOJ brief in my case.
— James Risen (@JamesRisen) February 18, 2015Risen ended his broadside with a promise to continue fighting on behalf of his son and "press freedom" throughout the United States.
My son is a reporter. I don't want him to have to live in a country where there is less press freedom than when I started as a journalist.
— James Risen (@JamesRisen) February 18, 2015I plan to spend the rest of my life fighting to undo damage done to press freedom in the United States by Barack Obama and Eric Holder.
— James Risen (@JamesRisen) February 18, 2015Risen knows a thing or two about the government's stance on leaks and whistleblowers.
Risen fought all the way to the Supreme Court and lost before Holder said he'd back off and not force Risen to out his sources.
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Follow Zach Noble (@thezachnoble) on Twitter
