Sen Sessions 'not sure' whether he would prosecute journalists

Donald Trump attorney general pick Sen Jeff Sessions (R-AL) dodged a question during his Senate confirmation hearings about whether he would subpoena or prosecute journalists for doing their jobs. Sen Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) asked Sen Sessions whether he would abide by current Justice Department regulations that make it difficult to subpoena or prosecute reporters, and whether he would pledge not to "put reporters in jail for doing their job." Sen Sessions offered a non-committal answer. "Senator Klobuchar, I am not sure," he testified. "I have not studied that, those regulations. I would note that when I was the United States Attorney, we knew, everybody knew, that you could not subpoena a witness or push them to be interviewed if they're a member of the media, without approval at high levels of the Department of Justice. That was in the 1980s. So I do believe the Department of Justice does have sensitivity to this issue."

Justice Department guidelines have long required federal prosecutors to receive approval for subpoenaing or prosecuting members of the media. It was these guidelines that prevented an assistant US attorney from indicting a Texas reporter in 1984. The key question is whether Sen Sessions, as the head of the Justice Department, would approve a federal prosecutor's subpoena or prosecution of a journalist.